Mistreating Misbehavers?
By John Welsh
Originally published in the Pioneer Press, May 31, 2002
Stories of special-education children repeatedly handcuffed in front of classmates, sent to "time-out rooms" for long periods and disciplined in other ways for misbehavior have prompted a state review of "behavioral interventions."
Special education advocates say schools misuse time-out rooms and school police officers to deal with unruly students.
State officials, considering whether new special-education rules for misbehaving students are needed, say they don't know how widespread the problem is.
However, after hearing testimony about repeated abuse of time-out rooms during public meetings in early May, leaders at the state Department of Children, Families and Learning issued a letter reminding school districts about the limitations state law places on the use of such rooms.
While schools can use locked time-out rooms to deal with disruptive students, those rooms must meet strict building and fire codes, including the use of special electronic locks that will deactivate during a power outage or fire.
"The number of people who talked about locked time-outs surprised us," said Thomas Lombard, the agency's chief compliance officer. "We are very concerned about locked time-out. It's just a horrible thing to happen to a kid."
Representatives from Minnesota Administrators for Special Education agree that increased training of special-education teachers and staff members is needed. But they fear a new layer of rules will only worsen the paperwork problems they say are driving many teachers out of the field.
"When you learn of a child with disabilities who has been mistreated, you can't help but feel badly and think maybe something needs to be changed," said Lorie Schulstad-Werk, president-elect of the administrators group. "But the current rules do put safeguards in place for kids, and we are held accountable."
Arc Minnesota, a group that serves people with developmental disabilities, says tighter rules are needed. The use of time-out rooms and the increased use of police officers to control some students in schools may be pushing those students needlessly out of the school system, said Bob Brick, executive director of Arc Minnesota.
"With the repeated use of those methods one can only imagine the level of emotional harm happening to those kids," he said. "We are hearing some real horror stories of young children being escorted out of school in handcuffs by liaison officers. We all should be troubled when we hear stories like that."
Parent Dave Callaway is one of those seeking change.
His 16-year-old son, Joey, has an IQ of 49 and suffers from the effects of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Because of his outbursts, he was placed in Dakota Ridge School, a small school in Apple Valley run by the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school district for students with emotional or behavior disorders.
In the four months before removing Joey from the school in January, Callaway said his son was restrained 13 times, placed in a seclusion room 14 times, and was handcuffed by a sheriff's deputy six times.
"We begged them not to have the deputy handcuff him any more. They still did it," Callaway said.
Callaway admitted his son can be hard to handle at times. But he said other facilities where staff members are more effective in de-escalating situations have never had to restrain his son. His son, an avid fisherman with keen mechanical skills, is particularly sensitive if he feels he is being made fun of.
"I can tell when he's on edge," Callaway said. "But I can usually redirect him. Go for a walk with him and he gets over it.
"They can't treat mentally handicapped kids like this. I don't want any kids to have to go through this."
School district officials said their policy prohibits them from publicly discussing individual students. But they said police officers provide an important safety role in their secondary schools.
"If we saw maltreatment, we would report that," said Tony Taschner, a district spokesman. "But we don't dictate police procedure."
Attorney Amy Goetz said her clients include an 8-year-old taken out of class three times by a police officer and an 11-year-old student with autism who spent 28 hours out of a 30-hour school week in an isolation room.
She worries that schools are criminalizing behavior that is a direct result of a child's disability. When protections afforded students under special-education laws become too burdensome for educators, too often schools call in police officers to deal with a situation, she said.
"Misbehavior resulting from a disability is an instruction issue," said Goetz, who works at the Center for Education Law in St. Paul. "We need to stop the cycle of putting disabled students into the criminal courts."
All sides of the issue agree that increased training is needed. Positive behavior techniques can help avoid a volatile situation from escalating into confrontation and violence.
State education officials are unlikely to propose any rules that would govern how cops do their jobs in schools. But they are considering a smaller step such as requiring schools to re-evaluate a child's special-education plan if the child's behavior was so bad it required police intervention.
Working with kids who have emotional or behavior disorders can make the job of being a school police officer more difficult, said New Hope police detective Jim Roberts, who serves on the board of directors for the National Association of School Resource Officers. But he said school-based officers provide an important link to all students, serving not only as law enforcement officers but also as counselors and instructors.
Time-out rules could likely be a target for additional rule-making, state officials said.
Many districts rely on time-out rooms, which districts have often given a variety of names including the "Blue Room" in one St. Paul school and the "Stop and Think Room" in the Stillwater school district. Some districts use locked time-out rooms, and several special education advocates are calling for their outright ban.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Those who have questions or comments about the state's rules on "behavioral interventions" can write: Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning; Attention: Kristin Asche; 1500 Highway 36; Roseville, MN 55113.
