Keeping All Students Safe Act Bans Chemical Restraint and Seclusion, Mandates 24-Hour Parent Notification

The “Keeping All Students Safe Act” is a major piece of legislation aimed at setting national ground rules for how schools discipline students, especially when it comes to physical interventions. Simply put, this bill targets the most dangerous and traumatic disciplinary practices—chemical restraint, mechanical restraint, and involuntary seclusion—and bans them outright in any educational program that receives federal funding. This is a big deal because it creates a uniform safety floor across the country, ensuring that students, particularly those with disabilities who are disproportionately affected, are protected from these high-risk methods (SEC. 1).

The New Rules of Intervention: Emergency Only

For parents who have worried about their child being physically held down or isolated, this bill offers clarity. It strictly limits the use of physical restraint—which is when a staff member physically restricts a student’s movement—to only one scenario: when there is an “immediate danger of serious physical harm” to the student or others (Title I). If a student is having a tantrum, that’s not enough. If they are refusing to work, that’s not enough. The bar is set high: imminent danger. Furthermore, the bill explicitly prohibits planning for restraint in a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) or behavior plan, meaning schools cannot pre-authorize the use of force on a specific child; physical restraint must be a reaction to an unexpected emergency, not a pre-planned strategy (Title I).

Training, Transparency, and the Coffee Shop Test

If the old rule was “restrain first, ask questions later,” the new rule is “de-escalate first, train always.” The bill mandates that all school personnel, including security and law enforcement officers working in schools, must be trained in state-approved crisis intervention programs focused on prevention, de-escalation, and positive behavioral supports (Title II). For school districts, this means a significant new training cost and a shift in culture, but the payoff is fewer incidents and a safer environment. The bill also forces transparency: schools must notify parents within 24 hours of any physical restraint incident and hold a meeting within five school days to discuss how to prevent it from happening again (Title I). This means no more finding out weeks later that your child had a serious incident at school.

Accountability and the Fine Print

This legislation gives the new rules some serious teeth. First, it requires states to collect and publicly report detailed annual data on every restraint incident, broken down by demographics like race, disability status, and economic disadvantage (Title II). This will finally show the public exactly who is being restrained and where. Second, and crucially, the bill creates a “private right to sue,” allowing affected students and parents to file civil lawsuits against programs that violate the prohibitions (Title I). While this doesn’t target individual staff, it puts the financial liability squarely on the school program, which could force faster compliance and better training, even if it means some programs might see resources diverted to legal defense.

Finally, it’s important to note where this bill doesn't reach. While it covers all federally funded programs, it explicitly exempts private schools that do not receive federal funds and home schools (Title III). For parents whose kids attend these schools, the protections won’t apply. Overall, this bill is a major step toward creating a safer, more predictable, and less traumatic environment for students, shifting the focus from reactive physical control to proactive behavioral support, backed by mandated training and public accountability.