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State committee weighs requiring recordings of restraints and seclusion in schools
Summary
The Children and Family Law Committee reviewed HB 1269, a proposal to require audio/video recording of restraint and seclusion incidents included in a student's IEP or accommodation plan. Members debated privacy, training, costs and whether cameras or staff-worn body cameras are the better solution, and directed Rep. Long to draft a report.
Representative Peter Petrino convened an interim study of the Children and Family Law Committee to review House Bill 1269, which would add language to state statute linking visual and auditory recording of seclusion and restraint to student individualized education programs. Petrino said he initially planned to recommend ITL but requested further study after hearing parents’ testimony and concerns about children returning from school injured and unable to describe what happened.
The committee heard from Maureen Tracy, an educator from Merrimack who described more than 25 years of experience in schools. "All I'm looking for is somebody else to be able to have a voice when a child is either put in a restraint or seclusion or comes home with an injury and they can't communicate," Tracy said, recounting instances she has witnessed where students were thrown or held down. Tracy and…
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