For a student to learn, they have to feel safe first

For a student to learn, they have to feel safe first. Safe enough to raise a hand, safe enough to get an answer wrong, safe enough to have a bad day without wondering what will be done to their body because of it. Take that away and school stops being a place kids grow in and turns into a place they just try to get through. Students with disabilities and behavioral needs have felt this most acutely, because for years the response to their hardest moments has too often been control, not support.

That’s the problem House Bill 1795 was written to address.

The bill passed the House and Senate in the 2026 session, Governor Bob Ferguson signed it, and it took effect June 11, 2026. Here’s what actually changes for kids in Washington schools:

Certain restraints are banned outright: pepper spray, mace, sedatives, and physical restraints like handcuffs, zip ties, or belts are no longer allowed on students.^[1] Staff can’t pin a student down or press them against a wall in a way that restricts breathing or blood flow, a tactic that has killed children in other states.^[1] Isolation and restraint can only be used when a student poses an imminent risk of serious harm, not as a routine or planned intervention, and every use has to follow safety and supervision rules. The construction of new rooms built specifically to isolate students are now prohibited, and districts now have to report every restraint and isolation incident to OSPI each year, while the state funds crisis-prevention training so schools can de-escalate instead of restrain.

Nationally, schools reported more than 70,000 physical restraint incidents and more than 60,000 seclusion incidents in a single year.^[2] In Washington alone, districts logged over 9,000 combined restraint and isolation incidents in 2022-23. Students with disabilities are a small share of total enrollment nationwide, but nationally they account for roughly 81 percent of restraint incidents and 75 percent of seclusion incidents.^[2] That’s not an accident, and it isn’t a discipline problem either. It’s a design problem, and it’s exactly what this law is trying to undo.

No kid should learn to associate school with being pinned to the floor. No parent should have to wonder if their child spent recess locked in a padded room because a staff member never got trained on how to de-escalate instead. That was the reality for thousands of Washington students, and disproportionately so for the ones who required more patience rather than force.

As of June, that reality is illegal.

But a law only does what people make it do. HB 1795 bans the worst tools and the worst tactics, but it doesn’t ban isolation outright, it just narrows when it can be used. That’s progress, but it’s not the final result we are hoping for. The next fight is pushing to phase out isolation entirely instead of just regulating it, because a practice that’s dangerous as a routine doesn’t stop being dangerous when it’s still labeled as a last resort. None of it holds without funding backing it up. We must dedicate more resources to training and ensure district reporting is consistent and complete or this will not have the impact it needs to have. Passing HB 1795 was the fight to change the rule. Making sure districts actually follow it, prioritize training, have accurate reporting, and keep moving toward eliminating isolation for good, is the fight that’s just getting started. Washington decided its most vulnerable students deserve to feel safe at school. It’s on all of us to make sure that decision holds.

Sources

[1] Washington Political News for Families, Seattle’s Child, April 2026 — coverage of Governor Ferguson signing HB 1795: https://www.seattleschild.com/washington-political-news-for-families-key-updates-this-week-april-05-2026/

[2] U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights — restraint and seclusion data: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/restraint-seclusion.html

[3] HB 1795 bill summary and status, Washington State Legislature: https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1795&Year=2025

[4] House Bill Report, HB 1795, House Committee on Education: https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/House/1795%20HBR%20ED%2026.pdf

[5] Senate Bill Report, ESHB 1795, Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education: https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/Senate/1795-S.E%20SBA%20EDU%2026.pdf

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