HB 1795 Washington House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Addressing restraint or isolation of students in public schools and educational programs.

HB 1795 prohibits the use of physical restraint, mechanical restraint, or isolation (seclusion) in Washington public schools for student discipline or staff convenience. It directly affects students, especially those with disabilities, and school staff by requiring schools to use behavioral intervention plans and functional behavioral assessments before implementing restraint. Key provisions include banning chemical restraint unless medically prescribed, defining "isolation" to exclude brief time-outs or emergencies, and mandating staff training in crisis prevention. The bill aims to protect students from traumatic practices while ensuring restraint is only used for immediate safety risks, not as punishment.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

Signed into Law

Mar 2026

Introduced Jan 12, 2026 Signed Mar 24, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Engrossed Substitute Bill → Substitute Passed Legislature · 7 edits

MODERATE

This bill updates the rules on student restraint and isolation in Washington schools to clarify procedures, expand reporting requirements, and refine definitions. The changes aim to improve safety while ensuring consistent accountability and support for school districts implementing bans on isolation practices.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed to exclude children in early childhood education and Head Start programs from certain definitions, and it now explicitly applies procedural requirements to incidents involving school resource officers.

REQUIREMENT

Added a requirement that incidents involving school resource officers must follow the same procedural and reporting rules as other restraint incidents.

Created new rules allowing schools to build specific types of safe spaces, including temporary barriers for privacy issues, provided students remain monitored.

Replaced the word 'district' with 'school district' in several places to ensure the term applies only to local districts and not other public educational service providers.

Added a requirement for school districts to submit annual summaries of restraint and isolation data to the state superintendent by January 1st.

TIMELINE

Changed the deadline for notifying parents from 'twenty-four hours' to exactly '24 hours' after a restraint or isolation incident.

DEFINITION

Updated the definition of 'students' to explicitly exclude children served in early childhood education and federal Head Start programs.

Clarified that using temporary, non-permanent barriers for privacy is considered isolation and triggers reporting requirements.

Bill → Substitute Bill · 13 edits

MAJOR

This bill was amended to update the legislative session year from 2025 to 2026 and to streamline the text of the act, focusing specifically on amending two existing sections of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) and creating one new section rather than the broader changes in the original version. The changes simplify the definitions and reporting requirements while maintaining the core intent to restrict the use of student restraint and isolation in public schools.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed from amending six RCW sections and adding multiple new sections to amending only two RCW sections and adding one new section. The applicability to school districts and providers of public educational services remains unchanged.

TIMELINE

The legislative session year was updated from 2025 to 2026, and the date the bill was read for the first time was changed from February 3, 2025, to January 27, 2026.

REQUIREMENT

The list of amended statutes was reduced from seven RCW sections to just two (RCW 28A.600.485 and 28A.600.486), and the act's purpose was simplified to focus on protecting students from harmful restraint practices.

Reporting requirements were simplified; the original bill required detailed monthly and annual reports, while the substitute bill consolidates these into a single annual summary submission.

The prohibition on constructing or remodeling rooms solely for student isolation was expanded to include 'reconfigure, repurpose, or otherwise establish' any such space.

The requirement for staff training plans was updated to include 'intensive crisis management and response' in addition to 'intensive crisis prevention and response'.

The deadline for school boards to complete training on isolation and restraint was changed from the 2025-26 school year to November 1, 2025.

The deadline for the superintendent's report on demonstration projects was moved from November 15, 2026, to December 1, 2025.

The expiration date for the professional development strategy report was shortened from August 30, 2041, to August 30, 2027.

The requirement for the superintendent to report on room clears was removed entirely from the substitute bill.

The section regarding reports on placements in authorized entities was significantly shortened, removing several data categories such as academic progress and graduation rates.

The repeal of RCW 28A.415.330 was removed from the substitute bill.

The null and void clause was updated to reference June 30, 2025, instead of June 30, 2026.

DEFINITION

The extensive list of definitions found in the original bill was removed and replaced with a more concise set of definitions embedded directly within the amended sections.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 5, 2026 · House Feb 13, 2026

How they voted

30–20

Passed · 1 other

Total votes 51

Mar 5, 2026

D Democratic31

29 Yea 1 Nay 1

93% Yea

R Republican20

1 Yea 19 Nay

95% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 24, 2026

Signed into law

Governor signed.

executive

Mar 12, 2026

Upper · Passed

President signed.

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

Speaker signed.

lower

Mar 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed final passage; yeas, 58; nays, 37; absent, 0; excused, 3.

lower

Mar 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

House concurred in Senate amendments.

lower

Mar 5, 2026

Upper · Passed

Committee amendment(s) adopted as amended.

upper

Mar 5, 2026

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (30-20-1)

senate

Feb 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

Minority; without recommendation.

upper

Feb 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

Minority; do not pass.

upper

Feb 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

EDU - Majority; do pass with amendment(s).

upper

Feb 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education at 10:30 AM.

upper

Feb 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education at 10:30 AM.

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Lower · Passed

Floor amendment(s) adopted.

lower

Jan 27, 2026

Committee

Referred to Rules 2 Review.

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Lower · Passed

Minority; without recommendation.

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Lower · Passed

Minority; do not pass.

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on Education at 8:00 AM.

lower

Jan 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Education at 1:30 PM.

lower

Jan 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to Education.

lower

Jan 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

Committee relieved of further consideration.

lower

Jan 12, 2026

Introduced

By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.

lower

Feb 27, 2025

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 9:00 AM.

lower

Feb 20, 2025

Committee

Referred to Appropriations.

lower

Feb 17, 2025

Lower · Passed

Minority; do not pass.

lower

Feb 17, 2025

Lower · Passed

Minority; without recommendation.

lower

Feb 17, 2025

Lower · Passed

ED - Majority; do pass.

lower

Feb 17, 2025

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on Education at 1:30 PM.

lower

Feb 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Education at 1:30 PM.

lower

1 primary · 5 co-sponsors