Physical Restraint and Seclusion in Texas Special Education: Your Child's Rights

Students with disabilities in Texas are physically restrained at a rate that has no equivalent in the broader student population. According to data from Disability Rights Texas, students with disabilities account for approximately 91% of all physical restraints used in Texas public schools, despite representing less than 10% of the total student population. If your child has a disability and is in a Texas public school, understanding when restraint is permitted—and when it isn't—is not an abstract legal question.

Texas has detailed rules governing the use of restraint and seclusion in schools. Those rules are often violated. Knowing what the law actually requires is the first step toward holding districts accountable when it doesn't.

The Legal Framework in Texas

Texas restraint and seclusion rules are codified in TAC §89.1053 and TEC §37.0021. These rules distinguish between two types of interventions and set different standards for each.

Physical restraint is the use of physical force that significantly restricts a student's freedom of movement. Texas law permits physical restraint only in an emergency, when the student's behavior poses a threat of imminent, serious physical harm to the student or others or imminent, serious property destruction. It must use only the reasonable force necessary to address the emergency and must stop when the emergency ends.

Because restraint is limited to emergencies, it is not a lawful disciplinary measure, consequence for noncompliance, or way to control behavior that is not immediately dangerous. Restraint to enforce compliance with school rules—even when a student is being disruptive or uncooperative—is not a lawful use of physical restraint under Texas law.

Seclusion is the involuntary confinement of a student in a room or space from which the student is physically prevented from leaving. Texas law generally prohibits a school district employee, volunteer, or contractor from placing a student in seclusion, subject to limited statutory exceptions for certain court-ordered or regulated placements.

Seclusion rooms used by school district personnel—as a consequence for misbehavior, a place to send students who are disruptive, or a default de-escalation strategy—are generally prohibited regardless of how the space is labeled; the statutory exceptions should be checked for court-ordered or regulated placements.

Notification and Documentation Requirements

After any use of restraint, Texas law requires a good-faith effort to verbally notify the parent or guardian on the same day the incident occurred. Written notification must be provided to the parent within one school day of the incident.

The written notification must include: the student's name; the name of the individual administering the restraint; the date and start and end times; the location; the nature of the restraint; the activity immediately preceding it; the behavior that prompted it; de-escalation efforts and alternatives attempted; an observation of the student at the end; information documenting parent contact; and the required BIP/FBA follow-up information.

If you did not receive this notification and report following a restraint involving your child, that is itself a regulatory violation.

When a Restraint Requires an ARD or Behavior Response

After each use of restraint, the written notification must give the ARD committee information about the student's behavior and supports. If the student has a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP), the notification must state whether the plan may need revision and identify the staff member responsible for scheduling an ARD meeting if needed. If the student does not have a BIP, the notification must provide the procedure for requesting an ARD meeting to discuss whether to conduct a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) and develop a plan.

This requirement directs the school to treat restraint as information requiring an individualized educational response—not just as an isolated discipline event. The ARD committee should examine whether the student's Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) is adequate, whether it is being implemented correctly, and whether different supports or services might reduce the frequency of behavioral crises.

If the school does not provide the required notification or does not address indicated behavior-support revisions, request an ARD meeting and document the concern; the facts may also support a FAPE-related complaint under IDEA.

Connection to the Behavior Intervention Plan

For students whose disability produces behavioral challenges, the ARD committee should consider whether a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) or Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) is needed to address the behavior. A BIP or FBA is not automatically required in every Manifestation Determination Review (MDR); verify whether the IEP or a prior MDR requires one and whether an FBA is needed to address the behavior. An FBA identifies the specific function of the behavior (what the student is communicating or avoiding through their behavior) and can inform a BIP that teaches replacement behaviors and addresses environmental triggers.

A BIP that addresses root causes and teaches alternative behaviors reduces behavioral crises. Physical restraint applied after a crisis has already escalated does not.

If your child is being physically restrained or secluded with any frequency, ask the ARD committee to review whether an FBA is needed, whether a BIP should be developed or revised, and whether any existing plan is being implemented consistently. If the district is unresponsive, these concerns can be raised through a state complaint to TEA.

How to Respond to an Incident

When you receive notification of a restraint or seclusion incident:

Request the full written report in writing. Even if the teacher provided a verbal summary, request the formal written incident report explicitly. Keep every document.

Review the report against the legal standard. The district is required to document the behavior that prompted the restraint, the de-escalation efforts and alternatives attempted, and how long the restraint lasted. If the report is vague, incomplete, or the described behavior does not meet the emergency threshold, that is significant.

Request an ARD meeting in writing. If your child has been restrained or secluded multiple times, submit a written request for an ARD meeting to review the behavioral supports, including whether an FBA is needed and whether a BIP should be developed or revised. Include in your letter a reference to TAC §89.1053.

File a complaint with TEA if the rules were violated. If the district used restraint outside an emergency, failed to notify you within the required timeframe, or failed to provide the required written notification, you can file a Special Education State Complaint with TEA. TEA investigates these complaints and can order corrective action, including requiring the district to develop or revise a student's behavioral plan.

Contact Disability Rights Texas. DRTx actively monitors restraint and seclusion data in Texas and has pursued systemic litigation against districts with extreme overuse of these interventions. If your child's situation reflects a broader pattern of abuse, DRTx may have interest in the case.

The Bigger Picture

High rates of restraint and seclusion are often a signal that a student's needs are not being adequately addressed through proactive behavioral and educational supports. A child who is in behavioral crisis frequently enough to generate multiple restraint incidents in a school year is a child whose IEP is not working.

The Texas IEP & 504 Advocacy Playbook includes documentation templates for restraint incidents, a checklist for evaluating whether a BIP is legally adequate under Texas standards, and guidance on requesting FBA and BIP reviews through the ARD process. Addressing the root cause—an IEP and behavioral plan that actually meets your child's needs—is the most effective long-term response.

Your child's safety at school is a legal right, not a favor granted by the district. When physical interventions are being used with any regularity, something in the educational plan needs to change.

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