Restraint & Seclusion
IA: Cedar Rapids sees progress on restraints, more work ahead
The Gazette
At a school board work session last week, the Cedar Rapids school district reported that the number of students restrained in response to aggressive behavior has dropped considerably. Between 2018 and 2021, restraints were used 4,145 times. From 2023 to 2026, restraints were used 734 times, including a low of 190 restraints in the 2025-26 school year. We’ve been critical of the district’s use of restraints and seclusion in multiple editorials, so the latest report showing the use of restraints declining is good news. Cedar Rapids did away with the use of seclusion in October 2022.
It was in September 2022 that the district reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, which concluded, after a lengthy investigation, that the use of restraints and seclusion discriminated against students with disabilities who were disproportionately subjected to these disciplinary actions. The department required Cedar Rapids to end the use of seclusion. The settlement also directed the district to limit the use of restraints, revise its procedures and practices, and implement them consistently in all schools.
CO: This specialized Colorado school faces scrutiny for improperly restraining students
Chalkbeat
Mark Brostrom’s 11-year-old son was struggling in public school when his school district suggested what seemed like a better fit: a new specialized school near the family’s home. Brostrom remembers thinking that the Austin Centers for Exceptional Students in Westminster could offer the flexibility that his son, who has autism, needed to thrive. A bright boy who scores well on tests, his son also sometimes responded to stress by destroying property or harming himself, his father said. But Brostrom quickly became disillusioned with The ACES, as the school calls itself. His son, whom Chalkbeat is not naming to protect his privacy, experienced multiple restraints, including one that the 11-year-old called “the crucifixion,” Brostrom said. The boy described being pinned to the floor on his back with staff members holding his arms and legs, a situation that his father said only made the boy struggle harder.
The ACES is what Colorado calls a facility school, a placement of last resort for students with intense behavioral, mental health, or special education needs whom public schools can’t or won’t serve. As the number of facility schools dwindled, state lawmakers in 2023 created a new, less clinical category called a “specialized day school” — opening the door for providers like The ACES. Now, less than two years after opening, the school faces state sanctions and a potential loss of funding after complaints about how it physically restrains students, suggesting the state’s changes meant to grow the number of facility schools lacked adequate safeguards.
TX: Cy-Fair ISD officer repeatedly used hogtie restraint on fifth grader
One Monday afternoon in October 2023, a Cy-Fair ISD police officer tracked down a fifth-grader who had run away from his school for students with behavioral challenges. The boy had left campus before. But this time when he wouldn’t get in the police car, the officer took an unusual step. He cuffed the boy’s hands, shackled his ankles and bound them together behind his back using a controversial technique known as a “hogtie,” according to internal district records obtained by The Houston Chronicle and The New York Times. Then, the officer left the boy face-down in the backseat of his car for nearly 20 minutes. The hogtie technique has been linked to breathing-related deaths, and many city police departments across the country have banned it.
NY: State finds school district held 5 students in wooden boxes
MSN
A public school district in northern New York broke state education regulations at least six times when it chose to confine students with disabilities in padded, wooden boxes in the classroom, an investigation by the New York State Education Department found. The state ordered the Salmon River Central School District to change its policies and special education practices by this fall and to submit paperwork demonstrating its compliance. State investigators found five students with disabilities were placed in the large boxes “with the door held shut,” an act that constitutes seclusion, a practice banned by education regulations in New York. The release of the state report is the latest development in a months-long saga that resulted in criminal investigations, the introduction of new legislation, condemnation from the governor, and the departures of multiple school administrators in the district since mid-December, when photos of one of the crates emerged on Facebook.
The state’s conclusions differ from the findings released by an attorney hired by the school district to review the use of the boxes. That attorney determined the boxes had been used this school year on two students who usually chose to go into the boxes and stay there.
NY orders broad reform of public school that held Native children with disabilities in wooden boxes
NPR
Rumors spread on social media over the winter: School kids with disabilities in the Salmon River Central School District, including Akwesasne Mohawk children, were being confined by special education teachers in wooden boxes. Sarah Konwahahawi Herne was devastated. “It was so unfathomable that our children were seeing these boxes and hearing children screaming in these boxes,” said Herne, a parent and a member of the tribal community. “I cried, I threw up, and I immediately grabbed my laptop and said, What are we going to do?” Local school officials later confirmed that at least two boxes had been built and used by staff in November and December of 2025. That disclosure sent more shockwaves through this region of small Upstate New York towns just south of the U.S.-Canada border, which includes the sprawling St. Regis Mohawk Reservation. Officials with New York state’s education department have now quietly issued an official order requiring sweeping reforms in the district. According to the report obtained by NPR, the state’s investigation found that at least five elementary-age students with disabilities were confined in a “wooden box for a timeout.”
Schools are supposed to limit using restraint and seclusion to discipline kids – but parents I spoke with say the practice is wildly misused
The Conversation
“Jessica,” the adoptive mother of a third-grade student, was shocked when she discovered that her daughter had spent over 100 hours locked in a room alone at her North Carolina public school. School staff locked the child in a room by herself after she flipped markers in the air, lay on the floor, and tilted her chair back, Jessica told me in 2024. Jessica’s daughter has a nonverbal learning disability, mild attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and bipolar disorder.
Jessica’s situation is one of dozens that I document in my 2026 book, “No Restraint: Disabled Children and Institutionalized Violence in America’s Schools.” This book is part of my research on how families of children with disabilities navigate public schools that use restraint and seclusion to discipline students.
CT: Blue Room: Restraining and secluding the state’s most vulnerable students
Inside Investigator
On May 20, 2024, teachers and administrators at Hazardville Memorial School in Enfield called the police on a five-year-old in kindergarten. The call to 911 was placed at 9:57 am. By that time, teachers and special education instructors had been handling a situation with five-year-old Cody (fake name) for about an hour. That morning, Cody had kicked a classmate, at which point teachers evacuated the classroom, called in the school’s crisis intervention team, and secluded Cody in the classroom with adults restraining him from kicking or hitting.
This particular incident with Cody was one of thirty-nine restraints or seclusions of the boy between October 2, 2023, and May 20, 2024. At five years old, Cody is small, hardly a real physical danger, and easily restrained by the teachers. He was later diagnosed with autism, which causes his emotional dysregulation and can lead to outbursts. Dave alleges that during an earlier incident, he found that staff had been isolating Cody in a “windowless, solid-core doored, single stall bathroom that’s inside a little storage space between classrooms.”
NM: New Mexico lawmakers debate bills on special education, student restraint
Santa Fe New Mexican
New Mexico lawmakers are taking another pass at two measures that have stalled in previous years but that, supporters say, are critical to protecting vulnerable children and fixing the state’s special education system. Senate Bill 64 would formally codify the Office of Special Education in state statute, embedding it within the Public Education Department and centralizing oversight of special education services statewide. And House Bill 120 would more tightly regulate the use of restraint and seclusion in schools — emergency interventions used when a student’s behavior presents what staff determine to be imminent physical danger to the student or others. Such restraints are most frequently used on special education students. The two bills have passed the Senate and House, respectively, and are working their way through committees in the other chamber.
DOJ Tells St. Louis Special School District that Seclusion and Restraint Practices Violate Federal Law
This week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it has notified the Special School District of St. Louis, Missouri (District) that the District’s seclusion and restraint practices violate Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The District is now required to implement remedial measures to address the deficiencies and protect the civil rights of students with disabilities. According to DOJ’s Findings, the District discriminates against students with disabilities by “routinely subjecting them to ineffective seclusion practices that are highly susceptible to abuse and restraints without justification, rather than providing the interventions and supports they need to receive the education they are guaranteed by federal law.” As part of its Factual Findings, DOJ wrote, “the District treated seclusion and restraint not as crisis responses to be used in rare emergencies but as a routine response to student behavior.” Among the nine required remedial measures outlined by DOJ, the District must: end the use of seclusion and supine restraint; prohibit the use of restraint unless the student’s behavior poses an imminent danger of physical harm to the student or another person; implement policies and procedures for suicide and self-harm prevention; document all uses of restraint and review and monitor incidents to ensure compliance with state law and District policies; provide students with interventions and supports to address their behaviors; offer compensatory education to students subjected to seclusion and restraint; train personnel, and more.
In response to the DOJ’s announcement, COPAA CEO Denise Marshall stated, ”I am pleased to see the remedial steps required. As we have long advocated, including as the lead advocate for the federal Keeping All Students Safe Act (KASSA) (HR 6617/S.3448), no student should ever be subjected to the trauma of seclusion nor the harmful effects of inappropriate restraint.” COPAA urges all members to email Congress and urge support for and swift passage of KASSA.
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.