Written By: Owen DeFao, Student Policy Associate
In the complex landscape of the Texas education system, ensuring a safe and supportive environment for students is paramount. In recent years, the conversation surrounding student safety has evolved to encompass external threats and the internal dynamics within school walls. Central to this discourse is the concept of restraint data – a critical yet often overlooked aspect of school administration.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) defines restraint as “The use of physical force or a mechanical device to significantly restrict the free movement of all or a portion of the student’s body. A school employee, volunteer, or independent contractor may use restraint only in an emergency and with the limitations.” They define an emergency as “A situation in which a student’s behavior poses a threat of (A) imminent, serious physical harm to the student or others; or (B) imminent, serious property destruction.”1 Under the Texas Administrative Code, the program provider of the Independent School District (ISD) must report the incident within 30 days of the incident occurring.2
The TEA uses the 435 Student Restraint Data form to capture the restraint data for “1) the restraints of all students that are administered by school district police officers and school resource officers working with a LEA under a local MOU, and 2) special education students that are restrained by school district/charter school employees and volunteers.”3
Despite these regulations, however, it is not uncommon for the TEA to receive blank data on the form. As a result of unclear or missing data, parents are responsible for requesting this information from the schools.4 Across the state, parents are increasingly vocal about their desire for greater transparency and oversight regarding how school districts record, report, and utilize restraint data. Many fear that without robust safeguards and clear guidelines, there is a risk of underreporting or misrepresentation of incidents, as previously proven, leading to a lack of trust in the educational institutions responsible for their children’s care. The responsibility falling onto parents encourages new House and Senate bills to become more accurate in the understanding and roles between school districts and police departments to ensure complete transparency of information regarding critical incidents at the student’s school.
Parents in Texas have been calling for policymakers and schools to adopt new policies regarding the safety of their children from both a child welfare stance as well as a disability rights one. Through multiple press conferences involving Texas advocacy organizations for parents, students, and disability rights, parents have called for “Tighter state regulation of dangerous restraint practices in schools” and “Greater investment in proactive and positive behavioral interventions, services, and supports in schools.”5 In these conferences, parents explained that schools often reported that “something” happened to their children in school or were uninformed until their children told them about these incidents.
Schools often had video surveillance of the incident and did not show parents until they complained directly to the school. Even with students hitting their heads on the walls, being pinned to the ground, or isolated in separate rooms, parents remain uninformed. This lack of accountability within school systems is reflected in the data they report, issuing these misinformed statistics to the TEA, so upon publishing the 435 Student Restraint Data reports to the public, parents are shown data that misrepresents the school districts their children attend.
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) also performed investigations against Texas ISDs due to parental concerns about restraint in schools. Their findings included School Resource Officers (SROs) using restraint on students with disabilities without receiving proper training on the use of restraint in an educational setting. They also concluded that some school districts do not provide clear notice of the incidents to parents or guardians.6 This lack of accountability and notice from the school districts strips parents of their right to request a re-evaluation to ensure their children receive an appropriate public education, as required under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.7
Based on parents’ call for better legislation and accountability for school districts, new bills must include accurate data with relevant information, such as the student’s age, gender, and special education service eligibility, as well as a description of the event, administrators/officers involved, and procedures followed by the school. Parents need to be informed of the necessary details to receive the transparency they are asking for and deserve concerning their and their children’s rights in school.
1 Texas Procedures for Use of Restraint and Time-Out
2 Texas Administrative Code RULE §261.229
4 Ibid
5 Texas Parents Ask Lawmakers to Take Action to End Harmful Student Restraint
