HB2275 - 542R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 15-105, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-105. Use of restraint and seclusion techniques; requirements; definitions

A. A school may permit allow the use of restraint or seclusion techniques on any pupil if both of the following apply:

1. The pupil's behavior presents an imminent danger of bodily harm to the pupil or others.

2. Less restrictive interventions appear insufficient to mitigate the imminent danger of bodily harm.

B. If a restraint or seclusion technique is used on a pupil:

1. School personnel shall maintain continuous visual observation and monitoring of the pupil while the restraint or seclusion technique is in use.

2. The restraint or seclusion technique shall end when the pupil's behavior no longer presents an imminent danger to the pupil or others.

3. The restraint or seclusion technique shall be used only by school personnel who are trained in the safe and effective use of restraint and seclusion techniques unless an emergency situation does not allow sufficient time to summon trained personnel.

4. The restraint technique employed may not impede the pupil's ability to breathe.

5. The restraint technique may not be out of proportion to the pupil's age or physical condition.

C. Schools may establish policies and procedures for the use of using restraint or seclusion techniques in a school safety or crisis intervention plan if the plan is not specific to any individual pupil.

D. Schools shall establish reporting and documentation procedures to be followed when a restraint or seclusion technique has been used on a pupil. The procedures shall include the following requirements:

1. School personnel shall provide the pupil's parent or guardian with written or oral notice on the same day that the incident occurred, unless circumstances prevent same-day notification. If the notice is not provided on the same day of the incident, notice shall be given within twenty‑four hours after the incident.

2. Within a reasonable time following the incident, school personnel shall provide the pupil's parent or guardian with written documentation that includes information about any persons, locations or activities that may have triggered the behavior, if known, and specific information about the behavior and its precursors, the type of restraint or seclusion technique used and the duration of its use.

3. Schools shall review strategies used to address a pupil's dangerous behavior if there has been repeated use of restraint or seclusion techniques for the pupil during a school year. The review shall include a review of the incidents in which a restraint or seclusion technique were was used and an analysis of how future incidents may be avoided, including whether the pupil requires a functional behavioral assessment.

E. If a school district or charter school summons law enforcement instead of using a restraint or seclusion technique on a pupil, the school shall comply with the reporting, documentation and review procedures established under subsection D of this section. Notwithstanding this section, school resource officers as defined in section 15‑154 and juvenile probation officers as defined in section 15‑154 are authorized to respond to situations that present the imminent danger of bodily harm any suspected crime against a person or property that is a serious offense as defined in section 13-706 or that involves a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument or serious physical injury and any conduct that poses a threat of death or serious physical injury to employees, students or anyone on the property of the school according to protocols established by their law enforcement agency. For the purposes of this subsection, "dangerous instrument", "deadly weapon" and "serious physical injury" have the same meanings prescribed in section 13-105.

F. This section does not prohibit schools from adopting policies pursuant to section 15‑843, subsection B, paragraph 3.

G. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Restraint" means any method or device that immobilizes or reduces the ability of a pupil to move the pupil's torso, arms, legs or head freely, including physical force or mechanical devices. Restraint does not include any of the following:

(a) Methods or devices implemented by trained school personnel or used by a pupil for the specific and approved therapeutic or safety purposes for which the method or device is designed and, if applicable, prescribed.

(b) The temporary touching or holding of the hand, wrist, arm, shoulder or back for the purpose of inducing a pupil to comply with a reasonable request or to go to a safe location.

(d) Physical force used to take a weapon away from a pupil or to separate and remove a pupil from another person when the pupil is engaged in a physical assault on another person.

2. "School" means a school district, a charter school, a public or private special education school that provides services to pupils placed by a public school, the Arizona state schools for the deaf and the blind and a private school.

3. "Seclusion" means the involuntary confinement of a pupil alone in a room from which egress is prevented. Seclusion does not include the use of a voluntary behavior management technique, including a timeout location, as part of a pupil's education plan, individual safety plan, behavioral plan or individualized education program that involves the pupil's separation from a larger group for purposes of calming. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 15-154, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-154. School safety program; purpose; program proposals; requirements; annual report; program termination; definitions

A. The school safety program is established within the department of education to support, promote and enhance safe and effective learning environments for all students by supporting the costs of placing school resource officers, juvenile probation officers, school counselors and school social workers on school campuses. A school district or charter school may apply to participate in the school safety program as provided in this section for up to three fiscal years by submitting by April 15 a program proposal to the department of education. A school district or charter school that receives approval for a three‑year program under this subsection may annually submit a modified spending plan for its approved program.

B. A program proposal submitted by a school district or charter school for supporting the costs of placing school resource officers or juvenile probation officers, or both, on a school campus shall contain:

1. A detailed description of the school safety needs of the charter school or school district.

2. A plan for implementing a law‑related education program or a plan that demonstrates the existence of a law‑related education program as a school safety prevention strategy.

3. A plan to use trained school resource officers or juvenile probation officers in the school, or both.

4. If the school district or charter school has already participated in the school safety program, information on the success, compliance and implementation of the most recent grant.

C. A program proposal submitted by a school district or charter school for supporting the costs of placing school counselors or school social workers, or both, on a school campus shall contain:

1. A detailed description of the school safety needs of the charter school or school district.

2. A plan for implementing a school guidance and counseling program that includes the following:

(a) A detailed description of the relationship between the school counselor or the social worker, or both, and local community resources.

(b) A plan for using school counselor and school social worker services in the school, or both.

(d) Policies on confidentiality under the school guidance and counseling plan.

(e) Policies on notifying parents and other family members of issues or concerns as identified in the school guidance and counseling plan.

(f) A detailed description of the school's, school district's or charter school's referral procedures to the appropriate community entities and state agencies.

3. If the school district or charter school has already participated in the school safety program, information on the success, compliance and implementation of the most recent approved program proposal.

D. The department of education shall review and administer the school resource officers and juvenile probation officers program proposals in cooperation with the courts, law enforcement agencies and law‑related education providers awarded a contract pursuant to section 41‑2534, subject to review and approval by the state board of education. The department of education shall use relevant crime statistics to assess the needs of each program proposal and shall visit school districts and charter schools that submit program proposals in order to verify the information contained in the program proposals. The department of education shall contract to provide guidelines, curricula and support resources for school resource officers and juvenile probation officers to use in implementing a law‑related education program.

E. The department of education shall review and administer the school counselors and school social workers program proposals in cooperation with school administrators, principals, teachers, parents and community mental health professionals. The department of education shall use relevant school-level academic, social and emotional statistics to assess the needs of each program proposal and shall visit school districts and charter schools that submit program proposals in order to verify the information contained in the program proposals.

F. The department of education, subject to the review and approval of the state board of education, shall distribute monies to the school districts and charter schools that are in compliance with program requirements and whose program proposals have been approved by the state board of education.

G. The department of education shall review program proposals submitted by school districts and charter schools for participation in the school safety program and shall select school sites that are eligible to receive funding based on school safety needs pursuant to this section. The department of education may prioritize program proposals for school resource officer and juvenile probation officer grants to school districts and charter schools that have agreements to share the cost of the school resource officer or juvenile probation officer with a law enforcement agency or the courts.

H. The department of education shall evaluate the effectiveness of all the approved program proposals submitted pursuant to subsections B and C of this section within the school safety program and report on the activities of the program and the participants in the school safety program to the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives and the governor on or before November 1 of each year and shall provide a copy of this report to the secretary of state. The evaluation and report shall include survey results from participating schools and data from participating schools on the impact of participating in the school safety program. The department shall establish data guidelines for school safety program participants to follow in reporting pursuant to this subsection.

I. The school safety program established by this section shall include a school safety program guidance manual adopted by the department of education that requires a dispute resolution process to be included in the service agreement between a school district or charter school that submitted a program proposal and received a school resource officer grant from the school safety program and the law enforcement agency that provides services to the school district or charter school.

J. Any appropriations that are made to the department of education for the approved program proposals within the school safety program are exempt from the provisions of section 35‑190 relating to the lapsing of appropriations. All monies that are not used for an approved program proposal within the school safety program during the fiscal year for which the monies were appropriated revert to the department of education for distribution to the program in the following fiscal year.

K. Monies received by a school district or charter school under the program shall be spent to implement the approved program proposals.

L. The program established by this section ends on July 1, 2025 pursuant to section 41‑3102. The auditor general shall include the school safety program as part of its ongoing sunset review of agencies and programs.

M. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Juvenile probation officer" means a juvenile probation officer who is employed by the juvenile court pursuant to section 8‑203.

1. 2. "Law‑related education" means interactive education to equip children and youth with knowledge and skills pertaining to the law, school safety and effective citizenship.

2. 3. "Law‑related education program" means a program designed to provide children and youth with knowledge, skills and activities pertaining to the law and legal process and to promote law‑abiding behavior with the purpose of preventing children and youth from engaging in delinquency or violence and enabling them to become productive citizens.

3. 4. "School counselor" means a professional educator who holds a valid school counselor certificate issued by the department of education.

4. 5. "School guidance and counseling program" means a counseling program that supports, promotes and enhances the academic, personal, social, emotional and career development of all students.

5. 6. "School resource officer" means a peace officer or a full‑authority reserve peace officer who is certified by the Arizona peace officer standards and training board.

6. 7. "School social worker" means a professional educator who holds a valid school social worker certificate issued by the department of education. END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Title 15, chapter 1, article 5, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 15-154.02, to read:

START_STATUTE15-154.02. School resource officers; juvenile probation officers; agreements; trainings; report; definitions

A. If a school district or charter school enters into a memorandum of understanding or any other agreement with a law enforcement agency for the purpose of hiring a school resource officer or juvenile probation officer, the memorandum of understanding or agreement shall provide that the school resource officer or juvenile probation officer:

1. Focus on building positive relationships with pupils, school staff and the community.

2. Is not responsible for pupil discipline unless the school resource officer or juvenile probation officer is authorized to respond as prescribed in section 15‑105, subsection E.

3. Complete the trainings described in subsection B of this section.

B. On or before January 1, 2021, all school resource officers and juvenile probation officers who serve on school grounds shall complete both of the following trainings that are administered by a national association of school resource officers:

1. A basic school resource officer course that both:

(a) Is designed for law enforcement officers and school safety professionals working in an educational environment.

(b) Provides tools for school resource officers and juvenile probation officers to build positive relationships with both pupils and staff.

2. An adolescent Mental Health Training that is designed to help school safety professionals and school personnel to better identify and respond to pupils who are suspected of having a mental health need.

C. A school district or charter school may not allow a school resource officer or juvenile probation officer on campus if the school resource officer or juvenile probation officer has not completed the trainings described in subsection B of this section on or before January 1, 2021.

D. On or before September 1 of each year, each school district and charter school shall report to the department of education in a manner prescribed by the department the number of school resource officers or juvenile probation officers per school within the school district or per charter school and the agencies of each school resource officer or juvenile probation officer.

E. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Juvenile probation officer" has the same meaning prescribed in section 15-154.

2. "school resource officer" has the same meaning prescribed in section 15‑154.END_STATUTE

Sec. 4. Appropriations; department of education; trainings; exemption

A. The following sums are appropriated from the state general fund in fiscal year 2020-2021 to the department of education to distribute to school districts and charter schools to cover the costs of the trainings for school resource officers and juvenile probation officers required by section 15-154.02, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act:

1. $173,250 for the training required by section 15‑154.02, subsection B, paragraph 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act.

2. $68,250 for the training required by section 15‑154.02, subsection B, paragraph 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act.

B. The appropriations made in subsection A of this section are exempt from the provisions of section 35‑190, Arizona Revised Statutes, relating to lapsing of appropriations.