Amends TCA Section 37-1-120 and Title 49, Chapter 10, Part 13.

This bill makes various changes to the Special Education Behavioral Supports Act, including the use of isolation and physical holding restraints, as discussed below. Present law provides that: (1) A student receiving special education services may be restrained or isolated only in emergency situations; and (2) Individualized education programs that provide for the use of restraint or isolation in emergency situations must also contain a data driven functional behavior assessment and a plan for modification of the behavior developed and implemented by a qualified team of professionals. This bill revises the above provisions to clarify, in (1) above, that "isolation or a physical holding restraint" may only be used for such students in emergency situations; and, in (2), to refer to a "physical holding restraint for certain behavior." This bill also makes similar clarifications in various provisions of the Act, and redefines certain terms used in the Act. This bill adds a definition for "restraint," which is defined as a chemical restraint, mechanical restraint, or physical holding restraint. Under present law, in the event that restraint or isolation is imposed on a student, it must be imposed by: school personnel who have been certified for completing a behavior intervention training program; or other school personnel when trained personnel are not immediately available. This bill clarifies that the school personnel must be "trained and certified." Also, present law encourages local boards of education to incorporate certain components into their behavior intervention training program. Once such component is that certification for school personnel who have completed a behavior intervention training program should be renewed on a periodic basis; this bill revises this component to encourage "annual" instead of "periodic" renewal of certification. Under present law, school personnel who must isolate or restrain a student receiving special education services must report the incident to the school principal or the principal's designee, and the principal or designee is required to record the use of the isolation or restraint and the facts surrounding such use. This bill requires the LEA to create a record of such use instead of requiring the principal or designee to record the use. Under present law, if school personnel impose restraints or isolation in an emergency situation, the school must immediately contact appropriate school personnel who are designated under department rules to authorize the isolation or restraint. Such school personnel authorized by department rules must see and evaluate the student's condition within a reasonable time after the intervention and the student's parent or guardian must be notified, orally or by written or printed communication, the same day the isolation or restraint was used. School personnel is held harmless for failure to notify if reasonable effort is made to notify the student's parent or guardian. This bill rewrites these provisions to remove the reference to "emergency situations"; to refer to school personnel "evaluating" instead of "seeing" the student's condition; and clarifies that the principal or the principal's designee is the party responsible for notifying the parent or guardian. Under present law, if the student's individualized education program (IEP) does not provide for the use of isolation or restraint for the behavior precipitating such action or if school personnel are required to use isolation or restraint over an extended period of time as determined by department rules, then an IEP meeting must be convened within 10 days following the use of the isolation or restraint. This bill revises this provision to clarify that the IEP meeting must be convened if: the student's IEP does not provide for the use of a physical holding restraint generally, or for the behavior that precipitated the use of the restraint; a physical holding restraint is used for an extended period of time, as determined by the state board of education; the student's IEP does not provide for the use of an isolation generally, or for the behavior that precipitated the use of the isolation; an isolation is used for an extended period of time, as determined by the state board of education. Present law provides that school personnel may file a juvenile petition against a student receiving special education, only after conducting a manifestation determination that results in a determination that the behavior that resulted in the act requiring disciplinary action was not caused by the student's disability. This bill revises this provision to instead provide that there must be a determination that: the conduct in question was not caused by, and did not have a direct and substantial relationship to, the student's disability; and the conduct in question was not the direct result of the LEA's failure to implement the student's IEP. Present law provides that the use of physical holding restraint in the following circumstances is not prohibited: the brief holding by an adult in order to calm or comfort; the minimum contact necessary to physically escort a student from one area to another; assisting a student in completing a task or response if the student does not resist, or resistance is minimal in intensity or duration; or holding a student for a brief time in order to prevent any impulsive behavior that threatens the student's immediate safety. This bill revises these circumstances that are not considered to be "physical holding restraint" to be as follows: holding of a student by an adult in order to calm or comfort the student in the absence of an emergency; contact necessary to physically escort a student from one area to another in the absence of an emergency; assisting a student in completing a task or response if the student does not resist or if the resistance is of minimal intensity or duration; physically redirecting a student if the student does not resist or if the resistance is of minimal intensity or duration; or school personnel blocking a student's exit or elopement by physically placing themselves in front of the student.