The Florida legislature’s first enactment of law to address widespread concern about the use of seclusion and restraint on students with disabilities in public school has been signed by the Governor.
The new law will:
- Establish standards and procedures regarding the use, monitoring, documentation, and reporting of seclusion and restraint on students with disabilities.
- Prohibit school personnel from using a mechanical or manual physical restraint that restricts student’s breathing.
- Prohibit school personnel from closing, locking, or blocking a student in a room that is unlit and does not meet rules of the State Fire Marshal for seclusion time-out rooms.
- Require schools to prepare incident reports within 24 hours and to provide notification to a parent or guardian.
- Require schools to send the incident reports to the parent or guardian, principal, district special education director, and state special education bureau chief for monitoring purposes.