West Virginia

Mechanical Restraint is not specifically defined.

Not defined in legislation, from guidance, it is defined as reasonable force may be used to retain a student from hurting himself/herself or any other person or property. Restraint involves the use of physical form to significantly restrict the free movement of all or a portion of a student’s body

Chemical Restraint is not specifically defined.

Time-Out is not specifically defined.

A removal in which a student is left unsupervised in any space.

Corporal Punishment is not specifically defined.

None specified.

Restraint, with reasonable force, may be used to prevent a student from hurting himself/herself or any other person or property. Behavior interventions and support practices must be implemented in such a way as to protect the health and safety of the student and others. When the use of physical restraint is necessary, the following guidelines must be followed: Shall be limited to the use of such reasonable force as is necessary to address the emergency; shall not restrict breathing (e.g. prone restraint); place pressure or weight on the chest, lungs, sternum, diaphragm, back, neck, or throat; or cause physical harm; shall be discontinued at the point at which the emergency no longer exists; shall be implemented in such a way as to protect the health and safety of the student and others; and shall not deprive the student of basic human necessities.

Appropriate (intended use) utilization of mechanical restraints, such as seat belts or feeding tables, when applied for their intended purpose is not prohibited. The application of mechanical restraint is prohibited as an intervention or consequence for inappropriate behavior.

Not specified.

Seclusion is prohibited.

Corporal Punishment is prohibited.

Criteia for the use of Time Out is not specified.

Yes

Same Day-A good faith effort shall be made to verbally notify the parent or guardian of the restraint process used. Within one school day, written notification of the use of restraint must be provided to the parent or guardian and included in the student’s official school record.

Schools shall accurately track incidents of inappropriate behavior and interventions/consequences in order to utilize data for school climate/culture improvement efforts and to create documentation to support actions taken to intervene in inappropriate behavior patterns. The WVEIS provides schools with the platform to report all incidents of inappropriate behavior at the classroom level and above. The primary value of this data rests at the school and county level and is necessary for development and monitoring of Policy 4373. All inappropriate behaviors as described in Chapter 2, Section 2, Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 shall be reported through: Teacher-level documentation of inappropriate behavior leading to interventions, consequences, and/or referrals to the principal; Principal-level WVEIS data entry of teacher level documentation and administrative disciplinary actions. This data shall be entered by the principal and/or other authorized staff; or county superintendent-level WVEIS data entry of county board of education actions resulting from expulsion hearings. This data shall be entered by the county superintendent and/or other authorized staff. Incidents of inappropriate behaviors reported into WVEIS in accordance with this policy will be used by the WVDE to comply with federal and state reporting requirements. Schools are responsible for timely, complete, and accurate reporting of inappropriate behaviors and disciplinary actions. Counties are responsible for monitoring accuracy of school data in accordance with W. Va. 126CSR94, Policy 4350, Procedures for the Collection, Maintenance, and Disclosure of Student Data.

Policies are set by each county.

None specified.

None specified.

Data is not publicly available.

State Board of Education Policy 4373 applies to public schools only in West Virginia.

A core team of personnel in each school, including an administrator designee and any general or special education personnel likely to use restraint, must be trained annually in the use of: Nationally recognized restraint process, and current professionally accepted practices and standards regarding behavior interventions and supports including prevention and de-escalation techniques. Any non-trained personnel called upon to use restraint in an emergency must receive training within 30 days following the use of restraint if the principal determines the situation is likely to reoccur.