St. Louis, MO: District to eliminate seclusion rooms/supine restraints on special needs students
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
ST. LOUIS COUNTY — The Special School District of St. Louis County (SSD) announced Wednesday that it will eliminate the use of seclusion rooms and supine restraints across all of its schools, programs, partner districts, and contracted settings beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.
The major policy overhaul follows a scathing Department of Justice investigation published earlier this year that found the district violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by overusing isolation and physical restraints on students with special needs.
Under the updated guidelines, SSD will phase out seclusion rooms—small, built-in padded cells with locked doors and observation windows—as well as supine restraints, a controversial technique where a student is held flat on their back on the floor. . . .
A history of scrutiny and federal findings
The district's decision comes after a two-year federal investigation into SSD's practices during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years.
In February, the Department of Justice published findings revealing that students were routinely placed in seclusion for minor infractions, such as refusing to attend music class or knocking over a teacher's coffee. The investigation also revealed that some students engaged in self-harm while isolated inside the rooms.
Federal officials highlighted severe overuse at specific facilities:
Northview High School:Â One student was secluded 186 times in a single school year, resulting in more than 17 days of lost classroom time.
Litzsinger School:Â Despite serving fewer than 100 students, every single enrolled student was subjected to seclusion at least once during the two-year investigation window.
Additionally, federal investigators documented more than 700 instances of physical restraint across the district, including over 400 uses of supine floor restraints. One individual student was restrained 372 times, amounting to nearly 35 total hours.
The federal report called on SSD to enact immediate remedial measures, warning that a failure to address the violations could result in a federal lawsuit.
Community reaction and advocacy concerns
Local advocates and legal experts who have long pushed for an end to isolation practices expressed relief at the district's announcement, while emphasizing that implementation will be critical. . . .
Dragan also emphasized the dangerous nature of floor restraints, pointing out that state rules had previously banned prone (face-down) restraints due to safety risks.
"When you hold a child down who is dysregulated, they're screaming, they're crying, there are deaths that occur to children in those situations," Dragan said. "They choke, they have trouble breathing, and injuries occur."
Mary Fitzgerald, a special education advocate, former teacher, and parent of a son with special needs, explained that isolating children in distress causes trauma that interferes with their ability to learn.
"Have you ever been locked in a room or put in a room? It's scary," Fitzgerald said. "That trauma and that punishment leads to long-term PTSD. In the classroom and in parenting, anyone working with a child, if there's a consistent plan... kids do well when they learn the skills to do better. Punishing a child using coercion and control is not teaching the child any pro-social behaviors, problem-solving behaviors, or self-regulation skills." . . .
