Enrolled Bill Summary

            Senate Bill 1196 amends the Education Code to prohibit the confinement of a student with a disability in a locked box, locked closet, or other specially designed locked space as either a discipline management or behavior management technique. The bill prohibits a school district employee, volunteer, or independent contractor from placing a student in seclusion, which the bill defines as a behavior management technique in which a student is confined in a locked box, locked closet, or locked room that is designed solely to seclude a person and contains less than 50 square feet of space. The bill also requires the commissioner of education by rule to adopt procedures for the use of restraint, either through physical force or a mechanical device, and time-out by a district employee, volunteer, or independent contractor against a student receiving special education services. The bill provides an exception for the confinement of a student in an emergency situation while awaiting the arrival of law enforcement personnel if the student possesses a weapon and the confinement is necessary to prevent bodily harm to the student or another person. The bill makes these provisions applicable to open-enrollment charter schools.

            The bill requires the commissioner to adopt the rules regarding the use of restraint and time-out not later than August 1, 2002, and provides that until those rules are adopted the use of those techniques is to be governed by district policy. The prohibition against the use of seclusion applies beginning September 1, 2001.