Holland, MI: Committee seeks to clarify restraint and seclusion law

Oct 24, 2017, Holland (MI) Sentinel: Daniela Garcia introduces bill modifying school restraint http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/20171024/daniela-garcia-introduces-bill-modifying-school-restraint State Representative Daniela R. Garcia, R- Holland, testified before the House Education Reform Committee last week on legislation that would tweak the restraint and seclusion in schools law that was enacted in 2016. The current law calls for specific training of teachers, administrators and education personnel in regulations for seclusion and restraint in emergency situations. Garcia’s bill, House Bill 5126, would allow school resource officers, who are contracted to a school district from a law enforcement department in the region, to utilize their training to resolve incidents that may arise. ... “Clarity was needed in a state law to make certain our school resource officers were not limited in their response to incidents that occur within a school,” Garcia said. “Currently, an officer may have to respond to a potentially dangerous situation by placing a student under arrest or wait until a second officer responded to the scene to limit exposing the school officer to legal liability. I’m certain neither one of those options are acceptable to parents across Michigan.”