State Representative Matt Lesser, whose district includes Farm Hill Elementary School, announced that the Connecticut House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill (HB 5347) that would require the State Board of Education to report annually on how often physical restraint and seclusion on children are used in schools.
“This bill will ensure that we have adequate data to understand what is happening in our schools around the state so we may take appropriate action,” Rep. Lesser said.
The bill requires local school boards, when seclusion or restraints are used on a child, to specify whether the use of physical restraint or seclusion was part of a student’s individualized education program (IEP) or was an emergency. The State Board of Education is required to collect the data from around the state and annually report its findings to the Select Committee on Children, including if any actions resulted in physical injuries to the children.
The legislative fiscal analysis of the bill indicated, "The bill will result in a minimal cost of less than $1,000 to various municipalities, associated with additional administrative reporting requirements..."
Current law states that restraint and seclusion can only be used on students receiving special education in emergency situations and when required by a student's IEP.
The bill goes next to the Senate.
2 comments:
Lesser has been in office since 2008- what took him so long to finally pass bills that matter? Too bad the Farm Hill situation had to come to light for this to actually be made a law- long over due-
This law is a joke- most schools already fill out a form- they needed to legislate the size of room, make it safe- make certain all parents consent to this type of discipline if their child is put into one. They didn't even legislate NOTIFYINg parents- SMH- this was wasted tax dollar time and money- make REAL laws please!
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