Beauregard Parish policy committee approves updates to special‑education, discipline and corporal‑punishment policies

The policy committee of the Beauregard Parish School Board on Nov. 10 approved revisions to three district policies to reflect recent state statutory changes and to clarify procedures.

IDDF (education of students with exceptionalities): Staff presented a substantial rewrite aligning with Act 479 and cited Louisiana Revised Statute sections (as presented in the committee packet). The revision adds crisis intervention and positive behavior supports to definitions, replaces the phrase “imminent danger” with “imminent risk of harm” in the seclusion definition, defines seclusion and sensory rooms separately, expands the list of actions not considered a physical restraint (including a short‑duration hold for safety), and updated documentation and notification procedures. Staff noted CPI (crisis prevention intervention) training has been completed recently and discussed supervision limits (a 30‑minute cap was cited as a reference point for seclusion supervision).

JD (discipline): The committee accepted an amendment expanding statutory protections that prevent retaliation for staff reporting discipline incidents to now cover all school employees, following Act 439 amendments to state law.

JVA (corporal punishment): Revisions add the word “physical” to certain restraint definitions as required by Act 479; staff recommended waiving the waiting period to implement the change when it becomes effective Dec. 1.

Each policy change was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote during the committee meeting.

What’s next: The policy updates will be published in district materials, staff will confirm training and documentation procedures, and the committee will present the changes to the full board as required by district rules.