Muskego-Norway board hears report showing 38 seclusion events in 2024–25; district outlines training and parental notification

Student services director Carrie Olsen told the Muskego-Norway School District Board of Education on Aug. 11 that the district recorded 38 seclusion events during the 2024–25 school year involving seven students, all of whom were students with disabilities receiving specially designed instruction. She said the district recorded restraint incidents involving nine students and that the data are reported annually to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction under Wisconsin Statute 118.305.

The presentation focused on definitions, reporting requirements and local practice. "Seclusion refers to an involuntary confinement of a student apart from other students in a room or an area from which the student is physically prevented from leaving," Olsen said. She added, "This is not a student taking a break." Olsen said physical restraint is used only when a child poses an imminent risk of harm to themselves or others and that staff must attempt less-restrictive interventions first.

Olsen described the district's training expectations and supports. "We make sure that our staff are trained in what's called crisis prevention intervention," she said, and reported the district has "approximately 175 staff trained," including learning strategists, therapists, special-education instructional assistants and many building principals. She said training is typically updated every three years and that first-year hires complete the training during their first year of employment.

On reporting and family notification, Olsen said the district designee will submit the annual report to DPI by Oct. 1 and that the district must make contact with parents within one business day after any seclusion or restraint event. Families also receive a written document describing what occurred, duration, witnesses and follow-up. "Of course, we call right away," she said, and the written documentation and staff debriefs are required parts of the process.

Board members asked operational questions about seclusion locations and frequency. Olsen said the district does not maintain dedicated seclusion rooms; staff typically clear a space, remove potential hazards and keep one adult monitoring while another documents the event. She described safeguards to protect student dignity and classroom continuity and said the district convenes an IEP team after repeated incidents. "After two seclusion or restraint events, we reconvene an IEP if it's a child with a disability," she said, while stressing decisions are individualized.

The board also discussed staff supports. Olsen described a "tap-out" approach so staff can rotate out of physically demanding interventions and said principals or district leaders will provide immediate in-building support. She announced a three-day dialectical behavior therapy workshop next week for student-services and secondary special-education staff to strengthen re-regulation strategies and reduce the need for exclusionary responses.

The presentation noted that seclusion and restraint events are most frequent at elementary schools, which the district attributes in part to younger students' ongoing emotional-regulation development. Olsen also confirmed the district does not use physical restraint at the middle- or high-school level except in circumstances where a school resource officer would be called because of safety concerns.

The presentation closed with an affirmation of staff wellness and retention concerns: district leaders said staff shortages in special education increase the emotional burden on employees involved in these incidents and emphasized supports to care for staff after events. The board did not take formal action on policy changes at the meeting; the presentation was informational and will be included in the district's annual DPI submission.