Cedar Rapids district cites fewer restraints and arrests under DOJ consent agreement, outlines safety steps

Ryals Parker, the district’s executive director of behavior supports, and Janessa Carr, the Safe and Secure Learning Environment administrator, told parents and caregivers that the Cedar Rapids Community School District (CRCSD) has made policy and practice changes under a September 12, 2022, consent agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and is reporting declines in restraints and student charges as a result.

The agreement, which Parker said can lead to the district’s release on June 30, 2026 if required terms are met, has led to new safety teams and crisis provision protocols in every school, mandatory de-escalation training for staff, revisions to functional behavior assessments (FBA) and behavior intervention plans (BIP), and explicit board-policy limits on seclusion and restraint.

The consent agreement matters because it sets enforceable requirements that changed how CRCSD documents and responds to severe student behaviors, Parker said. “While I know sometimes hearing about a consent agreement with the Department of Justice might not sound like a positive thing, it does provide us a lot of opportunity, to create supportive, safe, and secure learning environments for all of our students,” Parker said.

District officials described operational changes and review processes designed to reduce the most severe interventions. CRCSD now maintains a trained safety team in every building to lead de-escalation and, when necessary, to perform physical interventions. Board policy now defines seclusion as a situation in which a student is alone in a room or area and not free to leave; voluntary, self-directed use of a quiet space is not seclusion. The policy limits physical restraint to situations in which there is an “imminent risk of substantial bodily injury” and defines restraint as preventing a student from voluntarily moving a body part.

Parker described a layered debrief process after any restraint: a building safety-team debrief, a review by the district director of behavior supports (identified in the presentation as Tammy Mina), and a follow-up debrief led by the district director that may include recommendations for student-level or building-level changes. Buildings that record restraints must hold a monthly behavior meeting reviewing trends across the month and recommending systemwide improvements.

Officials said improved and more consistent data collection this school year initially raised documented incident counts but has enabled more targeted interventions. Parker said restraints-per-day were above 3.5 at the start of the school year and fell to about 1.1 per day in January; she attributed much of the initial increase to more complete documentation and said the trend continued into February.

Janessa Carr discussed work with school resource officers (SROs) and district review outcomes for incidents involving weapons, fighting or threats. Carr said the district recorded a 14.29% increase in diversions (where an SRO diverts a student from formal charge or arrest) and a 44.12% decrease in charges and arrests overall when comparing August–December of the 2023–24 and 2024–25 school years. She reported a 38.446% decrease for students with individualized education programs, a 48% decrease for males, a 44% decrease for females and a 64% decrease for Black students in charges and arrests over the same comparison period. Carr described the statistics as part of “our effort to be more transparent in that data.”

Carr also summarized the district review process: 55% of district reviews from August–December involved middle school students and 45% involved high school students; the repeat-offense rate (students who returned to district review more than once) was 3.15% in the same period. Outcomes from district reviews can include returning to school with a plan, referral to a temporary alternative setting, or, rarely, placement in an online program.

Other initiatives described include a districtwide rollout of CrisisGo (listed in the presentation as “Crisis Go”) for emergency notification and incident reporting; plans to expand parent subscriptions and staff training; a pilot cell-phone policy at an alternative site that uses lockboxes; Stand Up for Peace violence-prevention groups at Franklin, McKinley and Roosevelt; and planned parent engagement sessions on March 24, April 17 and May 12.

Carr identified immediate priorities as consistent safety training for staff, establishing safe and secure learning as district culture, improving communications and emergency-response protocols, expanding in-school suspension options to reduce out-of-school suspensions, and creating therapeutic classrooms at the elementary level.

The presenters emphasized that much of the district’s work is intended to prevent escalation through early supports—improved FBA/BIP practices, clearer transition supports for pre-K to kindergarten and eighth to ninth grade, and coordination with PBIS and the Area Education Agency (AEA) ahead of planned ninth-grade academies. “We’re really trying to make sure our safety and emergency protocols are in place and that they are clear,” Carr said, adding that CRCSD is between steps 1 and 2 in its stated hierarchy of safety needs and expects more community engagement on the work.

Parents seeking more information were directed to QR codes shown during the presentation and to contact Ryals Parker at rparker@crschools.us or Janessa Carr at jcar@crschools.us. Officials said they will publish additional data in upcoming newsletters and engagement sessions.