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613

CRISIS PREVENTION

The District believes that appropriate, proactive interventions, crisis prevention, and de-escalation techniques should be used to prevent and, when necessary, respond to students experiencing behavioral challenges in schools to create a positive, safe learning environment for all students and staff. When a student exhibits crisis behavior in the school setting, special rules apply that govern the response of school staff. This Crisis Prevention Protocol sets out required steps for school staff and Crisis Prevention Teams to follow to respond to students in crisis.

  1. All school staff will be provided training in, and will be expected to use, appropriate behavior management and de-escalation techniques with all students to prevent and mitigate crisis behavior.
  2. Where applicable, school staff will implement with fidelity the interventions and techniques set forth in a student’s IEP, 504 Plan, BIP, and/or Safety Plan.
  3. Before the start of each school year, building administration must designate at least three (3) District employees as members of that building’s Crisis Prevention Team. A School Resource Officer may not serve as a member of the Crisis Prevention Team.
  4. All members of the Crisis Prevention Team and school administrators overseeing Crisis Prevention Teams must receive annual CPI training (initial or refresher, as appropriate).
  5. Each Building must have a building-specific Crisis Prevention Protocol that is updated before the start of each school year. All building staff must receive training in this building-specific plan on an annual basis. This Crisis Prevention Protocol must include:
    1. The name of a school administrator and Crisis Prevention Team member who will serve as the school’s points of contact for the Executive Director of Behavior Supports and the Behavior Supports Director.
    2. Names and roles of all Crisis Prevention Team members.
    3. Appropriate circumstances for requesting the assistance of the Crisis Prevention Team, including to respond safely and effectively to students in an acute behavior crisis:
      An acute behavior crisis occurs when a student is engaging in behavior that presents, or in the absence of use of appropriate interventions and de-escalation techniques, may escalate into an immediate and imminent risk of substantial bodily injury to themselves or others.
      Substantial bodily injury is defined as bodily injury that involves:

      1. A temporary but substantial disfigurement; or
      2. A temporary but substantial loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member, organ, or mental faculty.
        When determining if the risk of substantial bodily injury is immediate and imminent, staff should objectively evaluate all relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to, the age and grade level of the student, the student’s approximate height and weight, and the size, shape, weight, and material of any items involved in the incident.
    4. Procedures for the Crisis Prevention Team to assist a student in crisis, which will include:
      1. Determining whether the student has an existing BIP/Safety Plan to follow in the event of a behavior crisis.
      2. Implementing all appropriate, feasible behavior interventions and de-escalation techniques (including those set forth in the student’s BIP/Safety Plan, if applicable) with fidelity.
      3. If the student is not able to de-escalate within the classroom, the Crisis Prevention Team will attempt to have the student voluntarily come to an alternative location in the building to continue de-escalation (but under no circumstances may building staff use seclusion as an intervention).
      4. Only after all appropriate, feasible interventions and de-escalation techniques have been implemented with fidelity and the student’s behavior continues to pose an imminent and
        immediate risk of substantial bodily injury to the student or others may the Crisis Prevention Team use physical restraint in accordance with Policy 616, “Use of Physical Restraint.”
      5. Law enforcement may not be involved in behavior events that are typically handled by the Crisis Prevention Team.
    5. After a Physical Restraint, the building administrator must provide counseling services or psychological services support from a school counselor or other licensed behavior health professional who was not involved in the Crisis Prevention call to the student immediately where possible, and otherwise by no later than the end of the following school day. Documentation must be completed to support that the required services were provided. Subject to obtaining parental consent, the District also will complete an evaluation of the student to determine if additional behavioral health services are required.
    6. If a student makes an overt or perceived threat of suicide or engages in an act of actual or mimicked self-harm, the District’s Suicide Prevention procedures must be immediately implemented with fidelity and documented.
    7. A school administrator/designee will notify the student’s parent of any Crisis Prevention event before the end of the school day. This contact will be documented in Infinite Campus on the Crisis Prevention Report form. A copy of this form must be provided to the parent within one (1) school day of the incident.
    8. A school administrator/designee will notify the student’s parent of an incident of physical restraint immediately, or as soon as reasonably practicable, and no later than when the student is dismissed from school that day. If the parent cannot be reached, this notification will occur within 24 hours of the physical restraint. The school administrator/designee will also complete the Physical Restraint report in Infinite Campus and provide the parent a copy of this report within 24 hours of the physical restraint.
    9. After each Crisis Prevention and/or physical restraint event, employees involved in the event(s) will ensure all fields in Infinite Campus are completed.
    10. Within three (3) school days after a physical restraint event, a school administrator will lead the Crisis Prevention team and any other appropriate District staff in a debriefing of the event. Within two (2) school days after the debriefing, the School Administrator and Behavior Supports Director will complete the Physical Restraint Debriefing fields in the Infinite Campus Physical Restraint form.
    11. Within two (2) days of a physical restraint event, the District will conduct a systematic review of the student’s FBA and BIP in accordance with Procedure 616a, “Requirements for FBAs/BIPs Following Physical Restraint Event.”

Dissemination of Information to Employees and Parents/Guardians

Before the first day of school, each building will provide all staff and parents/guardians of students registered in that building with a copy of this Protocol and a list of the Crisis Prevention Team members for each District school. The District also will prominently publicize this information on the homepage of its District-wide website.

  • Approved: 10-26-2022
  • Documents: 613
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