Arkansas Code of 1987 (2023) › Title 6 - EDUCATION (§§ 6-1-101 — 6-87-104) › Subtitle 2 - ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION GENERALLY (§§ 6-10-101 — 6-28-206) › Chapter 18 - STUDENTS (§§ 6-18-101 — 6-18-2608) › Subchapter 24 - STUDENT RESTRAINTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS OR EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS (§§ 6-18-2401 — 6-18-2409) › Section 6-18-2404 - Prevention

(a)
School districts shall implement positive behavioral supports that shall be used at the:
(1)
Prevention level for each student in a school;
(2)
Strategic intervention level for a student who is not responding, from a social, emotional, or behavioral perspective, to the prevention level; and
(3)
Intensive service or crisis-management level for a student who needs multifaceted or comprehensive behavioral or mental health services.
(b)
Positive behavioral support implemented by a school district shall include:
(1)
The teaching and reinforcing of interpersonal, social, problem solving, conflict resolution, and coping skills to a student;
(2)
Holding a student positively accountable for meeting an established behavioral expectation;
(3)
Maintaining a high level of consistency through the implementation process; and
(4)
The following interrelated activities:
(A)
Providing a school-wide approach to the discipline and safety of each student rather than an approach to only the behavior problem of a student;
(B)
Focusing on preventing the development and occurrence of problem behavior;
(C)
Regularly reviewing behavior data to adapt the procedures of a school to meet the needs of every student; and
(D)
Providing a multitiered approach to academic and behavioral services and support to meet the academic and behavioral achievement needs of each student.
(c)
A positive behavioral support system and conflict resolution or de-escalation approach implemented by a school district shall be based on the following principles:
(1)
A school should promote the right of a student to be treated with dignity;
(2)
A student should receive necessary academic, social, emotional, and behavioral support that is provided in a safe and least-restrictive environment possible;
(3)
Positive and appropriate academic, social, emotional, or behavioral intervention, as well as mental health support, should be provided routinely to each student who needs the intervention or support;
(4)
School personnel should be trained to provide routinely positive and appropriate academic, social, emotional, or behavioral intervention, as well as mental health support, to each student who needs the intervention or support;
(5)
Behavioral intervention should emphasize prevention and should be a part of a school's system of positive behavioral support;
(6)
A school should have the school personnel necessary to effectively provide positive support to a student;
(7)
A school should appropriately train its school personnel to be able to address the needs of each student;
(8)
All relevant school personnel, as determined by each public school district, should receive training in:
(A)
The use of positive behavioral support for student behavior and in preventive techniques for teaching and motivating prosocial student behavior; and
(B)
Conflict de-escalation and resolution techniques, and these techniques should be employed by all school personnel to prevent, defuse, evaluate, and debrief a crisis and conflict situation; and
(9)
Each student who exhibits an ongoing behavior that interferes with his or her learning or the learning of others, and who is nonresponsive to effectively implemented classroom or administrative intervention, should receive additional intensive behavioral intervention that is based on a functional behavior assessment and data-based problem solving.
(d)
(1)
A school shall establish a problem-solving and intervention team for each student who exhibits social, emotional, or behavioral difficulty that may escalate, if not addressed, to potentially dangerous behavior.
(2)
A problem-solving and intervention team shall include a team member who is an academic and behavioral assessment and intervention professional.
(3)
A problem-solving and intervention team shall:
(A)
Work with the teachers of a student to complete:
(i)
A functional behavior assessment of the student; and
(ii)
An assessment of any problematic situations involving the student; and
(B)
Consider the need for a behavior intervention plan with the goal of preventing or resolving the social, emotional, or behavioral difficulty of the student and developing a response that will de-escalate and stabilize a potential emergency situation that approaches the danger level.
(4)
If a student is suspected of having a disability that relates to behavioral concerns, the school shall follow school district, state, and federal special education procedures.
Added by Act 2021, No. 1084,§ 1, eff. 7/28/2021.