Director: seclusion and restraint incidents fell; district expands de-escalation training

Brad, the district’s director of special education, reported a drop in seclusion and restraint incidents and described the district’s training regimen and case-management processes. "Out of all our 600 plus students, we had only 4 kids that were involved in some kind of seclusion or restraint this year," he told the board and said most incidents required brief paperwork or limited interventions rather than prolonged seclusion.

Brad outlined ongoing training: staff are retrained every two years using CPI/nonviolent de‑escalation coursework, in‑person certification sessions and online modules; he said roughly a dozen staff were certified in a recent session and that the district’s hiring of experienced staff has helped lower incident counts. Board members thanked him and praised the special-education team’s improvements and case-management work led by Lena Thompson.

Board members raised questions about reporting cadence; Brad said the district reports September counts and submits required data to DPI by December. The presentation emphasized reintegration supports and monitoring to return students to classroom placements when appropriate.