Comment on Law regulates use of restraint in schools

Law regulates use of restraint in schools

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A law that went into effect last week establishes, for the first time, statewide standards for the use of physical restraint and seclusion on students in Alaska public schools. Before House Bill 210, which Gov. Sean Parnell signed into law in July, became effective Oct. 14, Alaska statutes were vague, allowing teachers and other staff members to use "reasonable and necessary" physical restraint in emergencies but offering no details on what was permitted and what was not. In practice, that meant individual school districts were left to formulate their own policies on restraint and seclusion -- or operate without one at all, said Don Enoch, the state's special education administrator. The new law defines terms like "seclusion" and "restraint" and bars methods such as sedating any student with drugs or placing them in restraint chairs or in positions where the child's airway might be compromised. Much of the new policy mirrors rules the Anchorage School District already had in place, wrote assistant superintendent Linda Carlson, who oversees special education, in an email. "[...] of some of the language in the new laws, our School Board policy on restraint and seclusion is being revised so that it is much more detailed in nature and we are having to examine ways to collect data around restraint and seclusion incidents," she wrote.

 

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