NEWS | EDUCATION “SINGLED OUT,” CONTINUED...
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pokane isn’t the only school district facing scruhigher rate than others in Washington. Seattle Public tiny for improper use of restraint and isolation of Schools, for instance, reported just 141 isolation incidents disabled children. Two years ago, the ACLU of in 2017-18. That pales in comparison to Spokane, where Washington filed a lawsuit against OSPI alleging students Holmes Elementary School alone reported 520 incidents. across Washington were being wrongfully disciplined. Again, there’s reason to question that data. Glenna Gallo, The lawsuit alleged that students in both Yakima and the state’s assistant superintendent of special education, Pasco school districts endured abusive restraint and isolasays the state suspects other districts may be underreporttion. ing, while OSPI has found instances of Spokane both Chiang says the kind of citizen complaints that overreporting and underreporting isolation incidents. spurred a state review of Spokane’s practices this year are (Districts are undergoing training to provide more ac“a dime a dozen.” curate data in the future.) “What’s really unfortunate is how often you see With that said, Gallo notes “it also seems likely that children with disabilities being treated in this way,” in some schools, restraint and isolation may be used Chiang says. “It’s happening across the state and across more frequently” in Spokane. There are isolation rooms the country.” in many Spokane schools — every one with a behavioral Chiang, however, doesn’t lay the blame with teachers, intervention or Autism Behavior Learning Environment who she says usually are doing the best they can for the (ABLE) program — but Gallo says they’re not very comstudents. Rather, it’s the larger system starting at the mon elsewhere. OSPI doesn’t provide support around state level that’s led to a lack of training and resources for the use of isolation and does not recommend its use, she teachers to handle situations appropriately. says. “No one gets into this business with the intention of “I visit a lot of schools, and I don’t typically see isolaharming kids,” she says. “These teachers are tion rooms in them,” Gallo says. well-meaning, underpaid people trying to do Michelle, the parent who filed a LETTERS their jobs.” complaint at Logan, says she thinks Send comments to Spokane, however, stands out in a couple there are moments when isolation editor@inlander.com. ways. The district has a relatively high rooms can be beneficial for her son. percentage of students with special needs, She sympathizes with teachers who with 17.4 percent of the population identified as special are placed in these situations. The behaviors her son exeducation students. And Spokane has a disproportionate hibited before isolation occurred were often concerning. amount of group homes compared to the west side of School reports indicated instances where he “stabbed staff the state, where it’s more expensive to operate one. That in [the] neck with [a] pen,” kicked and punched teachers attracts even more high-needs kids to local schools. and threw items around the classroom. And Spokane reports incidents of isolation at a much But she’s able to avoid those situations at home.
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14 INLANDER JUNE 20, 2019
“We know his triggers. And we know what works for him,” she says. She thought a behavioral intervention plan developed by the district would help teachers understand the same triggers. The plan included a series of steps to take before using restraint or isolation. But that plan wasn’t shared with every staff member who worked with her son, and the school district admitted it wasn’t followed, according to OSPI’s report. Michelle hopes more resources will be devoted to proper training for teachers. “Teachers are already so busy, and I get that,” she says. “They need to be supported better.”
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n the fall, before Michelle made her complaint with the state, Spokane Public Schools Director of Special Education Becky Ramsey was already working on ways to reduce the number of isolations and restraints. “I talked to OSPI in the fall and asked: What can we do to bring these numbers down?” Ramsey says. State officials suggested the district look at a new kind of training, different than the Right Response deescalation training teachers had at the time. The district landed on training from the Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI), which Ramsey says is rooted in “trauma-informed practices.” “The big difference is time spent on the verbal deescalation strategies,” Ramsey says. “There’s more focus, as well, on preventative measures.” Ramsey says teachers are “very enthusiastic” about new training. She says the goal is that by the start of next school year, every behavioral intervention and ABLE teacher and paraeducator will be trained under CPI.