Check List Item for Your District Handbooks

As part of the requirement for districts to meet compliance with Chapter 103-Corporal Punishment regulations, the following statement from the Iowa Department of Education should be in district handbooks annually. Click here for a Word doc of this notice.

This text was prepared and approved by the Department.

Notice: Corporal Punishment, Restraint, and Physical Confinement and Detention

State law forbids schools employees from using corporal punishment against any student. Certain actions by school employees are not considered corporal punishment. Additionally, school employees may use “reasonable and necessary force, not designed or intended to cause pain” to do certain things, such as prevent harm to persons or property.

State law also places limits school employees’ abilities to restrain or confine and detain any student. The law limits why, how, where, and for how long a school employee may restrain or confine and detain a child. If a child is restrained or confined and detained, the school must maintain documentation and must provide certain types of notice to the child’s parent.

[If school or AEA has additional policies or procedures, briefly describe them here].

If you have any questions about this state law, please contact your school. The complete text of the law and additional information is available on the Iowa Department of Education’s Web site: www.iowa.gov/educate.