Cedar Rapids teachers need more training to defuse violent behavior: director

CEDAR RAPIDS - Hitting, kicking, pulling hair or throwing objects can be grounds for a public school student to be put in restraint or seclusion. But rather than go that route - which some think does more harm than good - school staff need more tools and training to defuse tense situations before they get violent, district officials said.

'This is a great concern for us in our district,” said Wendy Parker, the Cedar Rapids Community School District's executive director of special services. 'We have more kids with significant behaviors than we have had in the past.”

Parker would like all Cedar Rapids teachers to receive training in the 2017-18 school year on how to de-escalate conflict and help agitated students get back to learning. She's also forming a task force to study the district's use of seclusion and restraint over the next four to six months.

The district on Wednesday sent an email to Pierce Elementary parents about how the district staff use seclusion rooms in 13 Cedar Rapids school buildings. The letter was in response to questions from parents following a July 2 Gazette report about a Pierce third-grader being improperly secluded April 5.

A district investigation showed the girl was put in an unapproved room, with the door closed, for behavior that did not risk physical harm to herself or others. The girl's guardian, who was not initially told of the seclusion by Pierce staff, told The Gazette the girl was put in the room for crying.

'We understand that, in light of the media coverage, our families and community members may have questions regarding the Iowa Administrative Code, Iowa Chapter 103, and the use of seclusionary timeouts for crisis prevention and intervention,” District Spokeswoman Akwi Nji said in the Wednesday email to Pierce families.

The Q&A provided to families defines seclusion and describes the rooms, usually unknown to parents whose children haven't spent time in one. The district said it is limited in providing many details about the Pierce investigation by laws that keep student and employee information confidential.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and six Iowa lawyers filed a petition last month asking the state Department of Education to revise rules for secluding and restraining students. The state has until late August to respond to the request.

Parker, who came to work at the Cedar Rapids district last summer, said she thinks Chapter 103 could use slight revisions, such as removing a provision that allows school staff to restrain or seclude a student 'for the protection of property.” But she does not believe major changes are needed in the law.

'When you don't have safe rooms, what you resort to is restraint, which has a higher chance of injury,” she said.

l Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com