JGF(2) – Seclusion or Restraint of Students

Descriptor Code: JGF(2)
Seclusion or Restraint of Students

The Cherokee County Board of Education will require that all schools and programs within the School District comply with State Board of Education Rule 160-5-1-.35 and associated State Guidance concerning “seclusion” and “restraint,” as those terms are defined within the rule.

Seclusion of students, where a student is isolated and confined in a separate area without adult supervision and is prevented from leaving, is prohibited by the School District in its schools and educational programs.

The use of physical restraint is prohibited by the School District in its schools and educational programs except in those situations in which the student is an immediate danger to himself or others and the student is not responsive to less intensive behavioral interventions, including verbal directives or other de-escalation techniques. Additionally, the use of prone, mechanical and/or chemical restraint is prohibited in all schools and educational programs.

This Policy is not intended to prevent the use of physical restraint in limited circumstances where a student exhibits behaviors that place the student or others in imminent danger, and the student is not responsive to verbal directives or less intensive de-escalation techniques. The School Board recognizes that in determining when and how to implement this Policy and any procedures related to it, educators will have to exercise their professional judgment and discretion. Therefore, the Policy is not to be construed as imposing ministerial duties on individual employees. Further, it is not intended to interfere with the duties of law enforcement or emergency medical personnel.

For schools and educational programs within the School District that use physical restraint as defined within the State Board of Education Rule, the Superintendent of Schools or designee will develop (or adopt) and implement written procedures governing its use, which will include the following provisions: 

1. Staff and faculty training on the use of physical restraint; 
2. Written parental notification within a reasonable time, not to exceed one school day from the use of restraint, when physical restraint is used to restrain a student; 
3. Procedures for observing and monitoring the use of physical restraint; 
4. Documentation by staff or faculty participating in or supervising the restraint for each student in each instance in which the student is restrained; and, 
5. Periodic staff and faculty review of the use of restraint and the required documentation. Guidelines necessary to provide for implementation of this Policy will be incorporated into the Principals’ Handbook.

APPROVED: July 28, 2011       REVISED: July 16, 2020