Fewer students being restrained in Cedar Rapids schools

CEDAR RAPIDS — There were 109 uses of restraint of students in Cedar Rapids schools during the 2022-23 school year, months after the district began making significant changes to limit the use of physical restraint as a part of a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice.

This number is less than half the number of times Cedar Rapids schools reported secluding or physically restraining elementary school students during only one month during the 2019-2020 school year.

“This number is far fewer than previous years,” said Lisa Glenn, Cedar Rapids schools executive director of special services and student supports.

Washington High School had the largest number of restraints, reporting 20 restraints during the last school year. Glenn said she wants to give Washington High staff “a lot of credit” for “embracing” protocols required by the settlement.

The school has “come at it with an attitude of overreporting rather than underreporting,” Glenn said.

If an incident could be considered use of restraint, Glenn said the school reports it. This enables staff to meet as a team and learn how to provide better support to students before a situation escalates to where the use of restraint is needed in the future.

“They’ve engaged genuinely and whole-hardheartedly in the process and treat it as an ongoing improvement opportunity,” Glenn said.

The district’s definition of restraint includes any physical contact between a staff member and student that immobilizes a student or reduces their ability to move freely.

This includes holding or grabbing a student to escort, compel or coerce them to move to another location within the school, according to board policy. It does not include a temporary touching of the hand, wrist, arm, shoulder or back without applying pressure or force for the purpose of guiding or directing a student.

The other 89 incidences took place across 20 schools, Glenn said. The names of those schools is not available to the public. Revealing where restraints took place at schools with less than 10 incidences could violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act by making students identifiable. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act is a federal law that protects the access to educational information and records.

Glenn said working proactively to address a student’s challenging behavior can help the student succeed academically since students can’t learn if they’re in crisis.

Fifty educators in the district will be trained by the first day of school this fall in Safety Care, a prevention and de-escalation strategy to help students engage in calmer, safer behavior. The educators trained in Safety Care will in turn train other educators in their school buildings and be available to support their peers.

It “will be a game changer,” Glenn said.

Investigation into seclusion and restraint practices

The investigation in to Cedar Rapids schools use of seclusion and restraint began in October 2020. In the fall of 2021, the Department of Justice conducted on-site visits to 10 Cedar Rapids schools as a part of the ongoing review of the district’s policies, procedures and practices relating to the use of physical restraint and seclusion.

The Department of Justice visited the following schools: Arthur Elementary, Grant Wood Elementary, Harrison Connections, Jefferson High, Johnson STEAM Academy, Pierce Elementary, Polk Alternative Education Center, Taylor Elementary, Viola Gibson Elementary and Wilson Middle School.

The department’s investigation found that the school district inappropriately and repeatedly secluded and restrained students with disabilities as early as kindergarten in violation of Title II — which prohibits discrimination based on disability — of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The department concluded that instead of meeting the needs of students with disabilities that affect their behavior, the school district subdued them through unnecessary restraints and improper confinement alone in small seclusion rooms, sometimes multiple times in one day and often for excessive periods of time. As a result of these practices, some students lost hundreds of hours of instructional time.

The investigation also found that the school district did not end seclusion where students showed signs of crisis or trauma, or when there was no longer any threat of harm.

Under a settlement agreement, the district has to limit its use of restraints, revise its restraint procedures and practices, and consistently implement those procedures and practices in all schools. All instances of restraint must be reported and evaluated and counseling and other services must be offered to students who are restrained.

The district stopped the use of seclusion in all school buildings and programs beginning Oct. 10, 2022, as a part of the settlement agreement. Seclusion rooms are used in many Iowa school districts as a last resort if students are at risk of harming themselves or others.

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