Illinois Will Allow Prone, Supine Restraints on Children While Schools Learn to Phase Them Out
The changes to a ban on restraints came after some schools said they could no longer serve children.
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Amending emergency rules put in place two weeks ago, the Illinois State Board of Education says it will again allow schoolchildren to be physically restrained in positions it had banned, though only in crisis situations.
The change comes after several schools said they could no longer serve some students with behavior issues because of the new restrictions, put in place after publication of a Chicago Tribune/ProPublica Illinois investigation that found overuse and misuse of “isolated timeouts” in public schools across the state.
An emergency prohibition on putting students alone in locked seclusion rooms stands.
The change, made Tuesday, temporarily allows schools to restrain children in prone (or face-down) and supine (or face-up) positions. But they can only do so in “narrow circumstances and only for severe crisis situations to protect the safety of students and staff,” the board said in a statement. School employees must try other methods to calm students before resorting to restraint, the amendment states.
The board said it still expects schools to start phasing out the use of prone and CONTINUE READING: Illinois Will Allow Prone, Supine Restraints on Children While Schools Learn to Phase Them Out — ProPublica
