This Bill passed the House 68-5 and the Senate 27-0.
Libertas Institute supports this bill.
Over the past few years, nationwide concern has developed with regards to the amount of physical restraint being used on special needs students in public schools. Incidents range from incidents ending in large financial settlements to altercations resulting in the death of a student.
Last year, Representative Carol Spackman Moss proposed HB 181 to address this issue, but it never received a vote on the House floor. For the upcoming 2017 session, she has a new and improved bill, HB 92, which we support as a sound solution to addressing the ambiguities of the current law. HB 92 will no longer allow public school employees to use corporal punishment under any circumstances. The potential risk of damage to school property can no longer be used as a rationale to employ physical restraint unless there exists a risk to physical safety. Only then can “reasonable and necessary” restraint be employed. The bill also establishes a process for the replacement of damaged property while protecting the rights of the student.
Rather than looking to the federal government for answers, as is proposed by some who are concerned with this issue, Utah is taking action with HB 92 to protect students from the potential excessive use of force by teachers and administrators. By the same token, we hope that the Utah State Board of Education is looking for ways to better train teachers and administrators in handling these types of situations.
