Kansas State Department of Education Releases Report on Seclusion Rooms

November 2009

The Kansas State Department of Education released its year-end report on seclusion rooms. According to official minutes, the State Board of Education adopted a policy on March 13, 2007 regarding the use of seclusion in which local school boards were required to submit data.

This is particularly relevant to Missouri, because currently Missouri legislation requires that local school boards adopt a policy in 2011; legislation does not, however, require any reporting, monitoring, or other means of data collection to determine how in fact seclusion (and restraint) are being used. The Kansas report eludes to the discrepancies among districts in usage of seclusion, and flags significant concern (note frequency and duration of use). Based on this and all other information reported nationally, there is definite risk that this can happen (and already is happening) with local school boards maintaining local autonomy on seclusion and restraint. Please note, it appears the Kansas policy is specific to seclusion rooms.

Resources:

Kansas State Department of Education, Seclusion Information

Kansas State Department of Education, March 13, 2007, Minutes adopting policies regarding seclusion rooms

Kansas State Department of Education Meeting Nov 2009 meeting material (Minutes not yet available), page 57

Kansas State Department of Education, Special Education Seclusion Update for 2008-2009

Kansas State Department of Education, Seclusion of Students with Disabilities: Year End Report 2008-2009

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Copy and Paste URLs:

Kansas State Department of Education, Seclusion Information: http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=3119

Kansas State Department of Education, March 13, 2007, Minutes adopting policies regarding seclusion rooms: http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=36&ctl=Details&mid=1030&ItemID=85

Kansas State Department of Education Meeting Nov 2009 meeting material, page 57: http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=427

Kansas State Department of Education, Special Education Seclusion Update for 2008-2009: http://www.ksde.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=RdjaqHAB7Yo%3D&tabid=3119&mid=6970&forcedownload=true

Kansas State Department of Education, Seclusion of Students with Disabilities: Year End Report 2008-2009: http://www.ksde.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=U9Sv%2fxwXO2Y%3d&tabid=3119&mid=6970&forcedownload=true

School Seclusion Practices Reviewed

Kansas, November 16, 2009

Nearly 300 students with disabilities were secluded in the final quarter of the last school year, according to a new report by the Kansas Department of Education.

One child was placed in a seclusion room 15 times in one day, according to the report, which covered the 2008-2009 school year.

Some State Board of Education members said they aren’t happy that children are being isolated, and some question whether the report accurately reflects the extent to which seclusion is used.

Read the rest of the story here.

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Copy and paste URL: http://www.ktka.com/news/2009/nov/16/school-seclusion-practices-reviewed/

Update but Not Much Progress at State Level

Missouri law states that DESE must develop a model policy regarding "comprehensively addresses the use of restrictive behavioral interventions as a form of discipline or behavior management technique." School districts must adopt a written policy as well, but they are not mandated to follow the guidelines set forth by DESE.

Last week, upon request, I was told that at this time there are no additional meetings scheduled regarding the DESE model policy in Missouri. It appears that the policy is still in the "formulation stage" with research being done on policies in other states. I hope that there is also research being done regarding the ineffectiveness of model policies (Kansas and Michigan for example) and also on the movement of the federal legislation recently passed through Committee.

It is "anticipated" that the first draft of the Missouri model policy will be put in writing sometime during the month of February. Please get your comments in soon. Local school boards are not mandated to adopt or follow this model policy. Please advocate at the local school board level as well.

Personal minutes: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AcxWbMnTyx1iZGc1ZDh2ZGdfNHRtajlia2du&hl=en

Official minutes: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AcxWbMnTyx1iZGc1ZDh2ZGdfNWh0bXo5emY5&hl=en

Ways to comment: MPACT and DESE (webreplyseclusionrestraint@dese.mo.gov).

If you want you comments to be made public or if you have any further information to share, please do so in the comments section.

Restraint and Seclusion Remain Unregulated and Underreported in Michigan Schools

Michigan, December 2009

This is a report on the use of restraint and seclusion in schools throughout Michigan. It concludes that, while some intermediate school districts (ISDs) have tried to apply the voluntary Board policy, most have not. It concludes further that the Michigan Department of Education and the state of Michigan have taken few actions to make the policy mandatory or effective, or to even gather and report information about restraint, seclusion, or use of the policy. This inaction means that Michigan schools remain the one service sector in the state where restraint and seclusion are virtually unregulated and are not subject to any reporting requirements. As a result, children remain at risk.

The current voluntary Board policy is not adequate to protect children from restraint and seclusion. For this reason, Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service (MPAS) and its partners make recommendations for change, to be enacted through legislation or other mandatory policy action, included at the end of this report. The time to stop these dangerous practices – the time to ensure that our children are “safe and protected” – is now.

Read the rest of the report here.

NOTE: Michigan and Kansas are perfect examples of why model policies DO NOT WORK.

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Copy and paste URLs:
Report:
http://www.mpas.org/DocumentWithArticles.asp?TOPIC=11087
Press release: http://www.mpas.org/Article.asp?TOPIC=10956