Rule 4500 restricts the use of restraint and seclusion in our schools. And a Form 4500 must be filled out each time restraint and/or seclusion is used.
In most circumstances, it’s to be filed internally. In some circumstances, it’s sent to the Vermont Agency of Education.
I am a school board member who has become concerned after receiving complaints from parents about its use.
I have sued my district, Slate Valley Unified School District, for access to the Form 4500s filed in the district, with student names and identifying information properly redacted. Maybe the forms will show overuse and abuse. Maybe they’ll be inaccurate. Maybe they haven’t been filled out at all.
I’ve been disappointed that Superintendent Brooke Farrell-Olsen has chosen not to be transparent on this and many issues.
The Agency of Education’s regulations, like many of its regulations, have no serious enforcement mechanism. The agency will provide guidance to districts that need it. That’s not enough. H.409 is a bill to ban seclusion and restrict the use of restraint. My concern with it, also, is enforcement.
The agency needs to threaten licensing action against abusers of restraint and seclusion and their enablers. Top district and school administrators are ultimately responsible and must change the culture at their schools.
I hope that the next secretary of education will be serious about putting teeth in the regulations. The secretary will need to do so especially for regulations that involve the safety of children. The agency needs to deploy its license investigators.
Curtis Hier
Fair Haven