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.