Time-Out Practices Inclusive of Physical Restraint

Physical restraint and seclusion are strictly 'last resort' emergency measures used only to prevent serious harm when all other safety methods have failed.

SECTION E SUPPORT SERVICES 2 b. Time-Out Practices Inclusive of Physical Restraint: (Voted 2/27/03, #03-12 and #03-13; 2/14/13, #13-12; 12/17/15, #15-84; 4/28/16, #16-24; 4/7/22, #22-23; 3/26/26, #26-38) (previously known as the Physical Restraint Policy) I. Introduction It is the policy of the Brookline School Committee to promote a safe and productive workplace and educational environment for its employees and students, and to ensure that every student in the Brookline Public Schools is free from the use of physical restraint and seclusion that is consistent with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education regulations, and that physical restraint and seclusion shall only be used with extreme caution as a last resort in emergency situations, supervised, after other lawful and less intrusive alternatives have failed or been deemed inappropriate. We believe in preventive and positive approaches to discipline with interventions and consequences aimed at addressing the causes of misbehavior, resolving conflicts, meeting students’ needs, and keeping students in school. We believe it is the responsibility of all school staff, students, families, and the community to contribute to a school community that promotes a safe, secure, and learning environment. Preventive and positive discipline is a shared responsibility for students, administrators, teachers, families, and the community. School personnel shall only administer a physical restraint as a last resort when it is needed to protect a student and/or a member of the school community from imminent, serious, physical harm. When a physical restraint needs to be administered, school personnel shall seek to prevent or minimize any harm to the student as a result of the use of the physical restraint. School personnel shall further ensure that the physical restraint is supervised by another adult as quickly as practicable. This policy shall not be construed to limit the protection afforded to publicly funded students under other federal and state laws, including those laws that provide for the rights of students who have been found eligible to receive special education services. Additionally, this policy shall not be construed to preclude any teacher, employee or agent of a public education program from using reasonable and necessary force to protect students, other persons or themselves from assault or imminent, serious, physical harm. The Superintendent will develop written procedures and guidelines related to this policy identifying: • Appropriate responses to student behavior that may require immediate intervention; • Alternative methods that should be used first when seeking to prevent student violence, self- injurious behavior and/or de-escalating potentially dangerous behavior occurring among groups of students or with an individual student, including alternative methods in emergency situations that avoid resorting to physical restraint. • Methods for engaging parents in discussions about restraint prevention and use of restraint solely as an emergency procedure; • A statement prohibiting: medication restraint, mechanical restraint, prone restraint unless permitted by 603 CMR 46.03(1)(b), seclusion, and the use of physical restraint in a manner inconsistent with 603 CMR 46.00; • A process for obtaining Principal/Head of School approval for a time out exceeding 30 minutes. • A process for notifying families of any time out exceeding 30 minutes. II. District’s Physical Restraint Procedures A. Definitions "Consent" shall mean agreement by a parent/guardian/caregiver who has been fully informed of all information relevant to the activity for which agreement is sought, in their native language or other mode of communication, that the parents/guardians/caregivers understand and agree in writing to the carrying out of the activity, and understand that the agreement is voluntary and may be revoked at any time. The agreement describes the activity and lists the records (if any) which will be released and to whom. "Restraint" shall mean limitation on a student's physical movement using force against the student's resistance. "Physical restraint" shall mean direct physical contact that prevents or significantly restricts a student's freedom of movement. The term physical restraint does not include prone restraint, mechanical restraint, or medication restraint. Additionally, physical restraint does not include: providing brief physical contact, without force, to promote student safety or limit self-injurious behavior, providing physical guidance or prompting when teaching a skill, redirecting attention, providing comfort, or a physical escort. "Physical escort" shall mean a temporary touching or holding, without the use of force, of the hand, wrist, arm, shoulder, or back for the purpose of inducing a student who is agitated to walk to a safe location. "Mechanical restraint" shall mean the use of a physical device to restrict the movement of a student or the movement or normal function of a portion of their body. A protective or stabilizing device ordered by a physician shall not be considered a mechanical restraint. The use of a mechanical restraint is prohibited unless explicitly authorized by the student’s physician and consented to in writing by the parents/guardians/caregivers of the student. Seclusion is defined as the involuntary confinement of a student alone in a room or area, with or without adult supervision, from which the student is not permitted to leave. “The term does not include: a classroom or school environment where, as a general rule, all students need permission to leave the room or area, such as to use the restroom; a behavior support technique that is part of the district’s, school’s or program’s designated procedures for behavior support which involves the monitored separation of a student in an unlocked setting, from which the student is allowed to leave and it is implemented for the purpose of calming; or placing a student in a separate location within a classroom with others or with an instructor, so long as the student has the same opportunity to receive and engage in instruction.” The use of seclusion is expressly prohibited, except in an emergency situation in which the student poses an imminent threat of assault or serious physical harm, and only when all other less intrusive interventions have been deemed ineffective or inappropriate. The emergency use of seclusion may only be used with the required safeguards in place which include active monitoring- at all times during the emergency, a staff member is continuously and actively monitoring and observing the student and is immediately available to the student- timely parent and principal notification, and ongoing data review at the school level to reduce and ultimately eliminate the use of seclusion in alignment with 603 CMR 46.00. All incidences of seclusion must be reported to DESE. The Preconditions for Use of Emergency Seclu