HSB 598

The bill directs the director of the department of education to develop and establish, and distribute to school districts, standards, guidelines, and expectations for responses to behavior in the classroom that presents an imminent threat of bodily injury to a student or another person. The director must consult with the area education agencies to create comprehensive and consistent standards and guidance for professional development relating to successfully educating individuals in the least restrictive environment. The bill defines “bodily injury” as physical pain, illness, or any other impairment of physical condition. The bill appropriates $500,000 to the department from the general fund of the state for FY 2020-2021 for such purposes. PRACTITIONER PREPARATION REQUIREMENTS. Approved practitioner preparation programs must include preparation in preparation for educating individuals in the least restrictive environment and other strategies to address difficult and violent student behavior and improve academic engagement and achievement. This provision takes effect July 1, 2021. CLASSROOM CLEAR REQUIREMENTS. Though an IEP developed for a child requiring special education shall not include provision for clearing all other students out of the regular classroom in order to calm the child, a classroom teacher may clear students from a classroom if a student’s behavior presents an immediate danger to the health or safety of persons in the classroom. _____ district must, by the end of the school day optimally or at least within hours of the incident, notify the parents or guardians of all students assigned to the classroom of the action taken to clear the classroom. The principal of the school shall request that the parent or guardian of the student whose behavior caused the classroom clearance meet with the principal, the classroom teacher, and other staff as appropriate, prior to the student’s return to the classroom. If the student has an IEP, the classroom teacher may call for and be included in a reevaluation of the student’s IEP by the student’s IEP team. A classroom teacher must report any alleged incident of violence or assault by a student to the principal. REPORTS TO COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY. A teacher or administrator may report alleged incidents of violence or assault by a student enrolled in the school district to the commissioner of public safety, who shall compile and summarize the reports and submit the summary by September annually to the general assembly and the department of education. A teacher or administrator who submits such a report and meets certain statutory requirements is immune from civil or criminal liability. Personal information regarding a student in such a report is confidential. THERAPEUTIC CLASSROOM INCENTIVE GRANT AND FUND. A school district, which may collaborate and partner with one or more school districts, area education agencies, and accredited nonpublic schools in mental health and disability services regions providing children’s behavioral health services, may apply for a grant to establish a therapeutic classroom in the school district. The department is directed to develop a grant application and selection and evaluation criteria, and to give priority to grant applications submitted by school districts located in regions providing children’s behavioral health services, with highest priority to those proposing to serve the most students. _____ If state, federal, or private moneys deposited in the therapeutic classroom incentive fund are sufficient, the department of education may issue grants to school districts for the establishment of therapeutic classrooms. Grant moneys shall be distributed after July but before the start of the school calendar for start-up costs for a new therapeutic classroom in the fall semester.5 pupils calculated for 150 pupils. The therapeutic classroom incentive fund is established in the state treasury under the control of the department of education. The department may accept gifts, grants, bequests, and other private contributions, as well as state or federal moneys, for deposit in the fund. Provisions relating to the therapeutic classroom incentive grant and fund take effect upon enactment. TRANSPORTATION TO THERAPEUTIC CLASSROOMS. Pupils who are enrolled in a school district or in an accredited nonpublic school located within the boundaries of the school district, but who are assigned to a therapeutic classroom that is located more than miles from the school district of enrollment and is operated by another school district or accredited nonpublic school under an agreement between the school districts or between a school district and an accredited nonpublic school, are assigned a supplementary weighting of two-tenths per pupil. The department shall prorate the amount of supplementary weighting paid if the amount of additional funding for all school districts exceeds $500,000. CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. _____ department of education, which results from reasonable and necessary physical contact with a student, and establishes an evidentiary standard for a disciplinary action. Under the bill, if an employee’s physical contact with the body of a student meets current statutory requirements and is reasonable and necessary under the circumstances in the opinion of a reasonable person at the time of the incident, the physical contact shall not be considered corporal punishment. To the current circumstances under which a school employee shall be granted immunity, the bill adds relocating a student who is causing a severe distraction or disturbance that is detracting from the educational experience of other students, and relocating a student who is not responding to verbal or written instructions that are intended to change the immediate behavior of the student or relocating a student who is exhibiting passive resistance behaviors. To prevail in a disciplinary action alleging violation of the corporal punishment provisions or a related school policy, the bill provides that the party bringing the action must prove the violation by clear and convincing evidence. EMERGENCY RULEMAKING AUTHORITY. The bill authorizes the state board of education to adopt emergency rules to implement the bill. This provision takes effect upon enactment.