DOJ demands St. Louis special schools ban ‘seclusion and restraints’ after ‘gross violations’
The U.S. Justice Department notified a Missouri school district Monday that its seclusion and restraint practices violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The 21-month investigation into…
The U.S. Justice Department notified a Missouri school district Monday that its seclusion and restraint practices violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The 21-month investigation into the Special School District of St. Louis (SSD) found the district discriminated against students with disabilities. SSD is the largest special education provider in the state.
According to federal officials, the district routinely subjected students to ineffective seclusion and unjustified restraints instead of providing necessary interventions guaranteed by federal law.
During the two-year investigation period, the district secluded over 300 students nearly 4,000 times and restrained almost 150 students 777 times. One school with fewer than 100 students used seclusion 1,667 times, meaning every student there was secluded or restrained at least once during the probe.
In one extreme case, a single student spent 101 hours, the equivalent of 17 school days, in seclusion during a single school year.
“The Justice Department won’t tolerate the abuse of our most vulnerable students,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a release. “Parents shouldn’t have to worry their children could be subjected to solitary confinement and dangerous restraint techniques at school because of their disabilities. This Civil Rights Division will put an end to these unlawful practices everywhere we find them.”
Missouri law only allows restraint and seclusion as a crisis response in rare emergencies posing a safety threat. However, investigators found the district used these methods routinely for minor issues.
For example, a second-grader was secluded for 90 minutes for knocking over a teacher’s coffee. Another student was held in seclusion for more than three hours for drawing on a chair and “being disrespectful.” Investigators even found that many students were forced to walk themselves to seclusion rooms, proving they posed no “imminent danger” at the time.
The DOJ’s findings letter says students were left alone while hurting themselves. One fifth-grader tied her shoelaces around her neck so tightly staff had to cut them off, while another student was left for over an hour after hitting himself until his nose bled and wiping the blood on the walls.
Reports also described students urinating, defecating and vomiting in seclusion rooms with little-to-no intervention from staff. In one disturbing incident, a student was left alone for 41 minutes while he smeared feces on his body and the room’s windows.
The Justice Department said SSD failed to fully cooperate with the investigation. The district reportedly missed deadlines, provided incomplete documents and refused to allow federal officials to visit schools while students or staff were present.
Federal officials are demanding the district ban the use of seclusion and supine restraints immediately. Along with the findings, the department proposed a settlement agreement to remedy what it called “gross violations” of federal law and provide compensatory education and counseling to affected students.
Special needs advocacy group Missouri Disability and Empowerment Foundation (MoDE) was taken aback by the findings, but also grateful for DOJ’s enforcement. MoDE is advocating for passage of a bill that would ban the use of seclusion statewide.
“It’s taken time for us to process the contents of the 13-page document from the DOJ. Our hearts are shattered for the victims. These are the types of experiences that prompted MoDE to pass the current seclusion and restraint law that went into effect in 2021 and we’re grateful for enforcement agencies like the DOJ who hold school districts accountable when corrective action is necessary,” MoDE said in a social media post.
Before the report was released, some area school administrators were reportedly questioning their partnerships with the district.
Rep. Brad Christ, a St. Louis County Republican, filed a bill in January that would let school districts withdraw from SSD if voters approve. If the bill passes, the law would redirect a seceding district’s tax money so it could run its own special education program.
Christ says his bill’s intent didn’t start with the DOJ revelation.
“My bill’s origins and intent had nothing to do with this revelation,” Christ told the Post-Dispatch on Monday in a text message. “However, this news probably adds to the conversation that SSD reform should definitely be explored with bills such as mine.”
