SF 1830

as introduced - 94th Legislature (2025 - 2026) Posted on 02/25/2025 09:52am

A bill for an act
relating to education policy; allowing for the use of seclusion as a restrictive
procedure; amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 125A.0942, subdivisions
4, 6.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 125A.0942, subdivision 4, is amended to
read:

Subd. 4.

Prohibitions.

The following actions or procedures are prohibited:

(1) engaging in conduct prohibited under section 121A.58;

(2) requiring a child to assume and maintain a specified physical position, activity, or
posture that induces physical pain;

(3) totally or partially restricting a child's senses as punishment;

(4) presenting an intense sound, light, or other sensory stimuli using smell, taste,
substance, or spray as punishment;

(5) denying or restricting a child's access to equipment and devices such as walkers,
wheelchairs, hearing aids, and communication boards that facilitate the child's functioning,
except when temporarily removing the equipment or device is needed to prevent injury to
the child or others or serious damage to the equipment or device, in which case the equipment
or device shall be returned to the child as soon as possible;

(6) interacting with a child in a manner that constitutes sexual abuse, neglect, or physical
abuse under chapter 260E;

(7) withholding regularly scheduled meals or water;

(8) denying access to bathroom facilities;

(9) physical holding that restricts or impairs a child's ability to breathe, restricts or impairs
a child's ability to communicate distress, places pressure or weight on a child's head, throat,
neck, chest, lungs, sternum, diaphragm, back, or abdomen, or results in straddling a child's
torso; new text begin and
new text end

(10) prone restraint deleted text begin ; and deleted text end new text begin .
new text end

deleted text begin (11) the use of seclusion on children from birth through grade 3 by September 1, 2024.
deleted text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 125A.0942, subdivision 6, is amended to read:

Subd. 6.

Behavior supports; reasonable force.

(a) School districts are encouraged to
establish effective schoolwide systems of positive behavior interventions and supports.

(b) Nothing in this section or section 125A.0941 precludes the use of reasonable force
under sections 121A.582; 609.06, subdivision 1; and 609.379. Any reasonable force used
under sections 121A.582; 609.06, subdivision 1; and 609.379 which intends to hold a child
immobile or limit a child's movement where body contact is the only source of physical
restraint or confines a child alone in a room from which egress is barred shall be reported
to the Department of Education as a restrictive procedure, including physical holding or
seclusion used by an unauthorized or untrained staff person.

deleted text begin (c) By February 1, 2024, the commissioner, in cooperation with stakeholders, must make
recommendations to the legislature for urgently ending seclusion in Minnesota schools. The
commissioner must consult with interested stakeholders, including parents of students who
have been secluded or restrained; advocacy organizations; legal services providers; special
education directors; teachers; paraprofessionals; intermediate school districts and cooperative
units as defined under section 123A.24, subdivision 2; school boards; day treatment
providers; county social services; state human services department staff; mental health
professionals; autism experts; and representatives of groups disproportionately affected by
restrictive procedures, including People of Color and people with disabilities. The
recommendations must include specific dates for ending seclusion by grade or facility. The
recommendations must identify existing resources and the new resources necessary for staff
capacity, staff training, children's supports, child mental health services, and schoolwide
collaborative efforts.
deleted text end