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Leesburg, VA: New policy for use of restraint/seclusion with SPED students

Jan 9, 2019, Leesburg (VA)) Loudoun Now: School Board Adopts Policy on Seclusion, Restraint of Students https://loudounnow.com/2019/01/09/school-board-adopts-policy-on-seclusion-restraint-of-students/ The new policy comes almost a year after parents raised concerns that discipline of special education students sometimes involved physically restraining them or forcing them to sit alone in a room for hours at a time. In the spring, the board created a 19-member Ad Hoc Committee on Special Education and tasked it with scrutinizing the school system’s special education practices and recommend improvements. …The board voted 8-5, with Jill Turgeon (Blue Ridge) absent, to add a paragraph stating that seclusion should rarely be used for students younger than 9 years old, and that seclusion should not exceed 30 minutes. … Chris Croll (Catoctin), who sat on the ad hoc committee prior to being appointed to the School Board, said parents are concerned that seclusion practices will be misused if the policy does not include parameters, such as age and a time limit. “Sitting in a room alone—you can imagine that would be pretty traumatic for a child under 9—for a 9-year-old or 10-year-old as well,” Croll said. “We really need to be cognizant of the damage this practice can have on children.”

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