The changes local schools are making to their physical restraint and seclusion policies this year are a response to a recent change in state law.
The Maine legislature passed and Gov. Paul LePage signed “An Act to Update and Improve Maine’s Laws Pertaining to the Rights of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities” in spring 2011.
Central Lincoln County School System Superintendent Steve Bailey said the legislature introduced the law in response to advocates for the safety of students who sometimes require physical restraint in order to prevent harm to themselves or others.
The district consulted its law firm, Drummond Woodsum, which recommended that all schools adopt a new policy to replace previous policies already in place.
“We have not observed the need for this particular language,” Bailey said. “We’re acting to be compliant with what the intent of the legislation is.”
The policy includes specific definitions of physical restraint and seclusion and outlines the appropriate circumstances for their use.
Physical restraint and seclusion “may only be used as an emergency intervention when the behavior of a student presents an imminent risk of injury or harm to the student or others,” according to the policy.
The accompanying procedures forbid the use of physical restraint and seclusion except at times when “other less intrusive interventions have failed or been deemed inappropriate.”
The procedures require staff to document incidences of physical restraint and seclusion and notify parents of their use.
The incident reports have to include information about “less restrictive interventions tried prior to the use of physical restraint and/or seclusion and, if none were used, the reasons why.”
The school administration must also meet with staff and the student in question after any incident to discuss, among other things, how to prevent or reduce the need for the measures in the future.
A district employee has to become certified to train other district employees about how to implement the policies.
The principal and at least two other staff members from every school will undergo the training, Bailey said.
“A good part of the training is, how do you avoid even getting to the point of having to use a restraint?” he said.
Bailey expects the school committees that govern the district’s five schools to approve the new policies this month.
The committees are also considering amendments to the schools’ student computer and Internet use policies.
“We already had a policy about Internet use,” Bailey said. “This adds the piece of tightening up Internet safety.”
The changes require the superintendent to integrate age-appropriate Internet safety training and digital citizenship into curriculum.
The policy also addresses the schools’ rights to oversee the use of school computers away from the school, as well as students’ use of their personal computers or other digital devices while at school.
Finally, the up-to-date policy states that the schools educate students and parents about online behavior, including social networking and harmful behaviors like cyberbullying.
The schools already invite parents to annual Internet information nights. The policy just “updates what we do anyway,” Bailey said.
The policies, once adopted by the school committees, will be made available to parents in school handbooks and online. School newsletters will notify parents about where to look for the policies.
Parents who have a concern or question about the use of a policy should contact the principal of their children’s school.
Bailey encourages parents with questions about the policies themselves to contact their legislators.