House gives preliminary approval to bill protecting students with disabilities / LJWorld.com

Topeka — Parents and advocates of disabled children gathered outside the Kansas House of Representatives chambers on Tuesday afternoon, distributing fliers that told stories of “unsafe restraint and seclusion” in Kansas schools.

There’s Ike, a “typical” 10-year-old from Wichita who wears black glasses and a big smile. One of his parents witnessed a teacher “slamming Ike to the floor while two other teachers held him prone,” according to the flier.

Then there’s Alexis, a 10-year-old from Johnson County with a disability. Alexis was dragged through a hall and outside of the school to a bus by two staff members not trained to use safe restraint. She had to be taken to the emergency room with multiple injuries, including a “significant shoulder sprain, bruises and scrapes,” the flier said.

Meanwhile, the Kansas Legislature preliminarily passed a bill aimed at preventing these incidents. HB 2444 would convert existing guidelines regarding seclusion and restraint in Kansas schools into state law.

“Every single school district will be required to follow the guidelines,” said Rep. Mike Kiegerl, R-Olathe, who has worked on the bill for two years.

The bill prohibits school staff from using physical restraint or placing children in seclusion rooms as a means of discipline or punishment. It also prohibits “mechanical restraint,” using a device or object that limits a child’s movement. The prohibitions exclude any methods used by law enforcement. The bill also does not allow for criminal or civil action to be taken toward teachers.

The bill allows the use of seclusion rooms and restraint on children with a disability when there is an imminent risk of harm or during a physical altercation. Only trained employees can use restraint, and employees must be able to see and hear a child while in seclusion.

“Some kids have been locked in a closet or restrained to the point of being injured,” said Rep. John Rubin, R-Shawnee. “The point of this bill is that ought not to happen.”

But opponents of the bill said it would erode local control from school districts.

“We don’t need to tell teachers, ‘Here’s another tool you can’t use,’” said Rep. Bill Otto, R-LeRoy.

Rep. Ward Cassidy, R-St. Francis, said the existing guidelines were already effective safety measures.

Families Together Inc., an organization that assists parents and their children with disabilities, supports the bill. Lesli Girard, director of the organization’s Topeka operations, said the group received 50 complaints of improper restraint and seclusion from parents in 2011.

“That’s just the tip of it, I think,” Girard said. She said she thought the training teachers received under the law would improve children’s safety.

Efforts to create this legislation began in 2004, said Rocky Nichols, executive director of the Disability Rights Center in Kansas. In 2007, the state adopted the current guidelines.

“We’ve tried to live within the voluntary guidelines, but it’s not working out for parents,” Nichols said.

Kevin Harrell, special education director for Lawrence public schools, said the bill would help Lawrence schools continue to do what’s best for students. He said Lawrence teachers try to avoid using restraint and seclusion rooms, and staff members discuss these practices with parents.

Currently, 36 states have adopted similar laws. The House is expected to formally pass the bill during today’s session and advance it to the Senate, which will decide whether to send the bill to Gov. Sam Brownback.

Ragingbear 1 year, 3 months ago

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Pork_Ribs 1 year, 3 months ago

LarryNative 1 year, 3 months ago

This is a very difficult issue. I would like to state the teachers are not to blame. The schools are not to blame. The state of Kansas has underfunded schools for so long that these institutions are barely able to handle normally developing students let alone children with needs across a spectrum of mental issues. Children with special needs need special care which requires professionally trained individuals which are expensive. Instead, the schools hire a staff of untrained para's and pay them $8 an hour. Most of these individuals do the best they can but they are not trained. I blame the state for not having properly trained individuals to meet the needs of these of children. Another issue is the wide range of care needed. A child with mild autism has completely different needs then a child with severe autism or a child with mental retardation. Do we expect the schools to hire professionally trained individuals for each student? I would est. that Southwest J.H. alone has about 15 kids that would need specialized teachers that would cost the state about $60k a year per and that's a bargain basement price. Another issue is restraints and closets. A closet is unacceptable but a room that has been designed for a student who has lost control is necessary. Restraints are used because teachers are currently not trained how to handle a child who has lost control and has become self injurious or injuring others. What are untrained teachers suppose to do? Watch a child pound their heads against the walls until they are bloody? Some of these children weigh over 100lbs and can become very violent and out of control. There is no easy answer but what I see is some children are just not able to be in a school with their peers. The reason being is that these children are not learning. These seclusion rooms have become daycare with a $8 an hr babysitter. All parents want their children to be normally developing individuals and be around their peers but this is being done at the expense of their child improving and learning because the current situation is not working nor will it ever on an individual basis. I feel severely disabled children need to have a special school were their needs can be met. These children can remain a student at their current school, take specials a couple hours a day at their school with a para and then be taken to a second institution where the staff is trained to handle their needs. I think this way the child is still connected to their peers and also learning.

jgkojak 1 year, 3 months ago

You establish this restraint and seclusion law to force schools to properly train staff. Staff training costs a fraction of what it costs to do things the wrong way. Sometimes you need to enforce standards. And I'd say when the lives and well-being of the most vulnerable children are at stake, you err on the side of caution.

scribe 1 year, 3 months ago

"These children can remain a student at their current school, take specials a couple hours a day at their school with a para and then be taken to a second INSTITUTION where the staff is trained to handle their needs."

I think we're trying to do away with institutional settings that segregate people. And does someone really need to be trained how not to hurt a child? Certainly, paras and teachers would benefit from some behavioral training, but really, it takes quite a bit of force to dislocate shoulders.

Is sending a deaf child to a school for the deaf segregation? Unless you witnesssed the event where the childs arm was dislocated, you have no idea how it happened. And as a person who has dislocated my shoulder 3x, it does not take a lot of force.

"I would like to state the teachers are not to blame."

I still contend that it is 'their fault' if they put their hands on a child and hurt them. it's a good bill and should be passed.

It is obvious that you have never had any involvement with a self injurious autistic person. If you had you would have a better understanding how these types of accidents not only happen in schools but hospitals and homes as well.

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Kansas legislature

Kansas Legislature

House gives preliminary approval to bill protecting students with disabilities