CHILDREN’S ADVOCATES SHOCKED BY RESTRAINT AND ISOLATION DATA

333 students injured while restrained or in isolation in Washington schools this year

Rep. Gerry Pollet will sponsor training bill to promote safe alternatives     

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, October 20, 2016 – Some Washington schools are still physically restraining students and locking them in isolation rooms at a shockingly high rate, despite a 2015 law which prohibited such practices except in serious emergencies, children’s advocates said today in response to new state data.

Schools reported 11,409 incidents of physical restraint and 8,706 incidents of isolation in just the first six months of this year, according to the state’s first annual report under House Bill 1240, which banned the non-emergency use of restraint and isolation and increased school reporting requirements.  See the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) report at http://www.k12.wa.us/Communications/PressReleases2016/Data-Restraint.aspx.

“These are heart-wrenching numbers,” said Arzu Forough, director of Washington Autism Alliance & Advocacy, one of the key backers of House Bill 1240.  “The statewide data illustrates a pressing need for more training, so that school employees know how to use science-based, positive behavior interventions as an alternative to physical force.”

Under House Bill 1240, sponsored by Rep. Gerry Pollet, D-Seattle, no student may be physically restrained or locked in an isolation room except when necessary to control spontaneous behavior posing an imminent likelihood of serious harm.  The 2015 law got rid of “aversive intervention plans,” previously authorized by OSPI, which allowed schools to restrain and isolate students with disabilities for teaching purposes even when they were not doing anything dangerous.  Yet the new data shows that some schools haven’t gotten the message, posing a danger to students as well as school staffs, said Rep. Pollet.

For example, one student at Bellingham’s Sehome High School was isolated 617 times from January to June.  A child at Chinook Elementary School in Auburn was physically restrained 121 times during the same period.  At Prospect Point Elementary School in Walla Walla, eleven students suffered physical injuries due to restraint in the first half of the year.

“The first reports show that we need legislation and funding to provide educators all over the state with training so they do not feel that they have to physically restrain and isolate students,” said Rep. Pollet.  He will introduce such legislation, which also will include a requirement to break out restraint and isolation data by age, race, ethnicity, gender, and disability status “so we can see where we have disparate use of force and what type of training is needed.”

The true numbers of restraint and isolation incidents are even higher than reported.  OSPI failed to collect the required data from 78 of the state’s 295 school districts, and data is missing from many individual schools as well.  For example, none of Seattle’s or Bellevue’s middle or high schools, and only a few of their elementary schools, reported restraint and isolation incidents to the state.  “It is disheartening that a fourth of our school districts did not comply with the reporting law,” said Ms. Forough.  “Our families are looking for leadership at OSPI to enforce the law and honor its purpose, making school environments safe for students and staff.”

For more information, contact Arzu Forough at 425 590-7231, Rep. Gerry Pollet at 206 819-9015, or education attorney Katherine George at 425 802-1052.

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