FOX news 13

When Stephanie Merrill read the first substitute of a bill that would ban seclusion in Utah schools, she was “completely overjoyed.” “It took me totally by surprise,” added her husband, Craig Merrill, in a recent interview with FOX 13 News. “I thought, ‘Wow, finally somebody is speaking up and addressing an issue that needs to be addressed.’”  But the couple’s initial excitement that lawmakers may move to end seclusion — a behavioral intervention used to isolate students from their peers, sometimes in a small, padded room — was quickly dampened when the bill, SB170, was amended again on the Senate floor. The current version of the bill now moving through the state Legislature allows seclusion. If approved, it would put into state law many of the same guardrails that are already in place under the Utah State Board of Education’s rules — including allowing the practice only when a child poses an imminent safety risk to themselves or others.