BILL REQ. #:  H-0653.3 

Read first time 01/24/2005.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to training regarding the use of force and physical restraints for school building administrators and other school security personnel; adding a new section to chapter 28A.300 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 28A.600 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 28A.300 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) By December 1, 2006, the superintendent of public instruction shall, in consultation with the Washington state school safety center advisory committee, develop a model policy and training standards and requirements for school building administrators and other school security personnel relative to the use of force and physical restraint in the common schools.
     (2) The model policy on the use of force and physical restraint must include:
     (a) Strategies for preventing student violence, self-injurious behavior, and suicide, including methods for the verbal and nonverbal de-escalation of potentially dangerous behavior occurring among groups of students or with an individual student;
     (b) Criteria for evaluating student behavior and identifying behavior that may require immediate intervention by means of force or physical restraint;
     (c) A definition of appropriate responses by school personnel to student behavior that requires immediate intervention;
     (d) A description of permitted methods of physical restraint, within the context of a use of force continuum appropriate to a common school environment, and the limited circumstances when such methods may be appropriate;
     (e) An explanation that if deadly force is permitted by local district policy, it should be used only as a last resort in response to a threat of imminent deadly force by a student;
     (f) An identification of the appropriate school personnel who may be authorized to administer force or physical restraint;
     (g) A description of staff training requirements and procedures for parental notification and follow-up, including procedures for receiving and investigating complaints regarding use of force and physical restraint practices; and
     (h) A description of reporting requirements, including the mandatory completion of an incident report form that is uniform throughout the district, the reporting of de-escalation techniques attempted or employed before the use of force or physical restraint, the details of the incident, witnesses to the incident, when the report must be filed, and the persons to whom the report must be made.
     (3) The model training standards and requirements for the use of force and physical restraint shall be developed after study and consideration by the superintendent and the advisory committee of various training curricula for school building administrators and other school security personnel that include:
     (a) Strategies for building positive relationships with and between students;
     (b) Techniques and strategies for the verbal and nonverbal de-escalation of conflict and violence;
     (c) Threat assessment and management techniques; and
     (d) School-based use-of-force continua that reflect the context of schools.
     (4) The model standards and training requirements shall:
     (a) Describe entry-level knowledge and basic minimum skills, a module of annual training, and a continuum of professional development training for school building administrators and other school security personnel;
     (b) Identify the scope of subjects in which building administrators and security personnel should receive training;
     (c) Recommend a minimum number of hours of annual training regarding:
     (i) Relationship building and communication skills;
     (ii) Verbal and nonverbal de-escalation techniques;
     (iii) Threat assessment and management techniques;
     (iv) Safety and legal implications of the use of force and physical restraint, and search and seizure; and
     (v) Other aspects of the delivery of school security services as determined by the superintendent and the advisory committee.
     (5) The model policy and training standards and requirements developed under this section shall be made available to serve as guidance to school districts and educational service districts and shall be posted on the superintendent of public instruction's web site.
     (6) By December 1, 2006, the superintendent shall report to the appropriate committees of the legislature regarding the model training standards and requirements for school building administrators and other school security personnel relative to the use of force and physical restraint. The superintendent and advisory committee also shall recommend options for the structure and delivery of training throughout the state, including accountability measures for the training required under section 2 of this act and a description of the continuing role and function of the school safety advisory committee.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.600 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) By September 1, 2007, each school district board of directors shall adopt a policy and establish training standards and requirements relative to the use of force and physical restraint by school building administrators and other school security personnel. District policies regarding the use of force and physical restraint should be tailored to reflect the contexts of the district's elementary, middle, and high schools, and may be incorporated into existing district policies regarding student conduct, discipline, and rights adopted pursuant to RCW 28A.600.010, and into the procedures for administering discipline developed pursuant to RCW 28A.600.020.
     (2) Beginning in the 2007-08 school year, school district boards of directors shall ensure that school district employees authorized by district policy to use force or physical restraint receive annual training that includes, but is not limited to instruction regarding:
     (a) Skills for effective communication with adolescents, and strategies for building positive relationships with and between students;
     (b) Appropriate interventions and procedures for preventing the need for physical restraint, including the de-escalation and redirection of problematic behavior and alternatives to physical restraint;
     (c) Methods for identifying dangerous behaviors on the part of students that may indicate the need for immediate intervention, either by force or physical restraint or an alternative to force or physical restraint;
     (d) Methods for evaluating the risk of harm in individual situations in order to determine whether the use of physical restraint is warranted;
     (e) The types of restraint permitted by district policy and their related safety considerations, including visual monitoring of a restrained student and information regarding the increased risk of injury to a student when restraint is employed for an extended period of time;
     (f) Procedures for parental notification and follow-up, including the receipt and investigation of complaints regarding use of force and physical restraint practices;
     (g) Reporting requirements, including the mandatory completion of an incident report form that is uniform throughout the district, the reporting of de-escalation techniques employed or attempted before the use of force or physical restraint, the details of the incident, witnesses to the incident, and the time period within which, and the persons to whom, the report must be made; and
     (h) The limitation on the use of deadly force only in response to a threat of imminent deadly force by another.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   If specific funding for the purposes of this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not provided by June 30, 2005, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and void.