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Heated hearing on HB 1688 exposes sharp divide over loosening restraint and seclusion rules
Summary
Representative Mike Drago urged changes to allow staff more latitude to remove or restrain disruptive students and to reclassify some voluntary seclusion as involuntary; disability‑rights groups, special‑education administrators, NAMI, and many parents opposed the changes, citing injury, trauma, and disproportionate impact on children with disabilities.
Representative Mike Drago introduced House Bill 1688, arguing existing statutory language on restraint and seclusion (chapter 126‑U) leaves school employees insufficient authority to protect themselves and to preserve classroom learning when students are violent or severely disruptive. Drago described incidents he said were reported to him — paraprofessionals with bite marks, a staff member stabbed with a pencil — and proposed lowering the threshold for restraint from a ‘‘substantial risk of serious bodily harm’’ to a lower risk standard and changing language to allow involuntary removal from class when students disrupt instruction.
Opponents included multiple disability‑rights advocates, special‑education administrators, the New Hampshire School…
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