S. 3448 — Keeping All Students Safe Act

This section prohibits unlawful seclusion or restraint of students by program personnel, law enforcement officers, or school security guards in programs receiving federal financial assistance; defines the term to include seclusion, mechanical or chemical restraint, certain physical restraints (e.g., life-threatening, contraindicated for a student's documented disability or condition, or noncompliant with specified standards), but excludes time-outs and approved therapeutic or safety devices; and excludes physical restraint not meeting new standards for imminent danger of serious physical injury, prior ineffective less-restrictive interventions, and use by trained personnel (or untrained in rare emergencies). This section establishes a private right of action for affected students or their parents against the program (but not personnel) in federal or state court for declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, compensatory damages, attorneys' fees, or expert fees, and abrogates programs' Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity. This section directs the Secretary of Education to investigate complaints against certain recipients (e.g., state education agencies, local education agencies) and withhold payments under existing procedures (20 U.S.C. 1234d) for violations; directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to investigate Head Start programs, promulgate related reporting regulations, and withhold payments under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9841); and requires the Secretaries to ensure programs meet standards for permissible physical restraint.

This section defines, for purposes of this title, (1) "school" as an elementary school, secondary school, or special education school; and (2) "Head Start program" as a program serving children funded under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.).

This section requires each State educational agency (SEA) to submit to the Secretary of Education, not later than two years after the date of enactment and annually thereafter, a State plan demonstrating implementation of state policies and procedures compliant with section 101 (i.e., limits on physical restraint and prohibition on seclusion, including state-approved crisis intervention training); describing awareness efforts for personnel, students, and parents; incorporating activities under ESEA section 1111(g) (20 U.S.C. 6311(g)) to reduce aversive interventions; providing for 60 days of public comment with responses included; and detailing SEA oversight including semiannual discussions with school leaders on restraint reduction, annual site visits to special education schools, monitoring of restraint and seclusion, and technical assistance on positive behavioral supports. This section further requires SEAs and Head Start agencies, beginning two years after enactment and annually thereafter, to submit public reports to the Secretary of Education (and to HHS for Head Start) on physical restraint incidents in the prior academic year—in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA; 20 U.S.C. 1232g)—including total incidents and affected students; incidents resulting in injury or death; repeat incidents on individual students; law enforcement referrals; and disaggregation by race/ethnicity, economic disadvantage, English proficiency, sex, disability status under IDEA, section 504, or ADA title II, staff training status, and law enforcement or security guard involvement. (Thus, the reports enable tracking and reduction of restraint use, particularly for students with disabilities.)

This section authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants to State educational agencies (SEAs), from amounts appropriated under section 307, based on relative need (considering physical restraint and seclusion incidents, data collection capacity, and implementation of school climate activities) to (1) establish, implement, and enforce policies ensuring compliance with section 101; (2) improve State and local capacity to collect and analyze physical restraint data; and (3) improve school climate through schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports, mental health supports, restorative justice programs, trauma-informed care, and crisis and de-escalation interventions. Grants are for a three-year period; require an SEA application detailing restraint and seclusion incidents, data policies, trainings, initiatives, planned activities to eliminate seclusion and reduce restraint, and coordination with other policies; and trigger a Secretary report to authorizing committees within 60 days of award explaining selection criteria. SEAs may use grants to award subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs), which must equitably include early childhood educators (as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1003) in training activities and, after consultation, allow private school personnel equitable participation (with public agencies controlling funds and providing services directly or via independent contractors).

This section directs the Secretary to conduct a national assessment of the Act's effectiveness in eliminating seclusion and reducing physical restraint incidents in schools and Head Start programs (i.e., programs serving children funded under the Head Start Act). The assessment must (1) analyze restraint incident data in those settings, (2) evaluate federal, state, and local efforts to eliminate seclusion and reduce restraints, (3) identify the most effective programs and services for those purposes, and (4) identify evidence-based personnel training models (e.g., those emphasizing positive behavioral interventions, supports, and de-escalation); the Secretary must submit an interim report summarizing preliminary findings to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the House Committee on Education and Workforce three years after enactment and a final report five years after enactment.

This section requires local educational agencies and Head Start agencies, following physical injury or death of a student or Head Start enrollee from seclusion, physical restraint, or a behavior control intervention, to notify in writing within 24 hours the state educational agency (or Department of Health and Human Services official), local law enforcement agency, and relevant protection and advocacy system (P&A system), and to provide any information requested by the P&A system. It also provides that P&A systems—which protect rights of individuals with developmental disabilities, including by investigating abuse or neglect—have the same investigation, monitoring, and enforcement authorities under subtitle C of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act for eligible students and Head Start enrollees.

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior to promulgate regulations ensuring that schools operated or funded by the Department of the Interior comply with title I and section 202(b). It also directs the Secretary of Defense to promulgate regulations ensuring that schools operated or funded by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) or otherwise by the Department of Defense for military-connected children (as described in 20 U.S.C. 7703(a)(1)(B) and (D)(i)) comply with those requirements.

This section states a rule of construction providing that, subject to section 101(e), nothing in this Act prohibits a sworn law enforcement officer with probable cause from arresting a student for violating a federal or state criminal law.

This section clarifies that this Act does not apply to private schools that do not receive federal funds or serve students receiving such funds. It further provides that the Act does not affect home schools—regardless of state law treatment of home schools as private schools—and does not consider parents schooling children at home as program personnel.

This section establishes a severability clause, providing that if any provision of this Act or its amendments, or their application to any person or circumstance, is held unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act, its amendments, and their applications remain unaffected.