Room Clear Procedures
Rationale: When staff are presented with a student who has become a physical danger to self or others,
becomes destructive to the classroom environment or is in a situation where the dignity of the student needs
to be preserved, a clear and consistent plan shall be implemented. One piece of the plan is a “room clear”.
This is an intervention that removes the other students from a potentially dangerous situation.
Steps to creating a Room Clear plan:

Room clear procedures should be developed as a team.
o


A predetermined location for the class to go to needs to be established
Activities should be planned that can easily be transported with the class:
o



Develop building based terminology that all administrators and CPI trained staff are familiar with.
For example, ‘RC 1, Room #___’ (indicates severe classroom disruption requiring a room clear) –> ‘RC 2, Room #
___’ (indicates physical aggression requiring a room clear)
Decide which school staff can/will respond and what their role will be. There should be a list of several
people in case the first people are not available.
Any training of staff should be completed (both classroom staff and responding staff)
Training of the classroom students’ needs to occur.
o


Create a “room clear bag” and have it easily accessible. This bag should have activities and supplies to enable
programming to continue for students being displaced.
Establish procedures for communicating the immediate need for assistance, as well as the level of
assistance needed.
o
o

The team should include building administrators, as well as classroom teachers.
Training should occur during times when the classroom is stable and no target behaviors are occurring.
Establish plans for transitioning the students back into the classroom.
Procedures for completing documentation, communication with parents and who will debrief with the
class need to be established.
When a room clear becomes necessary:







Classroom staff gives a cue to other students that indicates for them to quickly and quietly exit the
room and line up outside the room.
Staff decides who is staying with the student and who is going with the class.
Staff implement communication procedures to let others know of the situation.
Staff monitor the student and assign roles to others that arrive to assist.
Responding staff ask what is needed before intervening.
Verbal de-escalation strategies shall be attempted before moving to a hands-on approach.
The class and other staff members move to predetermined location and begin activities.
Things to Keep in Mind:


Safety first
Document



Notify parents/guardians
Follow district and state procedures
Room clears are not meant for low-level disruptive behaviors but as an intervention when a student
poses a safety risk to self or others, or is a severe disruption to the classroom environment.
o
Refer to the CPI Decision Making Matrix.
After the crisis has passed:




Debrief with staff and students.
Communicate with parents (follow school and district policies and procedures)
Review the behavior plan with the team to revise or adjust.
Plan how the acting out student will be returned to class and when.
Create a Room Clear Document
 Once the room clear procedure is developed, a one page document should be created that outlines the
basic room clear plan information – this document should be used when training new building-level staff:
o Rationale: When to use Room Clear Procedure
o Calling for help: phrases to use and method of communication (i.e. walkie talkie, phone, etc.)
o Steps for clearing the room: verbal prompts given to students, what students are expected to do
after given the prompt, who grabs the room clear bag, and planned activities during the room
clear.
o Location: Identify Plan A location and Plan B location to take displaced students
o Follow up: documentation, parent guardian notification, etc.
Canyon View
A2-Room Clear Procedures
Rationale: When staff are presented with a student who has become a physical danger to self or others,
becomes destructive to the classroom environment or is in a situation where the dignity of the student needs
to be preserved, a clear and consistent plan shall be implemented. One piece of the plan is a “room clear”.
This is an intervention that removes the other students from a potentially dangerous situation.
Level 1- Targeted distraction to other student’s learning
Level 1 – Throwing hard objects in classroom (blocks, legos, books)
Level 2- Throwing hard objects at a staff or student
Level 2- Verbal threats (threaten to hit/ throwing chair)
Level 2- Threatening physical aggression to staff and student
Level 3- Large objects being thrown (chairs, desks)
Level 3- Destruction of classroom (clearing shelves, tearing/ripping down posters)
Level 3- Physical aggression towards staff and students
Calling for Help:
o In the event a room clear is necessary, a walkie talkie
 Call on the radio to A2 paras and admin
 We need assistance in A2 due to Level “3” “2” “1” escalation
Steps for Clearing the Room:
o Call for assistance
o Prompt students: provide phrase UP AND OUT
 Para leading classroom group continues up and out with students in POD, offering support
to brace locked door if someone else isn’t available
 Teacher and additional para remain in the classroom unless situation calls for admin.
Teacher and admin stay, para exits to brace door until the cycle is calm.
Room Clear Location:
o Plan A: Displaced students will be taken to POD 1__.
o Plan B (if Plan A is unavailable): Displaced students will be taken to ___POD 2__.
After a Room Clear:
o When can students transition back to the classroom (identify criteria).
 Calm Body
 Clean up what was messed up
 Complete the task before the escalation cycle/ write an apology letter
 Get back on their schedule at the point the escalation started (complete missed activities
but does not need to be whole time/whole assignment)
o Necessary follow up after a room clear:
 Documentation

 Parent/guardian notification
 Staff debriefing