What actions are allowed under the law?
A school employee is not prohibited from using reasonable and necessary force for any of the following purposes:
- To protect another person from physical harm;
- Self-defense;
- To protect public property if reasonable force is necessary to prevent a student from committing a crime against the property or to terminate such criminal activity;
- To protect private property (whether belonging to the employee or to another person) if reasonable force is necessary to prevent a student from committing a crime against the property or to terminate such criminal activity;
- To prevent a student from self-inflicted harm;
- To remove a disruptive student from school premises or from a school-sponsored activity not on school premises;
- To obtain possession of a dangerous object within a student's control.
Iowa Code sections 280.21, 704.4, and 704.5; 281 IAC rule 103.4.