COMMENTARY: On restraint and seclusion, ‘we can and must do better’

June 1, 2022  |  By Guy Stephens

On November 28, 2018, a 13-year-old autistic student, Max Benson, was killed due to being held in a prone restraint at his school because he kicked a wall.

On April 29, 2020, Cornelius Frederic was restrained in a face-down prone position after throwing a sandwich in his school's cafeteria. Two days later, he died due to injuries caused by the restraint. 

A prone restraint begins with a "takedown," where the staff forcibly takes a student down to the ground. The staff then turn a student onto their front and hold their arms and legs. 

While intended as a crisis management approach, restraint is often used on very young disabled children as a means of behavioral management. The use of prone restraint can inhibit breathing due to positional asphyxia, a form of asphyxia that occurs when one's position prevents them from breathing adequately. Police training nationwide started emphasizing the need to avoid the prone position about 20 years ago. Today over 33 states have banned the use of prone restraints in schools. 

Vermont, however, is not one of them. 

Community concerns have been raised recently to the Harwood Unified Union School District about the use of prone restraint. On May 11, the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board voted to review the district's prone restraint and seclusion policy at a future meeting. During that meeting, Superintendent Brigid Nease made several inaccurate statements, including the suggestion that the school district cannot create a more restrictive policy than state regulations. While minimally school districts must meet state law, districts do have the ability to make policies that exceed the state requirements. The Harwood district can and should create a policy to eliminate life-threatening forms of restraint and the use of seclusion. 

We urge members of the school board of the Harwood Unified Union School District to update the restraint and seclusion policy to prohibit prone restraint, supine restraint, and the use of seclusion. This change would be consistent with the Keeping All Students Safe Act (HR 3474), currently proposed federal legislation. The policy change could also prevent potential lawsuits and even federal investigations. 

In October 2019, parents filed a lawsuit against one of the largest school districts in the United States, Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia. The lawsuit alleged that the district discriminated against students with disabilities in its use of restraint and seclusion and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

In December 2021, the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division announced a settlement agreement with the Frederick County Public School District in Maryland to address the discriminatory use of seclusion and restraint against students with disabilities. Actions like these are increasing across the country, now is the time to be proactive. 

There are far better ways to work with children, even children whose behavior may at times escalate. It is possible to reduce and eliminate dangerous restraint and seclusion practices while ensuring student, teacher, and staff safety. Prone restraint is neither safe nor is it therapeutic. In 2009 the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducted research and found hundreds of alleged abuse and death cases related to the use of physical restraint. 

The conversation started at the recent Harwood Unified Union School District board of education meeting and has the potential to save children within your district from trauma, serious injury, or even death. We can and must do better for the children, families, teachers, and staff of the community. 

Guy Stephens is the founder and executive director of Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint based in Solomons, Maryland. endseclusion.org.