_{This message is official correspondence from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. For general questions, contact Karen.Conway@k12.wa.us.}

Bulletins

This week's bulletins:

• Restraint and Isolation Data Gathering 2022–23

Bulletin 072-23

Action Required: due date: December 31, 2023

RE: Restraint and Isolation Data Gathering 2022–23

Summary:  The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is providing information relative to data reporting for restraint or isolation of students (Substitute House Bill 1240 (2015)).

SHB 1240 (2015) amended RCW 28A.600.485 and expanded the prohibition of restraint and isolation to all students. It allows restraint or isolation of any student only when “reasonably necessary to control spontaneous behavior that poses an imminent likelihood of serious harm, as defined in RCW 70.96B.010.” The provisions of the bill apply only to incidents of restraint or isolation which occur while a student is participating in school-sponsored instruction or activities. It should be noted that this is not limited to Special Ed data collection, and data reporting is required by both RCW 28A.600.485 and WAC 392-172A-02110.

RCW 28A.600.485 requires any school employee, resource officer, or school security officer who uses restraint or isolation on a student during school-sponsored instruction or activities to inform the building administrator or building administrator's designee as soon as possible, and within two business days submit a written report of the incident to the district office. The written report must include, at a minimum, the following information:

1. The date and time of the incident.
2. The name and job title of the individual who administered the restraint and/or isolation.
3. A description of the activity that led to the restraint and/or isolation.
4. The type of restraint and/or isolation used on the student, including the duration.
5. Whether the student or staff was physically injured during the restraint and/or isolation incident and any medical care provided.
6. Any recommendations for changing the nature or amount of resources available to the student and staff members in order to avoid similar incidents.

RCW 28A.600.485 further requires each school district to summarize the written reports of restraint and isolation of any student and submit the summaries to the OSPI annually, by January 1. For this collection, the district shall report the following data for each school:

1. Number of individual incidents of restraint and isolation.
2. Number of students involved in the incidents.
3. Number of injuries to students and staff.
4. Types of restraint or isolation used.

Key Audience:  Educational Service District Superintendents, School District Superintendents, School District Business Managers, School Special Education Directors, CEDARS Administrators

Of Notable Interest

Letter from Assistant Secretary Rodriguez re: Free COVID-19 Tests for School Districts

Dear Colleagues:

Thank you for your continued dedication to keeping students and staff safe and schools open for in-person learning. While the COVID-19 virus can be found year-round in the United States, infection rates are typically higher during the fall and winter months. To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, the U.S. Department of Education (ED), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is pleased to offer free, rapid, at-home COVID-19 tests to interested local educational agencies (LEAs).

LEAs may request over-the-counter (OTC) rapid antigen COVID-19 self-tests free of charge for their students, families, staff, and school community. These self-tests are easy to use and can play an important role in containing the spread of the virus in schools and communities. We encourage LEAs to make use of this free COVID-19 test offering, which schools may use, for example, to stock school nurses’ offices and main offices with tests; to send test kits home with students or parents; or to distribute by other means to put these valuable safeguards in the hands of students, parents, and staff who need them. The latest information on COVID-19 prevention in schools, including recommendations on testing, can be found at Operational Guidance for K-12 Schools and Early Care and Education Programs to Support Safe In-Person Learning, and guidance for mitigation of COVID-19 in the community at large can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html.

To participate in the COVID-19 Testing Supply Program, LEAs must complete a one-time registration at this link: https://protect-ows.hhs.gov/ASPR_COVID_DX. Before registering, LEAs should designate an official point of contact (POC) who will be responsible for ordering the COVID-19 self-test kits and managing their delivery and dissemination for the district. No other entities or individuals should access the registration link. When registering online, the designated POC is required to provide basic information, including, LEA ID, LEA Name, and LEA Physical Address. All submissions must be verified. Therefore, please make sure that your LEA’s information matches the information in our system at Search for Public School Districts (ed.gov). Once registered, POCs are required to participate in a brief training that provides instructions on how to access COVID-19 self-tests at no cost within the HHS Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response’s Health Partner Ordering Portal (HPOP). This training webinar will be held on December 6^th, 2023 at 1 pm EST. Once the one-time registration process is successfully completed, LEAs will receive instructions on how to participate in the training. LEAs that are unable to attend the training scheduled for December 6^th will be provided access to a recording of the training and ancillary materials. LEAs will be able to order COVID-19 tests after participating in the training, and ordering will continue while supplies last. Orders will be shipped directly to a designated delivery address within the school district and should arrive within approximately 14 days. For information about the COVID-19 Testing Supply Program, visit https://www.ed.gov/Coronavirus.

Thank you again for all you do to provide safe and healthy learning environments for students. ED remains committed to being a partner with school leaders in this critical work.

Sincerely,

Roberto J. Rodríguez

Assistant Secretary for Office of Planning,

Evaluation, and Policy Development

U.S. Department of Education

Headlines from the OSPI Blog

Student Stories: Academic Burnout is Real and Preventable

Monica Velasquez, a junior in high school in the Lake Stevens School District, writes that she was identified as a “gifted” student at a young age. That’s come with some challenges as she’s started experiencing academic burnout. In the latest piece from OSPI’s Student Stories Program, Velasquez writes about her experiences with academic burnout and offers suggestions for mitigating and preventing it. The Student Stories Program invites high school students from across Washington to write stories about their experiences in public education. Their stories are published on the OSPI Blog and the students are compensated for their work.