From the chair: Rodgers reflects on restraint-seclusion as policy draft moves along
April 25, 2023 | By Kristen Rodgers
School Board Chair Kristen Rodgers. Courtesy photo
Editor’s note: The following is the full text of a statement that Harwood Unified Union School Board Chair Kristen Rodgers of Moretown read at the board’s April 19 meeting prior to its vote on whether to warn the proposed revised Restraint and Seclusion Policy for adoption next month.
While it is unusual for the chair to use a point of personal privilege, I feel this is an important time for me to do so before the board votes on the Restraint and Seclusion Policy for warning.
Being the most senior person on the board I have seen a lot, and experienced a lot during my tenure. I have now gone through an entire school board season as chair and asked myself, what have we accomplished?
I will be very honest . . . this is the first time in a long time I feel like the school board is doing something that improves our educational programming and is both positive and impactful for our students, community and district.
But unfortunately it has also been met with pushback at times from some passionate community members who understandably want faster change.
We have good people working in our schools. Anyone who reads or watches the news understands that our educators have been under tremendous pressure for the past three years. I would ask our community to recognize this fact and ask, “how can we better support our schools as it relates to this topic?”
During this past year HUUSD has made tremendous gains in our schools and we will continue to strive to do better. . . but this is not just an HUUSD issue. Restraint and seclusion unequivocally needs to be changed in Vermont and systemic change needs to come from our legislators and governor in order for us to be supported.
While our 2017 data was particularly high for reasons that we continue to understand, we have seen tremendous progress this year in terms of a significant reduction in the use of restraint and seclusion.
Change does not happen overnight . . . or in one school year. I ask our community to recognize that our board and schools have put more time and resources into this issue than almost anything else that has come before our district. It still is not enough, but simply changing a policy will not provide the tangible supports our schools truly need.
As [Superintendent] Dr. Mike [Leichliter] mentioned, we are a small school district and live in a rural area with limited specialized educational resources and expertise. This is not an excuse but a recognition of the continued work that is before us.
We have made progress this year but cannot do this work in isolation. Therefore, I urge you to reach out to the Vermont House Education Committee to continue advocating on the proposed Bill H.409 that supports banning prone and supine restraint and seclusion and provides technical support and assistance from the Agency of Education to our teachers and administrators.
I also urge you to reach out to an educator in our community who has made an impact and simply say “thank you for making a difference. Please keep up the good work and let me know how I can help you.”