July 17, 2023, Channel 3000, Madison, WI: Students with special needs continue to experience most seclusion, restraint in Wisconsin schools https://www.channel3000.com/news/students-with-special-needs-continue-to-experience-most-seclusion-restraint-in-wisconsin-schools/article_84445628-24ef-11ee-b1b8-07a18f138ddc.html
Students with special needs represented more than three-quarters of all incidents of seclusion and restraint in Wisconsin schools, according to the latest data from the Department of Public Instruction.
While the number of incidents ticked upwards to almost 7,000 uses of restraint in the 2021-2022 school year when compared to the previous year, experts warned that it's too early to identify meaningful trends.
"The collection of this data is very new," DPI communications director Abigail Swetz noted. "I think it's really showing us right now how many opportunities there are to learn better, and to better support our districts."…
Most students who are placed in either seclusion or restraint are experiencing it multiple times during a school year, state data showed.
"It's happening to a relatively low percentage of students, but it's happening to those students repeatedly," DPI school psychology consultant Tim Peerenboom explained…
While most of the cases are happening in middle and elementary schools, Oregon High School stood out with an unusually high number of repeat incidents: two students with disabilities were restrained a total of 82 times during the 2021-2022 school year….
Under the 2018 state law that mandated the collection of seclusion and restraint data, the DPI was not given any enforcement authority for policing best practices for seclusion and restraint in schools. The most they can do is reach out to schools and check on what support is needed to help reduce these incidents in the future, Swetz said….
Comments