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Lakeland School reports 13% drop in restraint/seclusion; staff to expand early-intervention meetings
Summary
Lakeland School reported a 13% reduction in restraint and seclusion incidents for the 2023–24 year and said most incidents were concentrated among roughly four students. Staff credited new hires, earlier interventions and training and described plans to convene student-of-concern teams earlier to reduce future incidents.
Steve Zoric, a school psychologist, reported to the Walworth County Children with Disabilities Education Board on June 19 that Lakeland School recorded a 13% decrease in restraint and seclusion incidents in 2023–24 compared with the prior school year. Zoric said the reduction reflects several staffing and procedural changes and that “we're moving in a positive direction due to many things that we put in place.”
Zoric told the board that the district added a school counselor and an assistant principal this year, which he said will allow staff to “be more efficient and quick to move to help students when they are becoming dysregulated.” He emphasized that teachers should notify support staff earlier so teams can intervene proactively and avoid “hands on type strategies.”
Board members asked whether the percentage decrease could be skewed by a small number of students. Zoric acknowledged that much of the total incidents are concentrated in a “relatively restricted number of students,” saying about four students had 10 or more incidents each in the past year. To address that concentration, he said staff will convene student-of-concern meetings—bringing together speech pathologists, occupational and physical therapists, counselors and psychologists—at Holly Smith's direction to plan supports before multiple incidents occur.
Zoric also described training and programmatic supports now in use, naming an in-service training partner as Imagine Your Capacity and describing a mindset-focused approach to meeting students’ needs. The board accepted the mandated annual seclusion and restraint report by voice vote; no action beyond acceptance was required.
The report and board discussion emphasized limiting use of physical interventions and increasing proactive supports. Staff said they will review data over the summer and bring recommendations to the CDAB in September if changes to conditional health or behavior plans are needed.
