Rep. Michaelle Solages, Democrat of Elmont, speaks during a press conference in 2023.
Last year, the state school board restricted schools’ ability to impose punishments such as coercive measures or time-outs.
State Rep. Michaelle Solages (D-Elmont) wants to incorporate these state regulations into state law. Solages recently introduced bill A.10644 in the state Assembly, which would prohibit the use of certain punishments and interventions in schools. The bill is one of those introduced since the end of the 2024 legislative session and could be addressed when the state legislature reconvenes starting in January.
“A healthy and safe learning environment is critical to a child’s emotional and physical well-being. However, thousands of students in New York State are exposed to trauma and the risk of physical injury and death due to dangerous restraint and isolation techniques in schools. Federal data has shown that the number of students subjected to physical restraint in New York City school districts has increased overall since the 2013-14 school year, not including the period of school closures due to COVID-19. In the 2017-18 school year, alarmingly, one in 1,000 students in public schools were physically restrained,” Solages wrote this in its explanatory memorandum.
The state school board’s new rules took effect in August 2023, in time for the 2023-24 school year, but there was little time for additional training before the school year began. Physical force and time-outs are only permitted when there is an imminent threat to the physical safety of others. School districts were required to adopt a written policy outlining administrative practices and procedures for the use of time-outs and physical force and make it available to the public; use proactive strategies to address behavioral problems, such as multi-tiered support systems and de-escalation techniques; notify parents or guardians the same day of the use of time-outs and/or physical force; document every incident in which time-outs and physical force are used; and train all staff who may need to use time-outs or physical force each year on how to do so safely and effectively based on scientific evidence.
Much of the same language from the regulations is also included in Solages’ bill. Legislators often try to incorporate the language of regulations or court rulings into state law because it is more difficult to change state law than to change a regulation or overturn a court decision. Codifying legislation makes it easier for interested parties to find applicable law rather than trying to find it in the regulatory language of individual state agencies.
“This bill will simply codify into state law the regulations unanimously adopted by the (state) Board of Regents with minor variations,” Solages wrote.
Solages’ bill would, if passed, provide a right of action for parents or guardians to seek damages for those who violate the law. State Department of Education regulations do not provide for this right of action. The right of private action is becoming common practice among the state’s majority legislature.
