Emergency Safety Intervention

The Emergency Safety Interventions (ESI) law set forth standards for the use of restraint and seclusion to ensure that all Kansas students and staff have a safe learning environment. The standards found in the ESI statutes and regulations are required to be followed in all Kansas public school districts and accredited private schools.

If a parent believes that an emergency safety intervention has been used with the parent’s child in violation of the State Board’s emergency safety intervention regulations or the district’s emergency safety intervention policy, the parent may file a complaint with the local board. The complaint must be filed within 30 days of the date on which the parent was informed of the use of that emergency safety intervention. The local board’s final decision must be in writing and include findings of fact and any corrective action required by the district if the local board deems these actions necessary. The local board’s final decision must be mailed to the parent and KSDE within 30 days of the local board’s receipt of the complaint. To comply with the requirement in K.A.R. 91-42-3(a)(2)(C) to mail the local board’s final decision to KSDE, the local board’s final decision must be mailed to Trish Backman, Special Education and Title Services, KSDE, Landon State Office Building, 900 S.W. Jackson, Suite 102, Topeka, KS 66612 or emailed to tbackman@ksde.org.

Any parent who filed a written complaint with their local board of education regarding the use of emergency safety intervention and is either not satisfied with the local board’s final decision or did not receive a final decision within 30 days, may request an administrative review by the Kansas State Board of Education. The form below may be used to request administrative review. Questions on this process, please contact the Office of General Counsel at ogc@ksde.org or 785-296-3204.

For more information, please contact Heather Oentrich, USD 475 Director of Student Support Services. 

USD 475 Contact Information
Heather Oentrich, USD 475 Director of Student Support Services
Email: HeatherOentrich@usd475.org