Sponsors (49)
Official title: To prohibit and prevent seclusion, mechanical restraint, chemical restraint, and dangerous restraints that restrict breathing, and to prevent and reduce the use of physical restraint in schools, and for other purposes.
Introduced December 11, 2025 by Donald Sternoff Beyer · Last progress December 11, 2025
The bill strengthens protections, training, transparency, and enforcement to reduce use of seclusion and restraint in schools and Head Start, but it imposes significant compliance, administrative, and funding burdens that may strain smaller districts and shift local resources.
Students (especially students with disabilities) will face fewer uses of seclusion and physical restraint due to clearer prohibitions, prevention programs, and monitoring.
School staff, SROs, and school security will receive state‑approved crisis intervention and de‑escalation training with renewal requirements, improving daily safety and reducing crisis escalations.
Parents, stakeholders, and the public gain greater transparency and oversight through required prompt parental notifications, public reporting of incidents, and 24‑hour notifications for injury/death, enabling more accountability.
School districts, Head Start programs, and state agencies will incur substantial new costs for training, certification, recertification, recordkeeping, reporting, and administrative compliance, potentially diverting resources from classrooms.
Smaller, rural, or underfunded districts and programs may struggle to meet certification, staffing, monitoring, and application requirements, creating uneven implementation and potentially reducing local program capacity.
Programs face increased litigation exposure, the risk of federal payment withholdings for alleged violations, and associated operational disruptions if funding is withheld or enforcement actions are pursued.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits unlawful seclusion and specified restraints in federally assisted schools and Head Start, requires training, state plans, public reporting, enforcement tools, and authorizes $40M/year (2026–2030).
Prohibits unlawful seclusion and restraint of students in federally assisted education programs and Head Start, defines covered practices and who is covered, and creates state reporting, monitoring, training, and enforcement requirements. It establishes a private right of action for students harmed by prohibited restraints, requires regular state plans and public reporting, directs a national assessment of practices, and authorizes $40 million per year for 2026–2030 to implement the law. The bill focuses on clear definitions (chemical, mechanical, physical restraint, seclusion, time out, law enforcement roles), mandatory State-approved crisis intervention training with recertification, data collection and public reports for districts and Head Start programs, federal and state enforcement tools, required notifications for serious injury or death, and protections for disability rights and IDEA/Rehabilitation Act plans.