Portland Public Schools committee will track LD2172 on restraint and seclusion rules

Portland Public Schools’ public and legislative affairs committee voted Feb. 2 to continue tracking LD2172, a legislative resolve authorizing review of portions of Chapter 33—the State Board of Education rule on physical restraint and seclusion—rather than submit testimony this week.

Speaker 1 introduced LD2172 as a follow-up to earlier session changes and described it as a procedural resolve to permit changes to rules already passed. Committee members discussed whether testimony would be meaningful because the item appears to implement prior legislation rather than change substantive policy.

Speaker 2 offered to pull legal and technical background through a law-school-affiliated team and said they could provide information quickly if the committee wanted to consider testimony. After discussion, Speaker 1 moved that the committee continue to track LD2172; Speaker 2 indicated they would file the motion. The committee recorded affirmative responses from Fatuma and Jane Sautel and the motion to continue tracking passed.

The committee did not instruct staff to draft testimony at the meeting; instead they charged staff to monitor developments and to provide a summary if further action appeared warranted. The discussion emphasized that LD2172 functions as a procedural review of rule language for physical restraint and seclusion (Chapter 33), and members flagged both provisions they agreed with and areas they had concerns about for future review.

The committee’s action was limited to tracking and information gathering; no formal policy change or testimony was filed during the Feb. 2 meeting.