LAWS
A.C.A.§ 6-18-2401. Legislative findings.
The General Assembly finds that:
(1) It is the responsibility of each school district in Arkansas to ensure the safety of all students and school personnel;
(2) It is the responsibility of each school district in Arkansas to ensure that every student in Arkansas is safe and protected from being unnecessarily or inappropriately restrained;
(3) Safe, effective, evidence-based strategies should be the basis for protocols in public schools and educational settings to support every student who displays challenging behavior in a public school or educational setting;
(4) Providing school personnel with training that is focused on evidence-based positive behavioral support, de-escalation techniques, and physical restraint prevention can reduce the incidence of injury, trauma, and death;
(5) The effective implementation of school-wide positive behavioral support is linked to greater academic achievement, significantly fewer disciplinary problems, increased instruction time, and the perception of a safer teaching environment by school personnel;
(6) Positive behavioral support involves school-wide approaches that result in:
(A) Positive classroom and school climates;
(B) Prosocial student and school personnel interactions;
(C) Teaching a student academic, social, emotional, behavioral engagement, and achievement skills; and (D) Reinforcing the academic, social, emotional, behavioral engagement, and achievement skills of a student;
(7) The use of effective positive behavioral support in public schools and educational settings can prevent an emergency situation that requires the use of physical restraint on a student; and
(8) Every effort should be made to:
(A) Prevent the need for secluding a student or using a physical restraint on a student;
(B) Ensure that behavioral intervention is consistent with the right of a student to be free from abuse and treated with dignity;
(C) Avoid the use of physical restraint on a student to the greatest extent possible without endangering the safety of other students and school personnel;
(D) Avoid the use of a physical restraint on a student except in a situation where the behavior of the student poses an imminent danger of serious physical harm to the student or others;
(E) Discontinue the use of a physical restraint on a student as soon as the imminent danger of serious physical harm to the student or others dissipates; and
(F) Refrain from using chemical restraint or mechanical restraint in a public school or educational setting.
A.C.A.§ 6-18-2402. Applicability-Relation to other laws.
a) This subchapter applies to any school-aged and enrolled student regardless of whether the student has an identified disability.
(b)(1) This subchapter does not supersede federal or state law.
(2) A school district shall follow all relevant federal and state law, including without limitation the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq., the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 794 et seq., when a student with a disability is restrained or secluded or whenever restraining or secluding a student with a disability is contemplated.
(c) Each school district shall:
(1) Adopt policies and procedures that are consistent with the provisions of this subchapter;
(2) Review the Department of Education Special Education and Related Services Guidelines, § 20.00 Time-Out Seclusion Room; and
(3) Provide its school personnel with the training, tools, and support needed to ensure the safety of all students and school personnel.
A.C.A.§ 6-18-2403. Definitions.
As used in this subchapter:
(4)(A) "Chemical restraint" means the use of a drug or medication to control the behavior of a student or restrict the free movement of the student.
(B) "Chemical restraint" does not include the use of medication that is:
(i) Prescribed by a licensed physician, or other qualified health professional acting within the scope of his or her professional authority under state law, for the standard treatment of a medical or psychiatric condition of a student; and
(ii) Administered as prescribed by the licensed physician or other qualified health professional acting within the scope of his or her professional authority under state law;
(17)(A) "Mechanical restraint" means the use of a device or equipment to restrict the free movement of a student.
(B) "Mechanical restraint" does not include a:
(i) Device that is used by trained school personnel or a student for a specific and approved therapeutic purpose or safety purpose for which the device was designed or prescribed; or
(ii) Vehicle safety restraint that is appropriately used in the manner for which it was designed during the transport of a student in a moving vehicle;
(21)(A) "Physical restraint" means a personal restriction that immobilizes or reduces the ability of a student to move his or her torso, arm, leg, or head freely.
(B) "Physical restraint" does not include a physical escort;
(23) "Prone restraint" means restraining a student in a face- down position on the floor or another surface and applying physical pressure to the body of the student to keep the student in the prone position;
(24) "Punishment" means an action that:
(A) May follow an inappropriate behavior of a student;
(B) Is taken with the goal of decreasing, stopping, or eliminating the future reoccurrence of the inappropriate behavior of the student; and
(C) Is not taken with the goal of replacing the inappropriate behavior of the student with future appropriate behavior by the student;
(26) "Serious physical harm" means bodily injury that involves a substantial risk of death, extreme physical pain, protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty;
(29) "Supine restraint" means the restraint of a student in a face-up position on his or her back on the floor or another surface and with physical pressure applied to the body of the student to keep the student in the supine position.
A.C.A.§ 6-18-2405. Physical restraint.
(a)(1) Physical restraint of a student shall be used only by a member of school personnel who is appropriately trained to administer physical restraint except in the case of a clearly unavoidable emergency situation in which a trained member of school personnel is not immediately available due to the unforeseeable nature of the emergency situation.
(2) If an incident occurs in which a trained member of school personnel is not immediately available due to the unforeseeable nature of the emergency situation, a school district shall:
(A) Reevaluate the training needs of school personnel in the school district;
(B) Reevaluate the physical restraint policy and practices of the school district; and
(C) Develop a plan to prevent a future incident.
(3) School personnel who administer physical restraint may be trained:
(A) By a person who is certified by a training program that meets the criteria specified in § 6-18-2209; and
(B) In-state guidelines and the policies and procedures of the school district concerning the physical restraint of a student.
(b)(1) School personnel shall use the least restrictive technique necessary to end imminent danger or serious physical harm to a student and others.
(2) The ability of a student to communicate shall not be restricted unless the use of a less restrictive technique by school personnel will not prevent imminent danger of serious physical harm to the student or others.
(c) When using a crisis intervention procedure or technique, school personnel shall consider the health and safety of a student, including without limitation whether the student has an existing medical condition that makes the use of physical restraint inadvisable.
(d) Supine restraint shall not be used unless:
(1) The school personnel administering the supine restraint has been trained by a person who is certified by a training program that meets the criteria specified in § 6-18-2209; and
(2) A person who is certified by a training program that meets the criteria specified in § 6-18-2209 determines that supine restraint is required to provide safety for the student and others.
(e) If physical restraint is used on a student, the student shall be continuously and visually observed and monitored while he or she is under physical restraint.
(f) When using physical restraint on a student, school personnel shall:
(1) Use the safest method available and appropriate to the situation;
(2) Use the amount of force that is reasonably necessary to protect a student or others from imminent danger of serious physical harm to the student or others; and
(3) Not verbally abuse, ridicule, humiliate, taunt, or engage in any other similar action towards the student.
(g) Physical restraint of a student shall:
(1) Be used for a limited period of time; and
(2) Not be used:
(A) When imminent danger or serious physical harm to the student or others dissipates or a medical condition occurs that puts the student at risk of harm;
(B) Unless the behavior of the student poses an imminent danger of serious physical harm to the student or others;
(C) After the threat of imminent danger of serious physical harm to the student or others dissipates; or
(D) In the following manner:
(i) To punish or discipline the student;
(ii) To coerce the student;
(iii) To force the student to comply;
(iv) To retaliate against the student;
(v) To replace the use of an appropriate educational or behavioral support;
(vi) As a routine safety measure;
(vii) As a planned behavioral intervention in response to behavior of the student that does not pose an imminent danger of serious physical harm to the student or others;
(viii) As a convenience for school personnel; or
(ix) To prevent property damage unless the act of damaging property committed by the student poses an imminent danger or serious physical harm to the student and others.
(h) School personnel shall not use the following on a student:
(1) Mechanical restraint;
(2) Chemical restraint;
(3) Aversive behavioral interventions that compromise health and safety;
(4) Physical restraint that is:
(A) Life-threatening; or
(B) Medically contraindicated unless the behavior of the student poses an imminent danger of serious physical harm to the student or others; or
(5) Prone restraint or other restraint that restricts the breathing of a student.
(i)(1) The use of physical restraint on a student as a planned behavioral intervention shall not be included in a student's Individualized Education Program, 504 Plan, Behavior Intervention Plan, individual safety plan, or other individual planning document.
(2) However, if appropriate, physical restraint of a student may be considered as a crisis intervention for the student.
(j) A Functional Behavior Assessment shall be conducted following the first incident of physical restraint used on a student unless a previous Functional Behavior Assessment was conducted for the same behavior that was at issue when the physical restraint was used.
(k) The use of a technique that is abusive shall be reported to the Child Abuse Hotline and law enforcement.
REGULATIONS
005.18.020-20.01. General.
20.01.1 The time-out seclusion room is an extension of such techniques as turning a chair away from a group or placing a student in a corner or in the hallway.
20.01.2 Time-out is only effective if the classroom environment from which the student is removed is more reinforcing than the isolation area in which he is placed.
005.18.020-20.02. Definition.
20.02.1 Time-out
As used in these regulations, time-out is defined as the removal of the opportunity to engage in reinforced behavior.
005.18.020-20.03. Restrictions on the use of a time-out seclusion room.
20.03.1 Time-out seclusion should be used only for behaviors that are destructive to property, aggressive toward others or severely disruptive to the class environment. General noncompliance, self-stimulation, academic refusal, etc., can be responded to with less stringent and restrictive techniques.
20.03.2 The time-out seclusion room should be used only as a last resort if and when less restrictive means of controlling behavior have proven ineffective.
20.03.3 The necessity of using physical force to place a student in a time-out seclusion room is inappropriate beyond that reasonably managed by the classroom teacher.
20.03.3.1 Involuntary time-out must not be used with such students and, in general, time-out is not an appropriate intervention for classroom use with any students older than 12 unless they have made a contractual agreement for its use.
20.03.3.2 It is important that teachers realistically evaluate their ability to physically remove a student to the time-out room.
20.03.3.3 If there is a reasonable doubt concerning the capability of the teacher to physically remove the resistant student, the teacher should not begin to attempt the time-out procedure. In such a case, an alternative strategy should be implemented.
20.03.4 Time-out seclusion rooms must meet structural guidelines and provide for continuous monitoring, visually and auditorily, of the student's behavior by an adult. (Refer to § 20.04.9 of this part for structural guidelines.)
005.18.020-20.04. Guidelines for appropriate use of a time-out seclusion room.
20.04.1 The teacher or behavioral specialist should have documentation that milder forms of time-out or other reduction techniques have proven ineffective in suppressing the inappropriate behavior.
20.04.2 The use of seclusion time-out and the behaviors which will result in its use must be explicitly stated in the student's IEP. Parent consent for the use of a time-out seclusion procedure should be documented.
20.04.3 Time-out must be paired with a behavioral plan to provide positive reinforcement for appropriate behaviors. This must also be included in the student's IEP.
20.04.4 Written procedures must be developed and followed for each student whose IEP includes the use of time-out.
20.04.5 The following guidelines should be adhered to for effective use of the timeout seclusion room.
20.04.5.1 Avoid lengthy verbal explanations. Behaviors resulting in time-out should be clearly explained prior to implementing the time-out program. Explanations provided during use of time-out should be brief, but should adequately inform the student of his/her misbehavior, such as, "Because you _____________, you must go to time-out for ________minutes." All other verbal interaction should be avoided.
20.04.5.2 To maximize opportunities to exercise self-control, students should be given the opportunity to take their own time-out after receiving instructions from the teacher. However, if students refuse to take their own time-out, or if they fail to respond to the teacher's instructions within a reasonable time interval (5 to 10 seconds), the teacher should physically remove them to the time-out area. (Refer to § 20.03.3 of these regulations regarding physically removing the child to the time-out area.)
20.04.5.3 For high intensity behavior (e.g., kicking, screaming), the student should immediately be escorted to the time-out room.
20.04.6 Time Spent In Time-Out Seclusion Room
20.04.6.1 Length of time spent in the time-out seclusion room must be documented and kept within the specified time limits
A. Preschool -no more than 5 minutes for each exclusion.
B. Lower elementary -no more than 15 minutes for each exclusion.
C. Middle/upper elementary -no more than 20 minutes for each exclusion.
20.04.6.2 At the end of the prescribed time, the student should be offered the opportunity to rejoin the class. If the student chooses to stay in time-out, the door must be left open at this time. When a student consistently chooses to stay in the time-out seclusion room beyond the prescribed time limit, the use of this procedure must be reviewed. The time-out room may be providing more reinforcement than the environment from which the student was removed.
20.04.6.3 Should there be a need for a time-out period to extend past the prescribed time limits, the appropriateness of continuing the time-out procedure should be evaluated immediately by knowledgeable professionals (i.e., principal, counselor, special education staff).
20.04.6.4 Careful consideration must be taken in extending the prescribed length of the time-out seclusion. The effectiveness of the time-out procedure is the result of its consistent use, rather than the length of stay in the timeout seclusion room.
20.04.7 Records Must Be Kept Of Each Occasion When Time-Out Seclusion Is Used. The Records Should Include
20.04.7.1 The student's name;
20.04.7.2 The behavior for which time-out is being used, as specified in the IEP; and
20.04.7.3 The time of day the student was placed in and released from time-out.
20.04.8 When the use of time-out seclusion is included in a student's IEP, it is recommended that the use of time-out to address specific student behaviors be reviewed by a knowledgeable professional(s) twice monthly.
20.04.8.1 The use of the time-out seclusion procedure shall be altered or discontinued as a behavioral management technique if data do not support its effectiveness.
20.04.8.2 The continued and/or frequent need for this type of behavioral intervention could indicate that behavioral objectives, management techniques or other factors affecting the learning environment are not appropriately matched with the student's needs and behaviors.
20.04.9 If A Time-Out Room Is To Be Employed, The Time-Out Room Should
20.04.9.1 Be at least 4' X 4' and no larger than 6' X 6' in size;
20.04.9.2 Be properly lighted (preferably recessed lighting, with switches outside the room). Lighting should remain on at all times;
20.04.9.3 Be properly ventilated;
20.04.9.4 Be free of objects and fixtures;
20.04.9.5 Provide the means by which an adult can continuously monitor, visually and auditorily, the student's behavior;
20.04.9.6 The door should be such that it cannot be locked; and
20.04.9.7 Meet state and county fire and safety codes.
20.04.10 In addition, it is necessary that all personnel involved in designing and implementing behavioral management procedures, including the use of timeout seclusion, be adequately trained and supervised. It is imperative that these persons have attained levels of skill and competency so that their qualifications correspond to their responsibilities.