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ISBE revises restraint rules after pushback

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Illinois

* I was told yesterday that several schools had threatened to disenroll a large number of students over the ISBE’s new rules on student seclusion and restraint. So, ISBE revised its rules…

After receiving significant feedback from schools and advocates across the state, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) filed an amendment yesterday to its emergency rules that banned seclusion in Illinois schools and placed restrictions on the use of physical restraint.

The amendment temporarily allows prone and supine physical restraints in narrow circumstances and only for severe crisis situations to protect the safety of students and staff. The amendment will give schools time to transition to the use of alternate interventions without causing students to be disenrolled. The amendment mandates that other less restrictive and intrusive interventions have been tried first and have not succeeded in stopping the danger.

ISBE developed the amendment in collaboration with numerous stakeholders, in response to feedback from the field. ISBE received feedback that, in certain emergency situations, the use of prone or supine restraint is currently the only way to prevent a student from physically harming themselves or others. Several stakeholders indicated that students in private placements would be disenrolled from those schools without the amendment. Temporarily allowing prone and supine physical restraints in crisis situations supports schools in continuing to serve students safely while the State develops further training and guidance on alternate interventions and proceeds with permanent rulemaking.

The amendment continues to prohibit using prone or supine restraints in a manner that impairs a student’s ability to breathe or communicate, as well as for students with medical or psychological limitations that contraindicate their use.

The amendment requires that one staff person trained in identifying the signs of distress observe the student during the entire incident of prone or supine physical restraint. The amendment also requires an additional layer of review if a student is restrained in a prone or supine position in at least two separate instances within a 30-school day period.

The emergency rulemaking extends for 150 days from its initial filing on Nov. 19. The amendment to the emergency rules allows ISBE to collect additional feedback and review data as it develops permanent rules. Stakeholders will have multiple opportunities to submit formal comments on the proposed permanent rules.

The amended rules are here.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Dec 4, 19 @ 10:00 am

Comments

From the title, my first thought was “what on earth does the State Board of Elections have to do with restraints?!?”

Comment by Just Another Anon Wednesday, Dec 4, 19 @ 10:07 am
Why are these kids so broken and mentally/emotionally unfit?

Until that question is answered and addressed, it will get worse.

Comment by cdog Wednesday, Dec 4, 19 @ 10:27 am
Imagine, reactionary rules need amended. In know there are bad cases, but with a couple teachers in the family, I also understand how uncontrollable students are a danger to staff and how a one or two delinquents can ruin the learning environment for everyone. We want teachers to be educators, social workers, guards, referees and even parents to other people’s kids. Then we all fein outrage when schools can’t handle other people’s problems and educate all the kids at the same time.

Comment by Shemp Wednesday, Dec 4, 19 @ 11:47 am
Such a cynical response from ISBE.

They created a situation because they did not provide oversight over schools.

They then bowed to political pressure to their lacl of oversight and produced an ill-conceived emergency rule.

Then faced with the push back from private schools they backed off.

Kind of.

Maybe.

Only in an emergency.

Which was the criteria for going into a prone restraint before the emergency rules.

So they are are saying don’t do this, but if you have to, you can.

But don’t.

People at ISBE should lose their jobs over this.

Comment by Morty Wednesday, Dec 4, 19 @ 7:37 pm