Wisconsin Statute on Seclusion and Restraint

As a future administrator and a current special education teacher, I wanted to look deeper into Chapter 118 of General School Operations, specifically the portions regarding seclusion and restraint.  

Statute 118.164 regarding the removal of students from class is one I found very interesting. How often do teachers provide in writing why they are removing a student from a classroom? To what extent do we use this piece of law in schools? When we make decisions about removing a child from the legally obligated education we must provide, it should be a clear process in which we are looking to get the student back into class as soon as possible. Being in the situation of feeling "out of site, out of mind" is not only a legally bad place to be but it's also poor practice.  I believe it is important to go through the process the right way so we can reflect back on our own practices and decide if that was the best decision and to make sure that we are removing students as few times as possible for only the appropriate reasons, not the reasons that match our mood as teachers or administrators.  

Statute 118.305 Use of seclusion and physical restraint is an area I feel I understand a lot about as a teacher due to the nature of my current position and the daily impact this has on my job as a teacher and as a future administrator.  When I enter a situation, I am always thinking and drilling into my head the piece of law that says  is that the student’s behavior a clear and present danger to themselves or those around them.  Districts put their staff through a lot of training and some staff probably feel this is a waste of time or struggle to understand the importance of these trainings but when looking at these statutes it would be poor management of a district to not put these trainings in place. 

As PBIS and NVCI programs are used more and more along with restorative practices, I would hope that the situations where we are secluding, restraining or pulling kids out of the classroom would be reducing. If I notice there isn't a downward trend, as administrator I would need to start to look internally at why this is and not look outward at things we can't control. It's easy for teachers and staff to point to situations and things that go on beyond our control to excuse behaviors but we must always be looking to get better within our buildings.