Public Act 102-0339 requires each school district’s time out and physical restraint oversight team to develop a plan for reducing and eventually eliminating the use of isolated time out, time out, and physical restraint in accordance with ISBE goals and benchmarks. Last week, ISBE announced the deadline for submitting such plans is July 1, 2022, with yearly progress reports to be submitted by July 1 of each year thereafter. To assist districts in creating their plans, ISBE also released a template and checklist that addresses required components of the plan and aligns with the ISBE goals and benchmarks. Districts need to notify parents that the plan and annual progress reports are available for review.
As a reminder, oversight teams need to include at least: teachers, paraprofessionals, school service personnel, and administrators. The team must develop a district-specific plan to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of restrictive interventions. The plan must include the actions needed to:
- Reduce and eventually eliminate the use of restrictive interventions;
- Develop individualized student plans to prevent the use of restrictive interventions (separate from a student’s IEP or 504 plan);
- Ensure appropriate school personnel are informed of a student’s history of physical or sexual abuse or other relevant medical and mental health information (consistent with federal and state laws governing confidentiality and privacy); and
- Support positive behavioral interventions and support, de-escalation, crisis intervention techniques that use alternative interventions, and debriefing meetings to reassess what occurred, why, and how to prevent the use of restrictive interventions the next time.
Progress is measured by the overall number of incidents of restrictive interventions as well as the number of students subjected to the interventions. In the first year, the goal established by ISBE is a 25% reduction in the use of restrictive interventions over a 12-month period for students experiencing more than five incidents in a 30-day period.
A district is exempt from the requirement to submit a plan and annual reports if it can demonstrate to ISBE that, (1) in the last 3 years, restrictive interventions have never been used, and (2) the district has adopted and enforces a written policy prohibiting the use of restrictive interventions.
If you have questions regarding the new rules or requirements for your district’s plan, please reach out to any Franczek attorney.