Michigan: Schools secluded/restrained students 18,000 times last year; "vast majority" SPED students
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Michigan schools secluded or physically restrained students nearly 18,000 times during the 2024 to 2025 school year, almost a decade after state lawmakers passed a package of laws intended to limit both practices to genuine emergencies. The vast majority of those instances involved students with disabilities.
The figure is down from the previous two school years, which is the one piece of good news in the data. It is also far from what the 2016 legislation was meant to produce, and it has prompted a new legislative push. State Senator Stephanie Chang, a Detroit Democrat, says she plans to introduce a bill this fall that would prohibit seclusion outright, require districts that restrain students excessively to write reduction plans, and mandate staff training.
For families, the relevant fact is not the total. It is that seclusion and restraint are documented at a scale most parents do not expect, that the children affected are overwhelmingly those with disabilities, and that in Michigan a parent generally learns their child was secluded only because the law requires the school to tell them.
What the Law Did and Did Not Do
Michigan adopted Public Acts 394 through 402 of 2016, restricting restraint and seclusion to situations where a student poses a danger to themselves or others. The State Board of Education adopted an implementing policy the following year, and districts were required to write corresponding local policies.
The laws also required reporting. Every use must be reported to parents and to the Michigan Department of Education, and school personnel must receive additional training on handling behavioral situations.
What advocates say the package lacks is enforcement. There are no penalties for improper use or for failing to report accurately, which is why they treat the reported figures as a floor rather than a count.
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