HB 5325 Connecticut House · 2026 Regular Session

AN ACT CONCERNING SPECIAL EDUCATION.

HB 5325 restricts school seclusion to emergency situations only (to prevent immediate injury), banning its use for discipline, convenience, or as a planned intervention in student plans. It requires constant monitoring, cameras, and clear visibility (via windows) in all seclusion rooms. The bill also mandates annual reports on special education spending and updates contract rules for private service providers. These changes directly affect students in special education, school staff, and private providers offering these services.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 26, 2026 Last action Apr 8, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Raised Bill → ED Joint Favorable Substitute · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was reclassified from a 'Raised Bill' to a 'Substitute Bill' after committee review, indicating it has been amended. The most significant substantive change is the addition of detailed definitions for physical restraints and seclusion in Section 1, clarifying exactly what actions are prohibited and what are permitted. A technical edit was made to Section 2, where a bracketed list of specific hiring examples was removed from the expenditure report requirements, simplifying the reporting language.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on special education funding and behavioral intervention standards, but the new definitions in Section 1 significantly narrow the scope of what constitutes a prohibited 'physical restraint' or 'seclusion' by explicitly excluding common calming techniques and medical devices.

DEFINITION

Added new definitions for 'Life-threatening physical restraint,' 'Psychopharmacologic agent,' 'Physical restraint,' 'School employee,' 'Seclusion,' 'Student,' and 'Exclusionary time out' to clarify legal standards.

Modified the definition of 'Physical restraint' to explicitly exclude calming holds, escorting, medical devices, protective gear, and exclusionary timeouts.

REQUIREMENT

Removed a specific bracketed list of examples (hiring teachers, paraeducators, etc.) from the required content of annual expenditure reports in Section 2.

TECHNICAL

Changed the bill title from 'Raised Bill' to 'Substitute Bill' and updated page headers to reflect the new version.

Floor votes

How they voted

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Joint Favorable Substitute

lower

Feb 26, 2026

Committee

REF. TO JOINT COMM. ON Education

lower

2 primary · 0 co-sponsors