Skip navigation
616

USE OF PHYSICAL RESTRAINT

It is the District’s policy that physical restraint may only be used as a last resort when a student is engaging in behavior that presents an immediate and imminent risk of substantial bodily injury to the student or others.  

“Physical restraint” means any physical contact between any District employee or contractor and a student in which the student involuntarily participates and that immobilizes a student or reduces the ability of that student to move the student’s torso, arms, legs, or head freely. The term includes holding or grabbing a student to escort, compel, or coerce the student to move to another location within the school. It does not include a temporary touching of the hand, wrist, arm, shoulder, or back without applying pressure or force for the purpose of guiding or directing a student.   An action need not be a trained technique to meet the definition of “Physical Restraint” for purposes of this policy.  Physical restraint includes the use of transport restraint, blocking pads, or any other device to move a student involuntarily from one area to another.

“Substantial bodily injury” means a temporary but substantial disfigurement or a temporary but substantial loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member, organ, or mental faculty.

Any use of physical restraint by school employees must meet the following requirements:

  1. The employee(s) involved must only use physical restraint as a last resort after all appropriate, feasible behavior interventions and de-escalation techniques (including those set forth in the student’s BIP, if applicable) have been implemented with fidelity and have not resolved the immediate and imminent risk of substantial bodily injury.
  2. Only Crisis Prevention Team members may use physical restraint, unless an emergency arises where the student engages in, or attempts to engage in, substantial bodily injury before the Crisis Prevention Team is called or arrives.  If this occurs, the Crisis Prevention Team will take over the implementation of the physical restraint immediately upon arrival.
  3. Only CPI-approved techniques may be used to physically restrain a student, unless an emergency arises under section 2, above, in which case the Crisis Prevention Team will implement CPI-approved techniques upon taking over the implementation of the physical restraint immediately upon arrival.
  4. Physical restraint of a student will end as soon as the student’s behavior no longer poses an immediate risk of substantial bodily injury to the student or others.
  5. Physical restraint will only be used for the minimum time necessary to prevent the immediate and imminent risk of substantial bodily injury to the student or others.
  6. Physical restraint must never be used as a punishment or to enforce compliance with rules or directives.
  7. After a physical restraint has concluded, the District will provide counseling or psychological services or supports to the student from a school counselor or other licensed behavior health professional immediately, or no later than the end of the following school day.  Subject to obtaining parental consent, the District also will complete an evaluation of the student to determine if additional behavioral health services are required.  The counselor or behavioral health professional will process with the student to re-establish a sense of safety, connection, meaning, and efficacy into the school environment.
  8. If a student makes any overt or perceived threat of suicide or engages in an act of actual or mimicked self-harm, District procedures for suicide and prevention must be immediately implemented with fidelity and documented.

All incidents of physical restraint must be documented in Infinite Campus on the date of the incident.  The school administrator/designee will attempt to contact the parent/guardian of the student no later than the student’s dismissal that day and will provide a copy of the initial physical restraint documentation in Infinite Campus to the parent/guardian within one (1) day of the incident of physical restraint.  Complete documentation, including debriefing meeting information, will be provided to the Parent/Guardian within ten (10) school days of the incident.

  • Approved: 10-26-2022
  • Documents: 616
Back to Series 600