I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 927 

To prevent and reduce the use of physical restraint and seclusion in schools, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2015 

Mr. BEYER (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. 

CONNOLLY, Mr. LOEBSACK, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. TAKANO, 

Mr. TONKO, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. SLAUGHTER, 

Mr. COHEN, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, 

Mr. SCHIFF, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. PIERLUISI, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. 

SIRES, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. HIMES, Mr. HONDA, Mr. SABLAN, and Mr. 

MCGOVERN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To prevent and reduce the use of physical restraint and 

seclusion in schools, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Keeping All Students 

5 Safe Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Physical restraint and seclusion have re2 sulted in physical injury, psychological trauma, and 

3 death to children in public and private schools. Na4 tional research shows students have been subjected 

5 to physical restraint and seclusion in schools as a 

6 means of discipline, to force compliance, or as a sub7 stitute for appropriate educational support. 

8 (2) Behavioral interventions for children must 

9 promote the right of all children to be treated with 

10 dignity. All children have the right to be free from 

11 physical or mental abuse, aversive behavioral inter12 ventions that compromise health and safety, and any 

13 physical restraint or seclusion imposed solely for 

14 purposes of discipline or convenience. 

15 (3) Safe, effective, evidence-based strategies are 

16 available to support children who display challenging 

17 behaviors in school settings. Staff training focused 

18 on the dangers of physical restraint and seclusion as 

19 well as training in evidence-based positive behavior 

20 supports, de-escalation techniques, and physical re21 straint and seclusion prevention, can reduce the inci22 dence of injury, trauma, and death. 

23 (4) School personnel have the right to work in 

24 a safe environment and should be provided training 


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1 and support to prevent injury and trauma to them2 selves and others. 

3 (5) Despite the widely recognized risks of phys4 ical restraint and seclusion, a substantial disparity 

5 exists among many States and localities with regard 

6 to the protection and oversight of the rights of chil7 dren and school personnel to a safe learning environ8 ment. 

9 (6) Children are subjected to physical restraint 

10 and seclusion at higher rates than adults. Physical 

11 restraint which restricts breathing or causes other 

12 body trauma, as well as seclusion in the absence of 

13 continuous face-to-face monitoring, have resulted in 

14 the deaths of children in schools. 

15 (7) Children are protected from inappropriate 

16 physical restraint and seclusion in other settings, 

17 such as hospitals, health facilities, and non-medical 

18 community-based facilities. Similar protections are 

19 needed in schools, yet such protections must ac20 knowledge the differences of the school environment. 

21 (8) Research confirms that physical restraint 

22 and seclusion are not therapeutic, nor are these 

23 practices effective means to calm or teach children, 

24 and may have an opposite effect while simulta25 neously decreasing a child’s ability to learn. 


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1 (9) The effective implementation of school-wide 

2 positive behavior supports is linked to greater aca3 demic achievement, significantly fewer disciplinary 

4 problems, increased instruction time, and staff per5 ception of a safer teaching environment. 

6 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are to— 

8 (1) prevent and reduce the use of physical re9 straint and seclusion in schools; 

10 (2) ensure the safety of all students and school 

11 personnel in schools and promote a positive school 

12 culture and climate; 

13 (3) protect students from— 

14 (A) physical and mental abuse; 

15 (B) aversive behavioral interventions that 

16 compromise health and safety; and 

17 (C) any physical restraint or seclusion im18 posed solely for purposes of discipline or con19 venience; 

20 (4) ensure that physical restraint and seclusion 

21 are imposed in school only when a student’s behavior 

22 poses an imminent danger of physical injury to the 

23 student, school personnel, or others; and 

24 (5) assist States, local educational agencies, 

25 and schools in— 


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1 (A) establishing policies and procedures to 

2 keep all students, including students with the 

3 most complex and intensive behavioral needs, 

4 and school personnel safe; 

5 (B) providing school personnel with the 

6 necessary tools, training, and support to ensure 

7 the safety of all students and school personnel; 

8 (C) collecting and analyzing data on phys9 ical restraint and seclusion in schools; and 

10 (D) identifying and implementing effective 

11 evidence-based models to prevent and reduce 

12 physical restraint and seclusion in schools. 

13 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this Act: 

15 (1) CHEMICAL RESTRAINT.—The term ‘‘chem16 ical restraint’’ means a drug or medication used on 

17 a student to control behavior or restrict freedom of 

18 movement that is not— 

19 (A) prescribed by a licensed physician, or 

20 other qualified health professional acting under 

21 the scope of the professional’s authority under 

22 State law, for the standard treatment of a stu23 dent’s medical or psychiatric condition; and 

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1 fessional acting under the scope of the profes2 sional’s authority under State law. 

3 (2) EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY.—The 

4 term ‘‘educational service agency’’ has the meaning 

5 given such term in section 9101(17) of the Elemen6 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

7 U.S.C. 7801(17)). 

8 (3) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘elemen9 tary school’’ has the meaning given the term in sec10 tion 9101(18) of the Elementary and Secondary 

11 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(18)). 

12 (4) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

13 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

14 the term in section 9101(26) of the Elementary and 

15 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

16 7801(26)). 

17 (5) MECHANICAL RESTRAINT.—The term ‘‘me18 chanical restraint’’ has the meaning given the term 

19 in section 595(d)(1) of the Public Health Service 

20 Act (42 U.S.C. 290jj(d)(1)), except that the mean21 ing shall be applied by substituting ‘‘student’s’’ for 

22 ‘‘resident’s’’. 

23 (6) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ has the 

24 meaning given the term in section 9101(31) of the 


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1 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

2 (20 U.S.C. 7801(31)). 

3 (7) PHYSICAL ESCORT.—The term ‘‘physical es4 cort’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

5 595(d)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 290jj(d)(2)), except that the meaning shall 

7 be applied by substituting ‘‘student’’ for ‘‘resident’’. 

8 (8) PHYSICAL RESTRAINT.—The term ‘‘physical 

9 restraint’’ means a personal restriction that immo10 bilizes or reduces the ability of an individual to move 

11 the individual’s arms, legs, torso, or head freely, ex12 cept that such term does not include a physical es13 cort, mechanical restraint, or chemical restraint. 

14 (9) POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORTS.—The term 

15 ‘‘positive behavior supports’’ means a systematic ap16 proach to embed evidence-based practices and data17 driven decisionmaking to improve school climate and 

18 culture, including a range of systemic and individ19 ualized strategies to reinforce desired behaviors and 

20 diminish reoccurrence of problem behaviors, in order 

21 to achieve improved academic and social outcomes 

22 and increase learning for all students, including stu23 dents with the most complex and intensive behav24 ioral needs. 


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1 (10) PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYSTEM.— 

2 The term ‘‘protection and advocacy system’’ means 

3 a protection and advocacy system established under 

4 section 143 of the Developmental Disabilities Assist5 ance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 

6 15043). 

7 (11) SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘school’’ means an 

8 entity— 

9 (A) that— 

10 (i) is a public or private— 

11 (I) day or residential elementary 

12 school or secondary school; or 

13 (II) early childhood, elementary 

14 school, or secondary school program 

15 that is under the jurisdiction of a 

16 school, local educational agency, edu17 cational service agency, or other edu18 cational institution or program; and 

19 (ii) receives, or serves students who 

20 receive, support in any form from any pro21 gram supported, in whole or in part, with 

22 funds appropriated to the Department of 

23 Education; or 


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1 (B) that is a school funded or operated by 

2 the Department of the Interior or the Depart3 ment of Defense. 

4 (12) SCHOOL PERSONNEL.—The term ‘‘school 

5 personnel’’ has the meaning— 

6 (A) given the term in section 4151(10) of 

7 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

8 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7161(10)); and 

9 (B) given the term ‘‘school resource offi10 cer’’ in section 4151(11) of the Elementary and 

11 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

12 7161(11)). 

13 (13) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec14 ondary school’’ has the meaning given the term in 

15 section 9101(38) of the Elementary and Secondary 

16 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(38)). 

17 (14) SECLUSION.—The term ‘‘seclusion’’ means 

18 the involuntary confinement of a student alone in a 

19 room or area from which the student is physically 

20 prevented from leaving, except that such term does 

21 not include a time out. 

22 (15) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

23 means the Secretary of Education. 

24 (16) STATE-APPROVED CRISIS INTERVENTION

25 TRAINING PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘State-approved 


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1 crisis intervention training program’’ means a train2 ing program approved by a State and the Secretary 

3 that, at a minimum, provides— 

4 (A) training in evidence-based techniques 

5 shown to be effective in the prevention of phys6 ical restraint and seclusion; 

7 (B) training in evidence-based techniques 

8 shown to be effective in keeping both school 

9 personnel and students safe when imposing 

10 physical restraint or seclusion; 

11 (C) evidence-based skills training related to 

12 positive behavior supports, safe physical escort, 

13 conflict prevention, understanding antecedents, 

14 de-escalation, and conflict management; 

15 (D) training in first aid and cardio16 pulmonary resuscitation; 

17 (E) information describing State policies 

18 and procedures that meet the minimum stand19 ards established by regulations promulgated 

20 pursuant to section 5(a); and 

21 (F) certification for school personnel in the 

22 techniques and skills described in subpara23 graphs (A) through (D), which shall be required 

24 to be renewed on a periodic basis. 


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1 (17) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean2 ing given the term in section 9101 of the Elemen3 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

4 U.S.C. 7801). 

5 (18) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

6 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

7 the term in section 9101(41) of the Elementary and 

8 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

9 7801(41)). 

10 (19) STUDENT.—The term ‘‘student’’ means a 

11 student enrolled in a school defined in paragraph 

12 (11), except that in the case of a student enrolled 

13 in a private school or private program, such term 

14 means a student who receives support in any form 

15 from any program supported, in whole or in part, 

16 with funds appropriated to the Department of Edu17 cation. 

18 (20) TIME OUT.—The term ‘‘time out’’ has the 

19 meaning given the term in section 595(d)(5) of the 

20 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290jj(d)(5)), 

21 except that the meaning shall be applied by sub22 stituting ‘‘student’’ for ‘‘resident’’. 

23 SEC. 5. MINIMUM STANDARDS; RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

24 (a) MINIMUM STANDARDS.—Not later than 180 days 

25 after the date of the enactment of this Act, to protect each 


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1 student from physical or mental abuse, aversive behavioral 

2 interventions that compromise student health and safety, 

3 or any physical restraint or seclusion imposed solely for 

4 purposes of discipline or convenience or in a manner other5 wise inconsistent with this Act, the Secretary shall pro6 mulgate regulations establishing the following minimum 

7 standards: 

8 (1) School personnel shall be prohibited from 

9 imposing on any student the following: 

10 (A) Mechanical restraints. 

11 (B) Chemical restraints. 

12 (C) Physical restraint or physical escort 

13 that restricts breathing. 

14 (D) Aversive behavioral interventions that 

15 compromise health and safety. 

16 (2) School personnel shall be prohibited from 

17 imposing physical restraint or seclusion on a student 

18 unless— 

19 (A) the student’s behavior poses an immi20 nent danger of physical injury to the student, 

21 school personnel, or others; 

22 (B) less restrictive interventions would be 

23 ineffective in stopping such imminent danger of 

24 physical injury; 


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1 (C) such physical restraint or seclusion is 

2 imposed by school personnel who— 

3 (i) continuously monitor the student 

4 face-to-face; or 

5 (ii) if school personnel safety is sig6 nificantly compromised by such face-to-face 

7 monitoring, are in continuous direct visual 

8 contact with the student; 

9 (D) such physical restraint or seclusion is 

10 imposed by— 

11 (i) school personnel trained and cer12 tified by a State-approved crisis interven13 tion training program (as defined in sec14 tion 4(16)); or 

15 (ii) other school personnel in the case 

16 of a rare and clearly unavoidable emer17 gency circumstance when school personnel 

18 trained and certified as described in clause 

19 (i) are not immediately available due to the 

20 unforeseeable nature of the emergency cir21 cumstance; and 

22 (E) such physical restraint or seclusion 

23 ends immediately upon the cessation of the con24 ditions described in subparagraphs (A) and (B). 


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1 (3) States, in consultation with local edu2 cational agencies and private school officials, shall 

3 ensure that a sufficient number of personnel are 

4 trained and certified by a State-approved crisis 

5 intervention training program (as defined in section 

6 4(16)) to meet the needs of the specific student pop7 ulation in each school. 

8 (4) The use of physical restraint or seclusion as 

9 a planned intervention shall not be written into a 

10 student’s education plan, individual safety plan, be11 havioral plan, or individualized education program 

12 (as defined in section 602 of the Individuals with 

13 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401)). Local 

14 educational agencies or schools may establish poli15 cies and procedures for use of physical restraint or 

16 seclusion in school safety or crisis plans, provided 

17 that such school plans are not specific to any indi18 vidual student. 

19 (5) Schools shall establish procedures to be fol20 lowed after each incident involving the imposition of 

21 physical restraint or seclusion upon a student, in22 cluding— 

23 (A) procedures to provide to the parent of 

24 the student, with respect to each such inci25 dent— 


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1 (i) an immediate verbal or electronic 

2 communication on the same day as the in3 cident; and 

4 (ii) written notification within 24 

5 hours of the incident; and 

6 (B) any other procedures the Secretary de7 termines appropriate. 

8 (b) SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.—The Secretary 

9 of the Interior shall ensure that schools operated or fund10 ed by the Department of the Interior comply with the reg11 ulations promulgated by the Secretary under subsection 

12 (a). 

13 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec14 tion shall be construed to authorize the Secretary to pro15 mulgate regulations prohibiting the use of— 

16 (1) time out (as defined in section 4(20)); 

17 (2) devices implemented by trained school per18 sonnel, or utilized by a student, for the specific and 

19 approved therapeutic or safety purposes for which 

20 such devices were designed and, if applicable, pre21 scribed, including— 

22 (A) restraints for medical immobilization; 

23 (B) adaptive devices or mechanical sup24 ports used to achieve proper body position, bal25 ance, or alignment to allow greater freedom of 


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1 mobility than would be possible without the use 

2 of such devices or mechanical supports; or 

3 (C) vehicle safety restraints when used as 

4 intended during the transport of a student in a 

5 moving vehicle; or 

6 (3) handcuffs by school resource officers (as 

7 such term is defined in section 4151(11) of the Ele8 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

9 U.S.C. 7161(11)))— 

10 (A) in the— 

11 (i) case when a student’s behavior 

12 poses an imminent danger of physical in13 jury to the student, school personnel, or 

14 others; or 

15 (ii) lawful exercise of law enforcement 

16 duties; and 

17 (B) less restrictive interventions would be 

18 ineffective. 

19 SEC. 6. STATE PLAN AND REPORT REQUIREMENTS AND EN20 FORCEMENT. 

21 (a) STATE PLAN.—Not later than 2 years after the 

22 Secretary promulgates regulations pursuant to section 

23 5(a), and each year thereafter, each State educational 

24 agency shall submit to the Secretary a State plan that pro25 vides— 


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1 (1) assurances to the Secretary that the State 

2 has in effect— 

3 (A) State policies and procedures that 

4 meet the minimum standards, including the 

5 standards with respect to State-approved crisis 

6 intervention training programs, established by 

7 regulations promulgated pursuant to section 

8 5(a); and 

9 (B) a State mechanism to effectively mon10 itor and enforce the minimum standards; 

11 (2) a description of the State policies and pro12 cedures, including a description of the State-ap13 proved crisis intervention training programs in such 

14 State; and 

15 (3) a description of the State plans to ensure 

16 school personnel and parents, including private 

17 school personnel and parents, are aware of the State 

18 policies and procedures. 

19 (b) REPORTING.— 

20 (1) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Not later 

21 than 2 years after the date the Secretary promul22 gates regulations pursuant to section 5(a), and each 

23 year thereafter, each State educational agency shall 

24 (in compliance with the requirements of section 444 

25 of the General Education Provisions Act (commonly 


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1 known as the ‘‘Family Educational Rights and Pri2 vacy Act of 1974’’) (20 U.S.C. 1232g)) prepare and 

3 submit to the Secretary, and make available to the 

4 public, a report that includes the information de5 scribed in paragraph (2), with respect to each local 

6 educational agency, and each school not under the 

7 jurisdiction of a local educational agency, located in 

8 the same State as such State educational agency. 

9 (2) INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

10 (A) GENERAL INFORMATION REQUIRE11 MENTS.—The report described in paragraph (1) 

12 shall include information on— 

13 (i) the total number of incidents in 

14 the preceding full-academic year in which 

15 physical restraint was imposed upon a stu16 dent; and 

17 (ii) the total number of incidents in 

18 the preceding full-academic year in which 

19 seclusion was imposed upon a student. 

20 (B) DISAGGREGATION.— 

21 (i) GENERAL DISAGGREGATION RE22 QUIREMENTS.—The information described 

23 in subparagraph (A) shall be disaggregated 

24 by— 


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1 (I) the total number of incidents 

2 in which physical restraint or seclu3 sion was imposed upon a student— 

4 (aa) that resulted in injury; 

5 (bb) that resulted in death; 

6 and 

7 (cc) in which the school per8 sonnel imposing physical re9 straint or seclusion were not 

10 trained and certified as described 

11 in section 5(a)(2)(D)(i); and 

12 (II) the demographic characteris13 tics of all students upon whom phys14 ical restraint or seclusion was im15 posed, including— 

16 (aa) the categories identified 

17 in section 1111(h)(1)(C)(i) of the 

18 Elementary and Secondary Edu19 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

20 6311(h)(1)(C)(i)); 

21 (bb) age; and 

22 (cc) disability status (which 

23 has the meaning given the term 

24 ‘‘individual with a disability’’ in 

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1 tion Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

2 705(20))). 

3 (ii) UNDUPLICATED COUNT; EXCEP4 TION.—The disaggregation required under 

5 clause (i) shall— 

6 (I) be carried out in a manner to 

7 ensure an unduplicated count of the— 

8 (aa) total number of inci9 dents in the preceding full-aca10 demic year in which physical re11 straint was imposed upon a stu12 dent; and 

13 (bb) total number of inci14 dents in the preceding full-aca15 demic year in which seclusion 

16 was imposed upon a student; and 

17 (II) not be required in a case in 

18 which the number of students in a 

19 category would reveal personally iden20 tifiable information about an indi21 vidual student. 

22 (c) ENFORCEMENT.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (A) USE OF REMEDIES.—If a State edu2 cational agency fails to comply with subsection 

3 (a) or (b), the Secretary shall— 

4 (i) withhold, in whole or in part, fur5 ther payments under an applicable pro6 gram (as such term is defined in section 

7 400(c) of the General Education Provi8 sions Act (20 U.S.C. 1221)) in accordance 

9 with section 455 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

10 1234d); 

11 (ii) require a State educational agency 

12 to submit, and implement, within 1 year of 

13 such failure to comply, a corrective plan of 

14 action, which may include redirection of 

15 funds received under an applicable pro16 gram; or 

17 (iii) issue a complaint to compel com18 pliance of the State educational agency 

19 through a cease and desist order, in the 

20 same manner the Secretary is authorized 

21 to take such action under section 456 of 

22 the General Education Provisions Act (20 

23 U.S.C. 1234e). 

24 (B) CESSATION OF WITHHOLDING OF

25 FUNDS.—Whenever the Secretary determines 


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1 (whether by certification or other appropriate 

2 evidence) that a State educational agency who 

3 is subject to the withholding of payments under 

4 subparagraph (A)(i) has cured the failure pro5 viding the basis for the withholding of pay6 ments, the Secretary shall cease the withholding 

7 of payments with respect to the State edu8 cational agency under such subparagraph. 

9 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

10 subsection shall be construed to limit the Secretary’s 

11 authority under the General Education Provisions 

12 Act (20 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.). 

13 SEC. 7. GRANT AUTHORITY. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—From the amount appropriated 

15 under section 12, the Secretary may award grants to State 

16 educational agencies to assist the agencies in— 

17 (1) establishing, implementing, and enforcing 

18 the policies and procedures to meet the minimum 

19 standards established by regulations promulgated by 

20 the Secretary pursuant to section 5(a); 

21 (2) improving State and local capacity to collect 

22 and analyze data related to physical restraint and 

23 seclusion; and 


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1 (3) improving school climate and culture by im2 plementing school-wide positive behavior support ap3 proaches. 

4 (b) DURATION OF GRANT.—A grant under this sec5 tion shall be awarded to a State educational agency for 

6 a 3-year period. 

7 (c) APPLICATION.—Each State educational agency 

8 desiring a grant under this section shall submit an appli9 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

10 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may 

11 require, including information on how the State edu12 cational agency will target resources to schools and local 

13 educational agencies in need of assistance related to pre14 venting and reducing physical restraint and seclusion. 

15 (d) AUTHORITY TO MAKE SUBGRANTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency 

17 receiving a grant under this section may use such 

18 grant funds to award subgrants, on a competitive 

19 basis, to local educational agencies. 

20 (2) APPLICATION.—A local educational agency 

21 desiring to receive a subgrant under this section 

22 shall submit an application to the applicable State 

23 educational agency at such time, in such manner, 

24 and containing such information as the State edu25 cational agency may require. 


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1 (e) PRIVATE SCHOOL PARTICIPATION.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency 

3 receiving subgrant funds under this section shall, 

4 after timely and meaningful consultation with appro5 priate private school officials, ensure that private 

6 school personnel can participate, on an equitable 

7 basis, in activities supported by grant or subgrant 

8 funds. 

9 (2) PUBLIC CONTROL OF FUNDS.—The control 

10 of funds provided under this section, and title to ma11 terials, equipment, and property purchased with 

12 such funds, shall be in a public agency, and a public 

13 agency shall administer such funds, materials, equip14 ment, and property. 

15 (f) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—A State educational 

16 agency receiving a grant, or a local educational agency re17 ceiving a subgrant, under this section shall use such grant 

18 or subgrant funds to carry out the following: 

19 (1) Researching, developing, implementing, and 

20 evaluating strategies, policies, and procedures to pre21 vent and reduce physical restraint and seclusion in 

22 schools, consistent with the minimum standards es23 tablished by regulations promulgated by the Sec24 retary pursuant to section 5(a). 


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1 (2) Providing professional development, train2 ing, and certification for school personnel to meet 

3 such standards. 

4 (3) Carrying out the reporting requirements 

5 under section 6(b) and analyzing the information in6 cluded in a report prepared under such section to 

7 identify student, school personnel, and school needs 

8 related to use of physical restraint and seclusion. 

9 (g) ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In addi10 tion to the required activities described in subsection (f), 

11 a State educational agency receiving a grant, or a local 

12 educational agency receiving a subgrant, under this sec13 tion may use such grant or subgrant funds for one or more 

14 of the following: 

15 (1) Developing and implementing high-quality 

16 professional development and training programs to 

17 implement evidence-based systematic approaches to 

18 school-wide positive behavior supports, including im19 proving coaching, facilitation, and training capacity 

20 for administrators, teachers, specialized instructional 

21 support personnel, and other staff. 

22 (2) Providing technical assistance to develop 

23 and implement evidence-based systematic approaches 

24 to school-wide positive behavior supports, including 

25 technical assistance for data-driven decisionmaking 


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1 related to behavioral supports and interventions in 

2 the classroom. 

3 (3) Researching, evaluating, and disseminating 

4 high-quality evidence-based programs and activities 

5 that implement school-wide positive behavior sup6 ports with fidelity. 

7 (4) Supporting other local positive behavior 

8 support implementation activities consistent with 

9 this subsection. 

10 (h) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—Each State edu11 cational agency receiving a grant under this section shall, 

12 at the end of the 3-year grant period for such grant— 

13 (1) evaluate the State’s progress toward the 

14 prevention and reduction of physical restraint and 

15 seclusion in the schools located in the State, con16 sistent with the minimum standards established by 

17 regulations promulgated by the Secretary pursuant 

18 to section 5(a); and 

19 (2) submit to the Secretary a report on such 

20 progress. 

21 (i) DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.—From the 

22 amount appropriated under section 12, the Secretary may 

23 allocate funds to the Secretary of the Interior for activities 

24 under this section with respect to schools operated or 


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1 funded by the Department of the Interior, under such 

2 terms as the Secretary of Education may prescribe. 

3 SEC. 8. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT. 

4 (a) NATIONAL ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary shall 

5 carry out a national assessment to determine the effective6 ness of this Act, which shall include— 

7 (1) analyzing data related to physical restraint 

8 and seclusion incidents; 

9 (2) analyzing the effectiveness of Federal, 

10 State, and local efforts to prevent and reduce the 

11 number of physical restraint and seclusion incidents 

12 in schools; 

13 (3) identifying the types of programs and serv14 ices that have demonstrated the greatest effective15 ness in preventing and reducing the number of phys16 ical restraint and seclusion incidents in schools; and 

17 (4) identifying evidence-based personnel train18 ing models with demonstrated success in preventing 

19 and reducing the number of physical restraint and 

20 seclusion incidents in schools, including models that 

21 emphasize positive behavior supports and de-esca22 lation techniques over physical intervention. 

23 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to the 

24 Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House 


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1 of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Edu2 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate— 

3 (1) not later than 3 years after the date of en4 actment of this Act, an interim report that summa5 rizes the preliminary findings of the assessment de6 scribed in subsection (a); and 

7 (2) not later than 5 years after the date of the 

8 enactment of this Act, a final report of the findings 

9 of the assessment. 

10 SEC. 9. PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYSTEMS. 

11 Protection and Advocacy Systems shall have the same 

12 authorities and rights provided under subtitle C of title 

13 I of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of 

14 Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15041 et seq.) with respect 

15 to protections provided for students under this Act, includ16 ing investigating, monitoring, and enforcing such protec17 tions. 

18 SEC. 10. HEAD START PROGRAMS. 

19 (a) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Health and 

20 Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary, shall 

21 promulgate regulations with respect to Head Start agen22 cies administering Head Start programs under the Head 

23 Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9801 et seq.) that establish require24 ments consistent with— 


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1 (1) the requirements established by regulations 

2 promulgated pursuant to section 5(a); and 

3 (2) the reporting and enforcement requirements 

4 described in subsections (b) and (c) of section 6. 

5 (b) GRANT AUTHORITY.—From the amount appro6 priated under section 12, the Secretary may allocate funds 

7 to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to assist 

8 the Head Start agencies in establishing, implementing, 

9 and enforcing policies and procedures to meet the require10 ments established by regulations promulgated pursuant to 

11 subsection (a). 

12 SEC. 11. LIMITATION OF AUTHORITY. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act shall be con14 strued to restrict or limit, or allow the Secretary to restrict 

15 or limit, any other rights or remedies otherwise available 

16 to students or parents under Federal or State law or regu17 lation. 

18 (b) APPLICABILITY.— 

19 (1) PRIVATE SCHOOLS.—Nothing in this Act 

20 shall be construed to affect any private school that 

21 does not receive, or does not serve students who re22 ceive, support in any form from any program sup23 ported, in whole or in part, with funds appropriated 

24 to the Department of Education. 


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1 (2) HOME SCHOOLS.—Nothing in this Act shall 

2 be construed to— 

3 (A) affect a home school, whether or not a 

4 home school is treated as a private school or 

5 home school under State law; or 

6 (B) consider parents who are schooling a 

7 child at home as school personnel. 

8 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

10 as may be necessary to carry out this Act for fiscal year 

11 2016 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years. 

12 SEC. 13. PRESUMPTION OF CONGRESS RELATING TO COM13 PETITIVE PROCEDURES. 

14 (a) PRESUMPTION.—It is the presumption of Con15 gress that grants awarded under this Act will be awarded 

16 using competitive procedures based on merit. 

17 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—If grants are awarded 

18 under this Act using procedures other than competitive 

19 procedures, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a re20 port explaining why competitive procedures were not used. 

21 SEC. 14. PROHIBITION ON EARMARKS. 

22 None of the funds appropriated to carry out this Act 

23 may be used for a congressional earmark as defined in 


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1 clause 9e, of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Rep2 resentatives of the 114th Congress. 

Æ 


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