- Anchorage School District
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- Department of Justice Settlement
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Superintendent Letter to Families
Good morning ASD staff and families,
Every student’s safety must be our first and foremost priority to ensure our schools are positive learning and growing environments. I am writing about a settlement agreement that we have entered into for the betterment of our students.
When I started as your superintendent, I was briefed on an on-going investigation by the United States Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division. It centered on the District’s use of seclusion and physical restraint practices between July 2018 and November 2020.
Seclusion and restraint are outdated techniques still used by some districts across the nation with the intent to de-escalate dangerous student behavior and protect the safety of students and staff. ASD had been using these authorized practices for decades. However, we now know that there is limited evidence that these practices support students’ mental health, or improve behavior.
I went into a seclusion room myself to understand how we got here; it was clear we needed to change course. It is my view that seclusion needs to be eliminated not only in our district but nationwide. I instructed my team to immediately begin investing in training and changes to infrastructure. The goal is to replace seclusion rooms with better alternatives that more appropriately support students in distress as well as promote safe and positive learning environments.
The DOJ has now concluded its investigation and alleges that ASD violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). While we disagree that anyone at ASD discriminated against students with disabilities, we agree it is time for a change. As a result, we entered into a settlement agreement with the DOJ. Our efforts to end the use of seclusion and reform the use of restraint will now include collaboration with the DOJ, an entity that has a shared view that these practices need to be eliminated in our country.
We have made a concerted effort to substantially decrease the use of seclusion by March 20th, 2023 and seclusion will be prohibited beginning next school year. Furthermore, physical restraint may not be used except in an emergency situation in which physical restraint is necessary to protect a student, a staff member and/or other people from imminent, serious, physical harm after other less intrusive, nonphysical interventions have failed or been determined inappropriate. Bottomline, we don’t want anyone getting hurt.
Additional proactive steps include:
- Train and implement de-escalation strategies when responding to dangerous student behaviors.
- Implement Multi-Sensory De-Escalation Rooms (MSDR) to replace seclusion room use.
- Increase building level and District level oversight on restraint and seclusion use to allocate supports and training to professionals supporting students with behavioral needs.
- Hired a new Behavior Supports Administrator to implement programmatic changes described in the settlement agreement.
- Implement Classroom Wide Behavior Management plans.
- Dismantle seclusion rooms in ASD schools.
- Modify the use of physical restraint to conform to federal regulations and best practices.
- Provide documentation twice annually to the Department of Justice.
- Allow for a parent complaint procedure (through clarification of ASD’s existing citizen complaint form).
- Provide training and professional development.
- Provide compensatory education for a group of eligible students.
- Modify Board Policy 5142.3 to be consistent with the settlement.
We understand you will have questions and concerns regarding seclusion and restraint practices as it pertains to your student. We’ve created a webpage which includes an FAQ section and a way for you to contact us. We have a citizen complaint form and invite you to bring any concerns about restraint and seclusion to our attention by submitting a complaint.
We are committed to making the changes. We will end the use of seclusion. We will reform the use of restraint. We will do better for our students.
Best,
Jharrett Bryantt, Ed.D.
SuperintendentCopyright © 2023, All rights reserved.
Introduction
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The Anchorage School District (ASD) agreed to settlement terms as requested by the Department of Justice (DOJ). This site provides resources to help the community better understand the expected outcomes of the settlement.
The DOJ investigation alleged that ASD violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As a result, we entered into a Settlement Agreement deal with the DOJ. Our efforts to end the use of seclusion and reform the use of restraint will now include collaboration with the DOJ, an entity that has a shared view that these practices need to be eliminated in our country.
In accordance with the settlement agreement, we have made a concerted effort to substantially decrease the use of seclusion by March 20, 2023 and seclusion will be prohibited beginning with the 2023-2024 school year. Furthermore, physical restraint may not be used except in an emergency situation in which it is necessary to protect a student or other person from imminent, serious, physical harm after other less intrusive, nonphysical interventions have failed or been determined inappropriate.
Did you know?
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In the past seven years, the Office of Civil Rights has opened and completed
43 investigations regarding restraint and seclusion practices in school districts.
Summary of Settlement
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The settlement contains the following key terms:
- ASD will hire a Behavior Support Administrator to implement programmatic changes contemplated in the agreement.
- Classroom-Wide Behavior Management Plans.
- ASD will implement these plans in the Whaley and SBBS programs.
- End use of seclusion.
- ASD will eliminate seclusion rooms in ASD schools (defined as rooms with locks where students are isolated without adult supervision).
- Modifications to the use of physical restraint to conform to federal regulations and best practices.
- Certain Documentation and Monitoring/Reporting requirements.
- Allow for a parent complaint procedure.
- Training and Professional Development.
- Compensatory education for students who were secluded five hours or more.
- Modify Board Policy 5142.3 to be consistent with the settlement. A redline and clean copy of the modified Board Policy is attached to this memorandum.
- For more information and timeline details, click here.
FAQs
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What is the Settlement Summary Timeline?
For more information and timeline details, click here.
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How did we get here?
The use of seclusion and restraint has been in use within ASD and Alaska for decades with Alaska State Statute 14.33.125 and Anchorage School Board Policy 5142.3. The Department of Justice settlement overrides these policies. From a District level, there will be changes to training and infrastructure, both of which ASD has already started implementing and seeing results.
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What is "Restraint" and "Seclusion"?
“Physical Restraint” refers to a personal restriction that immobilizes or reduces the ability of a student to move the student's arms, legs, or head freely. The term includes holding a student to compel or coerce the student to move to another location within the school. It does not include a temporary touching or holding of the hand, wrist, arm, shoulder, or back without applying pressure or force to prompt a student to walk to a safe location.
“Seclusion” refers to the involuntary confinement of a student alone in a room or area that the student is physically prevented from leaving. It does not include a classroom time-out, supervised detention, or suspension from school if the student is not both alone and prevented from leaving. It includes the use of any room or area in which the student is alone and not free to leave regardless of its name.
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What solutions beyond the DOJ settlement are being implemented?
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Multi-Sensory De-Escalation Rooms (MSDR)
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A dedicated space for students to de-escalate and self-regulate
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Safe, trauma-informed space that allows students to calm down and safely regain control of their behavior and emotions and to develop self-regulation skills through sensory activities.
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These rooms include items such as fidget toys, noise-canceling headphones, bean bags, gym mats, punching bags, weighted blankets, vests, calming lights/colors, decor, calming music and vibrations, etc.
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Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an evidence-based framework for supporting students’ behavioral, academic, social, emotional, and mental health. It is a way to create positive, predictable, and safe learning environments.
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Tier 1 (preventive behavior intervention practices; the more proactive adults can be in supporting students who demonstrate behaviors that interfere with learning, the more successful they will be in helping students learn and maintain new skills to support learning)
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Establish 3-5 positive school-wide expectations and define what that looks like for each school routine or setting
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Align classroom expectations and plans to school-wide expectations
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Explicitly teach behavioral expectations and skills for success
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Encourage and acknowledge expected behavior
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Provide positive, specific feedback
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Reinforce accomplishments
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De-escalation strategies
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Tier 2 (small group interventions)
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Additional instruction and practice for behavioral, social, and emotional skills
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Check-in, Check-out
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Small group social skill instruction
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Increase adult support and supervision
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Provide additional opportunities for positive reinforcement
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Increase in prompts and reminders
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Teach replacement skill which results in the desired outcome (for example, a student may be taught to request a break - replacement behavior - instead of screaming when asked to start their work. Both behaviors allow the student to get out of work (function) but asking for a break works faster, requires less energy and is more socially appropriate)
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Tier 3 (wrap around supports to reduce the severity of behavior problems)
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Functional behavioral assessment helps identify what might be causing the behavior to help develop positive behavior interventions.
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Individualized, comprehensive and function-based support and plans
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Safety routines
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Individualized counseling from school psychologists/ counselors/social workers
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Wrap around support from school-based community mental health clinicians and agencies
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In what circumstances would restraint be appropriate?
There has to be an imminent danger- harmful to themselves or others.
The Anchorage School District provides professional development training for our instructors in identifying and utilizing Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, allowing for intervention before escalation. Identifying triggers in a students' environment coupled with the correct de-escalation techniques limits the number of situations where restraint and seclusion would otherwise have been used.The Anchorage School District provides professional development training for our instructors in identifying and utilizing Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, allowing for intervention before escalation. Identifying triggers in a students' environment coupled with the correct de-escalation techniques limits the number of situations where restraint and seclusion would otherwise have been used.
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Who is qualified to isolate/restraint?
Alaska Statutes 14.33.125 and 14.33.127 took effect on October 14, 2014. This legislation states that a school district shall provide crisis intervention training to a sufficient number of its employees to meet the needs of the school population. This required crisis intervention training must be part of a crisis intervention program that has been approved by EED.
EED has identified 6 evidence-based nationally recognized crisis intervention training programs that align with the requirements set forth under Statute 14.33.127 Crisis Intervention Training.
To meet the Restraint & Seclusion training requirements, designated school personnel must complete one of the six crisis intervention training programs below as well as complete CPR and First Aid training.
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Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) (ASD Approved Training)
CPI is the institute that owns the Nonviolent Crisis Intervention (NCI) program. We retrain staff annually.
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How many schools have a seclusion room? Can you describe a seclusion room?
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The SBBS and Whaley sites have locked rooms with cameras that prevent a student from leaving the space. Lighting can also be adjusted to make for a more calming environment.
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Any space that has a door and a student is alone and prevented from leaving is a space that can be considered a seclusion room. These spaces are typically multi-use spaces in schools and rarely used as such.
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Is ASD eliminating restraint?
We are reforming the use of restraint to only use it in emergency situations as a last resort when there is imminent danger. -
Why are you waiting until the beginning of the next school year to end the practice of seclusion?
In accordance with the settlement agreement, we have made a concerted effort to substantially decrease the use of seclusion by March 20, 2023, and seclusion will be prohibited beginning with the 2023-2024 school year. The District has already begun the process to invest in the training and infrastructure needed to affectively end the use of seclusion.
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Do parents know if their child has been restrained/secluded?
Parents are notified as soon as possible. The principal/admin reaches out to parents and discusses next steps.
Other steps:
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A debrief with staff is involved.
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At times, staff will convene an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting.
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It may lead to obtaining a consent for functional behavioral assessment where qualified staff member(s) observe the student in different environments to determine the cause of specific behaviors including the frequency, duration, and intensity. The team reconvenes to discuss the behaviors and the functions. If necessary, teams can implement a behavior intervention plan (BIP) to support de-escalation strategies in future scenarios.
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The usage of restraint/seclusion seems out of sync with ASD’s efforts to enforce social emotional learning?
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) involves teaching and facilitating skills that students and adults need to be successful at home, at school, in the workplace, in life.
Working on SEL skills is a dynamic and individualized process. When students and adults have social and emotional skills, they are self and socially aware, and have the ability to manage themselves both independently and while interacting with others:
SEL teaches students that they can:
- Listen to the perspectives of others
- Use positive communication
- Be aware of cultural issues and differences
- Set and achieve goals
- Take personal responsibility for their learning.
Students being restrained/secluded are typically in the most restrictive environment they can be in. Often, these students have been identified with severe behavior concerns or are presenting imminent danger to themselves or others. We are learning there is a need to shift to practices like multi-sensory rooms to decompress and proactive or preventative strategies that will provide new insight into how to best deescalate situations and identify triggers that cause them.
Legal Reference
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UNITED STATES CODE
20 U.S.C. §§ 1400, et seq. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Every Student Succeeds Act,
20 U.S.C. §§ 7941-7948 (P.L. 114-95,
December 10, 2015)
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ALASKA STATUTES
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ALASKA ADMINISTRATIVE CODE
4 AAC 06.172 -177 Reporting of school disciplinary and safety programs and incidents of R&S and crisis intervention programs
4 AAC 06.200-.270 Safe schools
4 AAC 06.250 Reporting
4 AAC 07.010-4 AAC 07.900 Student rights and responsibilities4 AAC 52.010-.990 Education for exceptional children
Media
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- Iris Samuels, ADN "U.S. Justice Department finds Anchorage School District illegally restrained and secluded students" Published: Feb. 16, 2023
- Associated Press "DOJ faults Anchorage School District for use of seclusion, restraints" Published: Feb. 16, 2023
- Jeremy Hsieh, Alaska Public Media "Anchorage schools to stop secluding students after Justice Department investigation" Published: Feb. 16, 2023