State law prohibits the use of:
- physical restraint on public school students receiving or being evaluated for special education services (i.e., “special education student”) unless used in emergency situations to avoid imminent injury to the student or others, and
- seclusion on public school special education students unless used in emergency situations or if it is specified as an option in a student's special education individualized education program (IEP).
The law requires districts to inform parents early in the special education evaluation process of their rights and the student's rights under state law regarding restraint and seclusion. It also requires local and regional school boards to notify a special education student's parents or guardian each time a student is placed in physical restraint or seclusion.
The boards also must keep records and compile annual reports of each instance and the nature of the underlying emergency that caused the use, and the State Board of Education (SBE) can review the annual compilation of each board of education and may produce an annual summary report on the frequency of use of restraint and seclusion on special education children.
The law required the State Department of Education (SDE) to issue regulations, which became effective May 7, 2009, to further detail restraint and seclusion requirements.
Preliminary data collected by SDE the for the 2009-2010 school year shows there were 8,511 incidents of restraint and 9,823 of emergency seclusion in Connecticut. SDE officials note that SDE staff has not audited or reviewed this data. Furthermore, it was not reported in a consistent manner and as such it is difficult to draw conclusions. SDE indicated that school districts gave it reasons to believe there is over-reporting and under-reporting of incidents in the data. SDE is planning on revising the survey instrument to gain clearer and more consistent information in the future.
SDE estimates that for the 2010-11 school year there were 62,016 identified special education students in public schools and 68,165 special education student in all settings. All settings include children placed at regional education service center (RESC) programs and approved private special education programs (APSEP).
The report addresses the statutory and regulatory limits and requirements separately.
For more information, read the full report.
