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Parents and special-education advisory urge VBCPS to ban seclusion after student death; board to review recommendations
Summary
The VBCPS Special Education Advisory Committee asked the School Board on June 24 to prohibit the use of seclusion in district schools, require administrators who host CSEP classrooms to coordinate with CSEP staff, and expand preschool inclusion for students with disabilities.
The VBCPS Special Education Advisory Committee (SIAC) presented three recommendations on June 24 urging the board to prohibit seclusion in district schools, strengthen administrator collaboration with CSEP program staff, and increase preschool access for students with disabilities.
Why it matters: The committee and a bereaved parent said seclusion can create life-threatening situations for vulnerable students. Speakers asked the board to adopt alternatives such as trauma-informed de-escalation, positive behavioral supports and supervised sensory spaces.
Megan Ashburn, SIAC chair, read the committee’s recommendations and asked the board to "prohibit the use of seclusion in VBCPS schools beginning the 2526 school year," and to ensure school administrators who host CSEP classrooms actively collaborate with CSEP leadership. Ronnie Myers Daub, executive director of the Office for Programs for Exceptional Children (OPEC), and SIAC members also requested mandatory training following a forthcoming VDOE cyclical review.
An online speaker, Julie Bentley Sykes, spoke by video about her son Joshua Sykes, who died after what she described as an extended seclusion and lack of intervention in a school seclusion space. She said: "Seclusion doesn't teach, it traumatizes... For Josh's memory and for every child who walks through Virginia Beach school halls, please end seclusion now."
Board members asked for more data and procedural detail before changing practice. Dr. Ronnie Myers Daub told the board that most seclusion incidents in the division were associated with CSEP placements: "In 2024, there were 305 incidents of seclusion, and 2 of those were for students in Virginia Beach. So 303 were CSEP." Members asked staff to provide comparisons to other divisions and to outline training and transition timelines.
The SIAC also recommended expanding opportunities for preschool inclusion (indicator 6). Myers Daub said the district’s current participation rate for students with disabilities in pre‑K 4 is 9 percent, and there is a benchmark target near 25 percent; increasing access was presented as a long-term way to improve later outcomes.
What comes next: Board members said the recommendations will be reviewed at the policy and August meetings; several trustees urged further study of the VDOE cyclical review findings (scheduled to arrive in July) before taking final action. The committee also asked for required staff training tied to corrective actions from the review.
The discussion combined emotional testimony from a parent, procedural briefing by OPEC staff, and a request for board-level policy change; trustees signaled a willingness to explore a ban but sought more information about the scope, legal implications and impacts on CSEP placements before committing to a timeline.
