Sec. 1307h.

As used in sections 1307 to 1307h:

(a) "Chemical restraint" means the administration of medication for the purpose of restraint.

(b) "De-escalation techniques" means evidence- and research-based strategically employed verbal or nonverbal interventions used to reduce the intensity of threatening behavior before, during, and after a crisis situation occurs.

(c) "Documentation" means documentation developed by the department that is uniform across the state.

(d) "Emergency physical restraint" means a last resort emergency safety intervention involving physical restraint that is necessitated by an ongoing emergency situation and that provides an opportunity for the pupil to regain self-control while maintaining the safety of the pupil and others. Emergency physical restraint does not include physical restraint that is used for the convenience of school personnel, as a substitute for an educational program, as a form of discipline or punishment, as a substitute for less restrictive alternatives, as a substitute for adequate staffing, or as a substitute for school personnel training in positive behavioral intervention and support. Emergency physical restraint does not include a practice prohibited under section 1307b. Emergency physical restraint does not include physical restraint when contraindicated based on a pupil's disability, health care needs, or medical or psychiatric condition, as documented in a record or records made available to the school.

(e) "Emergency seclusion" means a last resort emergency safety intervention involving seclusion that is necessitated by an ongoing emergency situation and that provides an opportunity for the pupil to regain self-control while maintaining the safety of the pupil and others. To qualify as emergency seclusion, there must be continuous observation by school personnel of the pupil in seclusion, and the room or area used for confinement must comply with state and local fire and building codes; must not be locked; must not prevent the pupil from exiting the area if school personnel become incapacitated or leave that area; and must provide for adequate space, lighting, ventilation, viewing, and the safety and dignity of the pupil and others, in accordance with department guidelines. Emergency seclusion does not include the confinement of preschool children or of pupils who are severely self-injurious or suicidal; seclusion that is used for the convenience of school personnel, as a substitute for an educational program, as a form of discipline or punishment, as a substitute for less restrictive alternatives, as a substitute for adequate staffing, or as a substitute for school personnel training in positive behavioral intervention and support; or a practice prohibited under section 1307b. Emergency seclusion does not include seclusion when contraindicated based on a pupil's disability, health care needs, or medical or psychiatric condition, as documented in a record or records made available to the school.

(f) "Emergency situation" means a situation in which a pupil's behavior poses imminent risk to the safety of the individual pupil or to the safety of others. An emergency situation requires an immediate intervention.

(g) "Functional behavioral assessment" means an evidence- and research-based systematic process for identifying the events that trigger and maintain problem behavior in an educational setting. A functional behavioral assessment shall describe specific problematic behaviors, report the frequency of the behaviors, assess environmental and other setting conditions where problematic behaviors occur, and identify the factors that are maintaining the behaviors over time.

(h) "Key identified personnel" means those individuals who have received the mandatory training described in section 1307g(b)(i) to (xvi).

(i) "Law enforcement officer" means an individual licensed under the Michigan commission on law enforcement standards act, 1965 PA 203, MCL 28.601 to 28.615.

(j) "Mechanical restraint" means the use of any device, article, garment, or material attached to or adjacent to a pupil's body to perform restraint.

(k) "Physical restraint" means restraint involving direct physical contact.

(l) "Positive behavioral intervention and support" means a framework to assist school personnel in adopting and organizing evidence-based behavioral interventions into an integrated continuum of intensifying supports based on pupil need that unites examination of the function of the problem behavior and the teaching of alternative skill repertoires to enhance academic and social behavior outcomes for all pupils.

(m) "Positive behavioral intervention and support plan" means a pupil-specific support plan composed of individualized, functional behavioral assessment-based intervention strategies, including, as appropriate to the pupil, guidance or instruction for the pupil to use new skills as a replacement for problem behaviors, some rearrangement of the antecedent environment so that problems can be prevented and desirable behaviors can be encouraged, and procedures for monitoring, evaluating, and modifying the plan as necessary.

(n) "Prone restraint" means the restraint of an individual facedown.

(o) "Regularly and continuously work under contract" means that term as defined in section 1230.

(p) "Restraint" means an action that prevents or significantly restricts a pupil's movement. Restraint does not include the brief holding of a pupil in order to calm or comfort, the minimum contact necessary to physically escort a pupil from 1 area to another, the minimum contact necessary to assist a pupil in completing a task or response if the pupil does not resist or resistance is minimal in intensity or duration, or the holding of a pupil for a brief time in order to prevent an impulsive behavior that threatens the pupil's immediate safety, such as running in front of a car. Restraint does not include the administration of medication prescribed by and administered in accordance with the directions of a physician, an adaptive or protective device recommended by a physician or therapist when it is used as recommended, or safety equipment used by the general pupil population as intended, such as a seat belt or safety harness on school transportation. Restraint does not include necessary actions taken to break up a fight, to stop a physical assault, as defined in section 1310, or to take a weapon from a pupil. Restraint does not include actions that are an integral part of a sporting event, such as a referee pulling football players off of a pile or a similar action.

(q) "Restraint that negatively impacts breathing" means any restraint that inhibits breathing, including floor restraints, facedown position, or any position in which an individual is bent over in such a way that it is difficult to breathe. This includes a seated or kneeling position in which an individual being restrained is bent over at the waist and restraint that involves sitting or lying across an individual's back or stomach.

(r) "School personnel" includes all individuals employed in a public school or assigned to regularly and continuously work under contract or under agreement in a public school, or public school personnel providing service at a nonpublic school. Except for sections 1307d and 1307f, school personnel does not include a law enforcement officer assigned to regularly and continuously work under contract or under agreement in a public school.

(s) "Seclusion" means the confinement of a pupil in a room or other space from which the pupil is physically prevented from leaving. Seclusion does not include the general confinement of pupils if that confinement is an integral part of an emergency lockdown drill required under section 19(5) of the fire prevention code, 1941 PA 207, MCL 29.19, or of another emergency security procedure that is necessary to protect the safety of pupils.

History: Add. 2016, Act 402, Eff. Mar. 29, 2017 ;-- Am. 2017, Act 260, Eff. Mar. 28, 2018 Popular Name: Act 451