Restraint & Seclusion
NM: Bill refining allowable restraint and seclusion practices in schools advances out of House committee
Yahoo News
Members of the House Education Committee on Monday advanced a bill that would refine definitions of allowable physical discipline practices in public schools, limit those practices, and require expanded training for K-12 school personnel. House Bill 120, co-sponsored by Rep. Yanira Gurrola (D-Albuquerque), would amend the Public School Code by clarifying what restraint and seclusion are — used when students show dangerous or threatening behavior — and what actions are prohibited. The bill also requests school boards create plans for managing disruptive behavior so school personnel have guides when situations arise, and requires personnel be trained in de-escalation and restraint techniques twice a year. The bill advanced by a 7-5 vote.
NY: ‘That is unacceptable’: Lawmaker pushes for new safeguards after shocking school incidents
CBS 6 News
The proposed bill creates enforceable statewide standards and strengthens protections against the use of physical restraint as a behavioral intervention, such as what happened at Lincoln Elementary School in Schenectady. In northern New York, parents of an 8-year-old student who is nonverbal and autistic are suing the Salmon River Central School District for allegedly putting their son inside a wooden box as a form of punishment. In Schenectady, a picture shows a staff member stepping on a second-grader with ADHD as a way to restrain him. These situations are what led Assemblymember Angelo Santabarbara to demand an enforceable statewide standard. “It’s beyond shocking. I mean, you don’t even have the words,” Santabarbara said. The lawmaker says parents did not learn about what happened to their child at school until pictures showed up online. Now, he says, even more parents are concerned that similar incidents are happening to their kids. “It strengthens the oversight, and that’s what’s needed here: more oversight. It requires immediate, same-day notification to the parents or guardians,” Santabarbara said. The bill would also explicitly prohibit the use of enclosure or confinement practices, such as putting a child in a box, which is the main claim in a lawsuit filed against the Salmon River Central School District.
Act Now! Tell Congress to End the Use of Seclusion & Restraint and Target Resources to Train School Teams
In December, the bipartisan Keeping All Students Safe Act (H.R. 6617/S. 3448) (KASSA) was introduced by Rep. Beyer (D-VA), Rep. Hamadeh (R-AZ), Ranking Member Scott (D-VA), Sen. Murphy (D-CT), Sen. Murray (D-WA), and Sen. Sanders (I-VT). COPAA endorsed the bill because it would prohibit schools from secluding any child or using any dangerous restraints that restrict breathing or can cause harm. KASSA would only allow restraint when needed to protect students and staff from serious physical injury. Importantly, the bill would provide funds to train school personnel so they can address behaviors with proactive evidence-based strategies. ACT NOW! Email your Senators and Representative and urge them to cosponsor the Keeping all Students Safe Act today! Learn more about KASSA and why we must ensure students with disabilities have every opportunity to pursue their education free from the fear of trauma and abuse.
Time out box for special needs students sparks outrage
MSN.com
Photos of a structure resembling a shipping container with four wooden exterior panels and a padded interior appeared on Facebook on Dec. 15. But what, or rather who, was in the containers continues to spark outrage due to claims that special needs children were placed in them during time-out sessions. The photos, posted by a former school board member, were from the St. Regis Mohawk School in the Salmon River Center School District, in the upstate New York community of Akwesasne near the Canadian border, prompting a state investigation that led to school staff being placed on leave and the superintendent’s temporary reassignment. “We recognize the pain, concern, and distress these events have caused, and we are truly sorry for the harm and trauma this has resulted in for our community,” Jason Brockway, the board’s president, said in a Dec. 18 statement. “We want to be clear: the circumstances surrounding these allegations do not reflect the values and standards of care that guide this district.” Chrissy Onientatahse Jacobs, who posted images, says it’s not enough. “I want to see (Superintendent) Stanley Harper terminated. I want to see the Assistant Superintendent Angela Robert terminated. The special education director, Alan Gravel, I want him terminated,” Jacobs told USA TODAY in an interview.
‘Let me go!’: Judge sides with black middle schooler with disabilities who was cuffed four times by school police, issues scathing order to California school district
Atlanta Black Star
The parents of a Black middle school student who was repeatedly physically restrained and handcuffed by school police for misbehavior related to his disabilities have won out after a precedent-setting five-year legal battle with the local school district and sheriff’s department in southern California. After presiding over the racial and disability discrimination lawsuit since 2021, U.S. District Judge Jesus G. Bernal approved settlement agreements last fall ordering Moreno Valley United School District (MVUSD) to pay the minor plaintiff, “C.B.” $1.2 million and Riverside County and its sheriff’s department to pay $650,000 to the boy, who was 10 and 11 years old when he was allegedly mistreated by campus security officers (CSOs) and deputy sheriffs assigned as school resource officers (SROs).
A behavior plan created for C.B. with a team including his parents and special education teacher called for interventions such as “de-escalation, patience, communication, and waiting” when he acted out, the lawsuit said. But school police, unaware of the behavior plan and untrained in how to handle conflicts involving students with disabilities, instead injured and traumatized C.B., the lawsuit claimed, when they immediately resorted to physically restraining him, sometimes tackling him, sitting on him, and handcuffing his arms behind his back before hauling him away in a police vehicle.
COPAA Applauds Bipartisan Introduction of the Keeping All Students Safe Act
In response to the introduction of the Keeping All Students Safe Act H.R. 6617/S. 3448 (KASSA) in the U.S. Congress, COPAA CEO Denise Marshall issued a statement endorsing the bill and reiterating COPAA’s deep commitment to ensuring that “no child is subjected to abusive treatment under the guise of providing educational services.” KASSA was introduced on December 11 in the House by Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), Rep. Abraham Hamadeh (R-AZ), and Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA). In the Senate, the sponsors are Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA). The bill would make it illegal for any school receiving federal funds to seclude children, would ban dangerous restraint practices such as prone, supine, mechanical, or chemical restraint, and would significantly limit the use of physical restraint. KASSA requires schools to inform parents when physical restraint occurs, allows a private right of action for families, provides grants to states for training school personnel, and mandates that states monitor implementation, collect and report data, and increase transparency and oversight to prevent future abuse of students. As a leader on KASSA, COPAA will launch Hill outreach activities when Congress returns in January.
NY: NY schools say students restrained, put in time out over 20,000 times
Times Union
More than 3,600 New York public school students were physically restrained or isolated in “timeouts” in at least 20,000 incidents last year, including some cases that violated state regulations. That’s according to the New York State Education Department, which has required schools to report these incidents to the state for the first time following a Times Union investigation in 2022 that found widespread use of the controversial behavioral techniques. The newspaper’s reporting revealed that the practices have resulted in injuries and deaths to students and staff across the U.S.
PA: Concerns grow over restraints for Pa. students with disabilities
NBC10 Philadelphia
Holton says she didn’t know the full extent of what happened in the classroom until she got a call from the school district in the spring. “The Special Ed supervisor called me and said that he was restrained 3,193 times,” she said, her voice breaking. That was over the course of four months. “I remember, like, catching my breath and saying, ‘Wait, you mean minutes, minutes?’ and she said, ‘No, times,'” Holton said. The son of school board member James Pepper was in the same classroom. “They were so completely and utterly failed,” Pepper said in an August board meeting. Pepper’s son, who also has autism and is non-verbal, was restrained an estimated 2,933 times, according to an email the district sent Pepper and his wife recapping a phone call about the restraints. In total, the Central Bucks School District reported more than 6,400 restraints for the 2024-25 school year. That’s nearly a quarter of the total number of restraints reported statewide last year. “Six thousand is alarming,” Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Carrie Rowe said in an interview with the NBC10 Investigators. “Something has to be going wrong and additional oversight is needed.” Rowe said the state has begun “targeted monitoring” with Central Bucks and are determining “where the gaps are.”
NC: Wake County schools see rise in student restraint cases
Raleigh News & Observer
The Wake County school system has seen a 38% increase in how often students are being physically restrained or locked alone in rooms by school employees. Data presented Tuesday show 1,802 acts of restraint or seclusion were reported to the federal government in the 2024-25 school year — compared to 1,304 times the previous school year. School administrators attributed the surge to more accurate reporting of data, though they also said they want to reduce how often restraint and seclusion are used. “We have created a far more robust strategic way of reporting the data,” Paul Walker, senior director of student due process, told the school board’s student achievement committee. Wake has admitted in the past to under-reporting the data. Wake didn’t report any cases of restraint or seclusion to the federal government in the 2017-18 school year. As part of an August 2023 legal settlement, Wake agreed to change how it handles and reports cases of restraint and seclusion.
LA: La. schools must update disability policies under new law
nola.com
Starting this year, Louisiana school districts must install cameras in all special-education classrooms and make changes to their special education policies, under a new state law that puts additional safeguards in place for students with disabilities. Under Act 479, which the Legislature passed this year, schools must place at least one camera in every special-education classroom by next February. The law also puts new restrictions on the practice of physically restraining students with disabilities or putting them in separate “seclusion” rooms. For example, a school nurse or other staffer must visit any student who is secluded or restrained, and school personnel must file detailed incident reports. Those changes take effect Dec. 1, though districts have until next May to submit updated policies to the state. The law also authorizes the state education department to develop a free “crisis intervention” training program for school staffers on how to properly restrain students during emergencies. The changes come after a 2024 report from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office found that, despite warnings from advocates and the federal government that using seclusion and restraint in schools can endanger students and potentially violate their rights, the state education department had failed to properly monitor how public schools use the practices.
MI: Montcalm County Intermediate School District to end student seclusion
Detroit Free Press
A small school district in central Michigan has agreed to end its practice of isolating children with disabilities in rooms in a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, according to a July 3 news release. Montcalm County Intermediate School District was one of the subjects of a 2022 Detroit Free Press investigation over restraint and seclusion tactics used on students with disabilities across the state.
The DOJ investigation found that district staff used seclusion and restraint tactics improperly, using the tactics on students — which under state law should only be used as a last resort where a student poses a threat to themselves or others — “as punishment for normal classroom discipline issues.” In the agreement dated June 27, Montcalm officials deny that the district discriminated against students in their restraint and seclusion practices, “but wishes to avoid the costs, time-burdens, and risks of further legal proceedings.”
PA: 5 Central Bucks School District staff members in Doylestown, Pennsylvania fired after investigation into alleged abuse
ABC7 Chicago
A Pennsylvania school board voted Wednesday night to terminate five of its staff members after an investigation uncovered alleged abuse inside a special education classroom. In April, Central Bucks School District Superintendent Steven Yanni was placed on leave following a report from the nonprofit, Disability Rights Pennsylvania. It accused Yanni and several other administrators of misleading police and parents about the child abuse allegations. According to the report released, students were physically restrained, water intake was restricted, a student was found naked, and physical punishment was used inside an autism support classroom at Jamison Elementary. The alleged abuse happened from September to December of 2024. The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office has said it does not consider this a criminal matter. So far, no charges have been filed against anyone involved.
ME: ‘It broke him, and it broke me’: Maine parents, educators describe trauma from restraint and seclusion
Yahoo.com
Krystal Emerson never imagined her son would spend his days at school being forcibly moved against his will by school staff and shut in an empty room. But during the 2023-24 school year at Ellsworth Elementary-Middle School, that’s what happened — at least 18 times, according to Emerson and school district incident reports reviewed by the Maine Morning Star. Staff members put the 7-year-old boy in holds, forced him into empty rooms, and did not let him out until he calmed down or his parents picked him up. “It broke him, and it broke me,” Emerson said. The trauma became so severe that her son, now a third grader, no longer attends school in person, she said. What happened to Emerson’s son is not an isolated case. Across Maine, schools use restraint and seclusion on students more than 10,000 times each year, according to Maine Department of Education data. A 2021 state law limits restraint and seclusion to emergencies. But as Maine educators report more challenging student behavior in the years since pandemic school closures, there have been calls to allow school staff to restrain and seclude children more often. A newly proposed bill would broaden the circumstances under which school staff could restrain or seclude students, igniting debate among educators, parents and lawmakers about how to manage student behavior without inflicting harm.
ME: Schools report thousands of restraints and seclusions per year, but the real number is higher
Louisiana Illuminator
Maine students have been restrained and secluded more than 22,000 times a year in some years. But the real number of times educators put students in holds, move them against their will, and shut them alone in small rooms is likely much higher. Restraint and seclusion are widely condemned practices that create lasting trauma for students, their families, and the educators involved. That’s why every use is supposed to be documented and reported to the state. But over the past decade, only 24 out of more than 250 private schools and public districts in Maine have consistently reported their numbers. Maine law mandates annual reporting to the Maine Department of Education, however, the department did not say whether there was any penalty for failing to report.
Trump official’s autism schools secluded and restrained students at high rates
the 74
Arizona Autism Charter Schools, whose founder, Diana Diaz-Harrison, has been tapped to oversee the education of children with disabilities in President Donald Trump’s second administration, has used controversial, potentially dangerous disciplinary practices on its students at an unusually high rate. In the 2020-21 academic year, the latest for which federal data is available, school staff physically restrained 41% of its students and put 20% in seclusion, which is defined by the U.S. Department of Education as the involuntary confinement of a child, typically in a locked room. That’s 50% higher than the rate at which students are restrained and confined nationally. Many states — including Arizona — have outlawed or severely curtailed the circumstances under which the practices are allowed. At the time the data was collected, the charter network founded by Diaz-Harrison had two schools serving 283 students, 116 of whom were restrained and 57 secluded. Ninety-nine of the schools’ 146 K-5 students, or 68%, had been restrained.