Date of plan: August 2011
Revised: December 2014
The Use of Restrictive Procedures Plan
In accordance with Minnesota Statute 125A.0942, Subd. 1, every school district is required to
develop and make public a plan that discloses its use of restrictive procedures. The plan
specifically outlines the list of restrictive procedures the school intends to use; how the school
will implement a range of positive behavior strategies and provide links to mental health
services; how the school will monitor and review the use of restrictive procedures, including
conducting post-use debriefings and convening an oversight committee; and a written
description and documentation of the training and staff that have completed the training.
Sherburne/Northern Wright Special Education Cooperative’s (Co-op) member districts of Becker,
Big Lake, Monticello, and St. Michael/Albertville (Districts) uses restrictive procedures only in
response to behavior(s) that constitutes an emergency, even if written into a child’s Individual
Education Plan (IEP) or Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP).
Restrictive procedures may be used only by a licensed special education teacher, school social
worker, school psychologist, behavior analyst certified by the National Behavior Analyst
Certification Board, a person with a master's degree in behavior analysis, other licensed
education professional, paraprofessional under section Minnesota Statute Section 120B.363, or
mental health professional under Minnesota Statute Section 245.4871, subdivision 27, who has
completed the training outlined in section B of this plan.
Districts are committed to the use of positive behavioral supports. School environments that are
positive, predictable and effective and provide a continuum of support are safer and have
improved learning outcomes for all students.
Districts will implement a range of positive behavior strategies by providing staff and
administrators various professional development opportunities on the use of positive behavior
strategies and interventions. Staff working with students who display a greater likelihood of
behaviors that would constitute an emergency situation, thus potentially requiring the use of
restrictive procedures are expected to take part in Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) trainings.
CPI trainings will have a focus on positive behavioral interventions and supports as well as less
restrictive interventions and de-escalation techniques. Teachers of students with Emotional
Behavioral Disorders, paraprofessionals, school social workers and teachers of students with
Developmental Cognitive Delays or Autism Spectrum Disorders are among the professionals
expected to be trained in CPI. Staff are expected to remain current on positive behavior
strategies and remain up to date with their CPI certification. Beyond staff specifically identified
above, all staff and administrators are encouraged to participate in Crisis Prevention Institute
trainings offered throughout the school year and during the summer months.
The following are links to public agencies or organizations who can connect students and
families with mental health services:
Sherburne County Social Services
Wright County Social Services
Central Minnesota Mental Health Services
www.co.sherburne.mn.us/socialservices
www.co.wright.mn.us/department/humanservices
www.cmmhc.org
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Date of plan: August 2011
Revised: December 2014
A. Definitions from Minnesota Statute 125A.0941
The following terms are defined as:
1. "Emergency" means a situation where immediate intervention is needed to protect a
child or other individual from physical injury. Emergency does not mean circumstances
such as: a child who does not respond to a task or request and instead places his or her
head on a desk or hides under a desk or table; a child who does not respond to a staff
person's request unless failing to respond would result in physical injury to the child or
other individual; or an emergency incident has already occurred and no threat of
physical injury currently exists.
2. "Physical holding" means physical intervention intended to hold a child immobile or limit
a child's movement, where body contact is the only source of physical restraint, and
where immobilization is used to effectively gain control of a child in order to protect a
child or other individual from physical injury. The term physical holding does not mean
physical contact that:
(1) helps a child respond or complete a task;
(2) assists a child without restricting the child's movement;
(3) is needed to administer an authorized health-related service or procedure; or
(4) is needed to physically escort a child when the child does not resist or the
child's resistance is minimal.
3. “Positive behavioral interventions and supports” means interventions and strategies to
improve the school environment and teach children the skills to behave appropriately.
4. "Prone restraint" means placing a child in a face down position.
5. “Restrictive procedures” means the use of physical holding or seclusion in an
emergency. Restrictive procedures must not be used to punish or otherwise discipline a
child.
6. "Seclusion" means confining a child alone in a room from which egress is barred. Egress
may be barred by an adult locking or closing the door in the room or preventing the
child from leaving the room. Removing a child from an activity to a location where the
child cannot participate in or observe the activity is not seclusion.
B. Staff Training - Requirements and Activities
Requirements
Staff who design and use behavioral interventions will complete training in the use of
positive approaches as well as restrictive procedures. This may include, but is not limited to
school psychologists, teachers of students with Emotional Behavioral Disorders,
paraprofessionals, school social workers and teachers of students with Developmental
Cognitive Delays and/or Autism. Training records will identify the content of the training,
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Date of plan: August 2011
Revised: December 2014
attendees and training dates. The Co-op will compile a list of all Crisis Prevention Institute
(CPI) trainings which will remain on file in the coop offices. The district will maintain records
of additional trainings provided within the district. Initial Crisis Prevention Institute Trainings
will be offered at least four times per year. Refresher Crisis Prevention Institute Trainings
will be offered at least eight times per year.
Staff who may be involved in implementing a prone restraint, must complete Professional
Crisis Management (PCM) training prior to implementing a prone restraint. Parents of
students for whom prone restraints may be used will be encouraged and supported to
attend PCM training as well. Training records will identify the content of the training,
attendees and training dates. The Co-op will compile a list of all Professional Crisis
Management (PCM) trainings. The district will maintain records of additional trainings
provided within the district.
Activities
Professional development activities will be provided to district staff and contracted
personnel who have routine contact with students and who may use restrictive procedures
in the following areas:
1. Positive behavioral interventions;
2. Communicative intent of behaviors;
3. Relationship building;
4. Alternatives to restrictive procedures, including techniques to identify events and
environmental factors that may escalate behavior;
5. De-escalation methods;
6. Standards for using restrictive procedures only in an emergency
7. Obtaining emergency medical assistance;
8. Physiological and psychological impact of physical holding and seclusion;
9. Monitoring and responding to a child’s physical signs of distress when physical holding is
being used;
10. Recognizing the symptoms of and interventions that may cause positional asphyxia
when physical holding is used.
11. District policies and procedures for timely reporting an documenting each incident
involving use of a restricted procedure; and
12. School-wide programs on positive behavior strategies.
C. Physical Holding, Seclusion, and Prohibited Procedures
Physical Holding
Physical holding as defined above, may only be used in an emergency as defined above. A
school that uses physical holding shall meet the following requirements:
(1) it is the least intrusive intervention that effectively responds to the emergency;
(2) physical holding is not used to discipline a noncompliant child;
(3) physical holding ends when the threat of harm ends and the staff determines the child
can safely return to the classroom or activity;
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Date of plan: August 2011
Revised: December 2014
(4) staff directly observes the child while physical holding is being used;
(5) each time physical holding is used, the staff person who implements or oversees the
physical holding documents, as soon as possible after the incident concludes, the following
information:
(i) a description of the incident that led to the physical holding;
(ii) why a less restrictive measure failed or was determined by staff to be inappropriate
or impractical;
(iii) the time the physical holding began and the time the child was released; and
(iv) a brief record of the child's behavioral and physical status
Until August 1, 2015, a school district may use prone restraints with children age five or
older if:
(1) the district has provided to the department a list of staff who have had specific
training on the use of prone restraints;
(2) the district provides information on the type of training that was provided and by
whom;
(3) only staff who received specific training use prone restraints;
(4) each incident of the use of prone restraints is reported to the department within five
working days on a form provided by the department; and
(5) the district, before using prone restraints, must review any known medical or
psychological limitations that contraindicate the use of prone restraints.
The District may use the following types of physical holding:
Children’s Control, Team Control, Team Escort, Interim Control, Reverse Escort, Seated
Children’s Control, Emergency Floor Restraint, Prone Restraint or any additional physical
holds specifically used in CPI or PCM trainings.
Seclusion
Seclusion as defined above, may only be used in an emergency as defined above. A school
that uses physical holding shall meet the following requirements:
(1) it is the least intrusive intervention that effectively responds to the emergency;
(2) seclusion is not used to discipline a noncompliant child;
(3) seclusion ends when the threat of harm ends and the staff determines the child can
safely return to the classroom or activity;
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Date of plan: August 2011
Revised: December 2014
(4) staff directly observes the child while seclusion is being used;
(5) each time seclusion is used, the staff person who implements or oversees the seclusion
documents, as soon as possible after the incident concludes, the following information:
(i) a description of the incident that led to the seclusion;
(ii) why a less restrictive measure failed or was determined by staff to be inappropriate
or impractical;
(iii) the time the seclusion began and the time the child was released; and
(iv) a brief record of the child's behavioral and physical status
(6) the room used for seclusion must:
(i) be at least six feet by five feet;
(ii) be well lit, well ventilated, adequately heated, and clean;
(iii) have a window that allows staff to directly observe a child in seclusion;
(iv) have tamperproof fixtures, electrical switches located immediately outside the door,
and secure ceilings;
(v) have doors that open out and are unlocked, locked with keyless locks that have
immediate release mechanisms, or locked with locks that have immediate release
mechanisms connected with a fire and emergency system; and
(vi) not contain objects that a child may use to injure the child or others;
(7) before using a room for seclusion, a school must:
(i) receive written notice from local authorities that the room and the locking
mechanisms comply with applicable building, fire, and safety codes; and
(ii) register the room with the commissioner, who may view that room
Prohibited Procedures
The following actions or procedures are considered prohibited by Minnesota Statute.
Prohibited actions or procedures will not be used on student
(1) engaging in conduct prohibited under Minnesota Statute 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;
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Date of plan: August 2011
Revised: December 2014
(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 Minnesota Statute 626.556;
(7) withholding regularly scheduled meals or water;
(8) denying access to bathroom facilities; and
(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.
Nothing in this section precludes the use of reasonable force under Minnesota Statutes
121A.582; 609.06 subdivision 1; and 609.379
D. Monitoring the Use of Restrictive Procedures
District Special Education Coordinators will monitor the use of restrictive procedures through
their direct and frequent contact with service providers. Service providers are expected to
document the use of restrictive procedures and submit this documentation to coordinators
within 24 hours of completion.
Districts will make reasonable efforts to notify the parent on the same day a restrictive
procedure is used on the child, or if the school is unable to provide same-day notice, notice
will be sent within two days by written or electronic means or as otherwise indicated by the
child’s parent.
Post-use debriefing meetings will held to review the required documentation:
(1) a description of the incident that led to the physical holding or seclusion;
(2) why a less restrictive measure failed or was determined by staff to be inappropriate
or impractical;
(3) the time the physical holding or seclusion began and the time the child was
released; and
(4) a brief record of the child's behavioral and physical status
The district must hold an individualized education program (IEP) team meeting within ten
calendar days after district staff use restrictive procedures on two separate school days within
30 calendar days or a pattern of use emerges and the child's IEP or behavior intervention plan
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Date of plan: August 2011
Revised: December 2014
does not provide for using restrictive procedures in an emergency; or at the request of a parent
or the district after restrictive procedures are used.
The IEP team will conduct or review a functional behavioral analysis, review data, consider
developing additional or revised positive behavioral interventions and supports, consider actions
to reduce the use of restrictive procedures, and modify the IEP or behavior intervention plan as
appropriate.
The district must review use of restrictive procedures at a child's annual IEP meeting when the
child's IEP provides for using restrictive procedures in an emergency.
If the IEP team determines that existing interventions and supports are ineffective in reducing
the use of restrictive procedures or the district uses restrictive procedures on a child on ten or
more school days during the same school year, the team, as appropriate, either must consult
with other professionals working with the child; consult with experts in behavior analysis,
mental health, communication, or autism; consult with culturally competent professionals;
review existing evaluations, resources, and successful strategies; or consider whether to
reevaluate the child.
At the individualized education program IEP meeting the team must review any known medical
or psychological limitations, including any medical information the parent provides voluntarily,
that contraindicate the use of a restrictive procedure, consider whether to prohibit that
restrictive procedure, and document any prohibition in the individualized education program or
behavior intervention plan.
An IEP team may plan for using restrictive procedures and may include these procedures in a
child's IEP or behavior intervention plan; however, the restrictive procedures may be used only
in response to behavior that constitutes an emergency, consistent with the definition above.
The IEP or behavior intervention plan shall indicate how the parent wants to be notified when a
restrictive procedure is used.
E. District Oversight Committee
Each member District shall convene an oversight committee to undertake a quarterly review
of the use of restrictive procedures based on patterns or problems indicated by similarities
in the time of day, day of the week, duration of the use of a procedure, the individuals
involved, or other factors associated with the use of restrictive procedures; the number of
times a restrictive procedure is used school-wide and for individual children; the number
and types of injuries, if any, resulting from the use of restrictive procedures; whether
restrictive procedures are used in nonemergency situations; the need for additional staff
training; and proposed actions to minimize the use of restrictive procedures;
Each member District shall publically identify oversight committee members who must at
least include:
(1) a mental health professional, school psychologist, or school social worker;
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Date of plan: August 2011
Revised: December 2014
(2) an expert in positive behavior strategies;
(3) a special education administrator; and
(4) a general education administrator.
Oversight committee members are listed by district.
Becker School District
1. Jennifer Weisenberger, School Psychologist
2. Mark Graham, Behavior Intervention Specialist
3. Amy Green, Assistant Director of Special Education
4. Christine Glomski, Becker Intermediate Elementary School Principal
Big Lake School District
1. Sara Fidler, School Psychologist
2. Becky King, School Psychologist
3. Amy Green, Assistant Director of Special Education
4. Andrew Sawatzke, Independence Elementary Assistant Principal
Monticello School District
1. Nathan Rowe, School Psychologist
2. Jeff Meierhofer, School Psychologist
3. Amy Green, Assistant Director of Special Education
4. Gabe Hackett, Little Mountain Elementary School Principal
St.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Michael-Albertville School District
Dawn Vo, School Psychologist
Laura Seifert-Hertling, Special Education Coordinator
Amy Green, Assistant Director of Special Education
Jenny Kelly, St. Michael-Albertville Middle School East Principal
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