Support Safety and Protection of All Students

Amendment (AM1803) to LB147.

LB147 School & Classroom Safety Legislation

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The Nebraska Legislature convenes on Wednesday, Jan. 8. One of the first bills up for debate will be LB147, a proposal that will affect each of you. LB147 will promote safe learning and teaching environments in schools and classrooms across Nebraska.

NSEA has worked with other education groups on an amendment (AM1803) to LB147. The revised proposal would give educators more control over their classrooms via two major components:

1. It would allow school personnel to use reasonable physical intervention to safely manage the behavior of a student to protect the student, other students, and/or staff from physical injury; and
2. It would require school districts to maintain a publicly available policy on how and when a student can be removed from and returned to a classroom, including a discipline process that is proactive, instructive and restorative, along with provisions for instructional and/or behavioral interventions for that student. It also requires appropriate communication between all parties, from administrators to teachers, parents/guardians and other school personnel.

We have heard from school personnel who have been kicked, hit, bitten, spit upon, slapped, punched or worse. Too many educators have been injured, too many students placed in danger, and too much teaching and learning time has been lost. Safety and protection of all students, including the aggressive student, is paramount under this proposal. It would provide educators and students a safer and more productive learning environment. We need state lawmakers to enact LB147 to help protect all students and school staff.

Contact your state senator and impress upon him/her the importance of LB147. In your own words, please share with senators:

• How violence and aggression has affected your classroom and disrupted learning for your students;
• That all students are affected when a student becomes so aggressive or violent that other students are in danger or a classroom must be cleared;
• That Nebraska teachers do not want any child to miss an opportunity to learn, including students who are disruptive and need to be temporarily removed from the classroom; and
• That LB147 makes it clear that physical intervention is a last resort, after de-escalation efforts, and shall not be used for the purpose of inflicting bodily pain as a penalty for disruptive behavior.

Passage of this proposal is a top priority for NSEA. State senators must know that teachers across the state support the provisions and basic concept of LB147: that safer classrooms are beneficial to all members of the public school family including teachers, students, administrators and school staff.

I am asking you to please find and contact your state senator here.

You can find the actual wording of the proposal here.