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Seclusion and Physical Restraint

Pupil Restraint and Seclusion under Wisconsin Statute 118.305

Wisconsin Statute 118.305 Pupil Restraint and Seclusion prohibits the use of seclusion or physical restraint by school staff except in very limited circumstances where a student’s behavior presents a clear, present, and imminent risk to the physical safety of students or school staff and it is the least restrictive intervention feasible.

To summarize, the law requires:

  • parents be provided with a copy of the written incident report,
  • the notice and reporting requirements include incidents involving law enforcement officers,
  • prohibits the use of prone restraint,
  • specific training components for staff,
  • school staff to hold a meeting after each incident of seclusion or restraint to discuss topics specified in the Act,
  • requires an IEP team meeting within ten school days of the second time seclusion or restraint of a student with a disability within the same school year,
  • each governing body will submit an annual report to DPI by December 1, and
  • the law applies to both students with and without disabilities.

Seclusion and Restraint Frequently Asked Questions (Revised March 2022)

Introduction & Annual Reporting Timeline

Pursuant to 2019 Wisconsin Act 118, all public school districts and private schools participating in the Special Needs Scholarship Program (SNSP) are required annually, by December 1, to report seclusion and restraint data from the previous school year to the Department.

Timeline

 
September: District and SNSP Administrators are sent a survey from the DPI’s Office of the State Superintendent to enter their seclusion and restraint data from the previous school year.
October 1st: Districts and SNSP Administrators report their data to their school or governing boards.
December 1st: District and SNSP schools’ survey data due to DPI.
January-March: DPI prepares data files and reviews the data.
April-May: DPI publishes the data and sends District and SNSP school notifications*.
Ongoing: DPI supports Districts with continuous improvement planning for reduction of seclusion and restraint.
 
*For identified public schools, the DPI requests the LEA analyze their local data and, to the extent possible, identify the root causes for the high rate of incidents reported. Based on the root cause analysis, the LEA creates a plan to reduce the number of seclusion and restraint incidents that occur. To support these efforts, the DPI provides a variety of tools and resources that can be used to conduct a root cause analysis and create a plan to reduce the use of seclusion and restraint. Additionally, a member of the Department’s Special Education Team is assigned to provide support and feedback during the LEAs root cause analysis and action planning processes; as well as to assist in identifying available resources that may aid in the implementation of the district’s plan.

Additional information about ways to organize and facilitate the root cause analysis, improvement planning, and implementation processes are found under the Tools and Resources section of this webpage. The frequent use of seclusion and restraint are most often symptoms or indicators of more systemic practices, procedures, and policies. For this reason, the Department’s identification and reduction support procedures were designed to be flexible and responsive at the local level, focus on adult practices, and may be intentionally connected or embedded in initiatives or improvement efforts that may already be occurring within an individual LEA.
Leveled Support System for Public Schools

Any public school that reports one or more incidents receives a notification and is offered assistance from the Department of Public Instruction. Three levels of support are available to school teams based on the previous year’s reporting. The support level for each public school is assigned based on the rate of incidents per 1000 students. The incident rate is calculated using the following formula: (TOTAL SECLUSIONS + TOTAL NUMBER OF RESTRAINTS) / TOTAL SCHOOL ENROLLMENT x 1000.

The assigned support levels are as follows:

Support Level 1: For public schools with fewer than 100 incidents per 1000 students

 
  • Participation is voluntary and the process is completed independently by LEA.
  • DPI provides a root cause analysis tool and action planning document.
  • Consultation, coaching, and support available upon request.

Support Level 2: For public schools between 100 and 200 incidents per 1000 students

 

Support Level 2 School Requirements:

  • Conduct root cause analysis and create action plan.
  • Submit to DPI consultant for review.
  • Implement an action plan.

Up to three optional consultation sessions with DPI consultant:

  • root cause analysis support,
  • discuss resources for action plan implementation, and
  • review data following implementation of plan.

Support Level 3: For public schools or LEAs that meet one or more of the following criteria:

 
  • Public schools with over 200 incidents per 1000 students.
  • LEAs with two or more schools with a rate between 100-200 incidents per 1000 students.
  • Public schools with multiple or consecutive years with a rate of 100 incidents or higher per 1000 students.
  • Support Level 3 School Requirements:
    • Conduct root cause analysis (with collaboration and coaching of DPI consultant).
    • Create and implement an action plan (with collaboration and coaching of DPI consultant).
    • Regular collaboration and coaching sessions (frequency of follow up and monitoring sessions agreed upon by LEA and DPI consultant).
    • Public schools identified as Support Level 3 also receive an offer of ES3 One Year Grant. If accepted, grant staff will lead district and school team through root cause analysis and action planning; up to 10 grant awards available.
Reduction

Due to the inherent physical risks and psychological harms that can result from the use of seclusion and physical restraint, any public school or SNSP school that reports one or more incidents receives a notification and is offered assistance from the WI Department of Public Instruction (DPI). For public schools identified at Support Level 2 and 3, the DPI requests the LEA analyze their local data and identify the root causes for the high rate of incidents reported. Based on the root cause analysis, the LEA creates a plan to reduce the number of seclusion and restraint incidents that occur.

Steps for Root Cause Analysis and Action Planning:

 

STEP ONE: For public school districts identified under Support Level 3, a DPI consultant will review the expectations for the root cause analysis and improvement plan with a district team or representative. For public school districts identified under Support Level 2, an initial meeting with a DPI consultant is optional.

STEP TWO: The public school district will then complete a root cause analysis and draft a plan to reduce the use of seclusion and restraint and submit them to SRmonitoring@dpi.wi.gov for review.


STEP THREE: Once submitted, public school districts identified under Support Level 3 will schedule follow up meetings with a DPI consultant for collaboration and coaching on the root cause analysis and the implementation of the action plan. For districts identified under Support Level 2, the DPI consultant will notify you of plan approval or schedule a follow up meeting if necessary.

Tools and Resources

WI DPI Seclusion and Restraint Root Cause Analysis Tool

Action Plan: S&R Prevention and Intervention Planning & Progress Monitoring Tool

Systems Level Strategies

Comprehensive School Mental Health Framework

Trauma Sensitive Schools

Culturally Responsive Problem Solving

Continuous Improvement Process Criteria and Rubric

Data Inquiry Journal

Social Emotional Learning Competencies

Special Education Evaluation and IEP Development

Comprehensive Special Education Evaluation

Addressing Bias in the Comprehensive Special Education Evaluation Process

College and Career Ready IEPs

Functional Behavior Assessment

Inclusive Strategies to Address Behavioral Needs for Students with IEPs

Grant Resources

Supporting Neurodiverse Students Professional Learning System

Enhancing Social and Emotional Skills in Students with IEPs (ES3)

Student Services Prevention and Wellness Team Funding Opportunities Page

Prevention

Resources for Practices that Can Prevent the Use of Seclusion and Restraint

 

Wisconsin School Mental Health Framework: The framework includes six components of a comprehensive school mental health system (CSMHS) and provides guidance on implementing them from a trauma sensitive lens.

Trauma Sensitive Schools: By becoming a trauma sensitive school, schools can become a protective factor for students exposed to traumatic events and increase the social and emotional and academic skills of the entire school body.

Culturally Responsive Evidence Based Practices. School staff and school mental health providers recognize the needs of students from diverse cultural backgrounds and offer programs that reduce disparities in services.

Wisconsin Safe and Healthy Schools (WISH) Center: Looking for support to implement TSS, SEL and School Based Mental Health Systems? The WISH Center provides training to school and district teams to strengthen student and adult resilience through equitable, comprehensive school-based mental health and trauma sensitive social emotional learning in order to promote academic success for every student.

College and Career Ready Individualized Education Programs (CCR IEPs): For students with disabilities, an IEP based on the CCR IEP five beliefs of High Expectations, Culturally Responsive Practices, Student Relationships, Family & Community Engagement and Collective Responsibility is designed to identify and meet student learning needs through appropriate individualized services.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL): Provides the essentials for implementing a comprehensive approach to SEL.

Supporting Neurodiverse Students: The vast majority of students in Wisconsin who are secluded or restrained are students with disabilities, many of whom are neurodiverse. This website contains many resources for training and support in working with this population of students.

Data

Academic Year 2022-2023

 
Statewide school-level pupil seclusion and restraint data from the 2022-2023 school year may be found in the file above. In addition, a statewide data analysis conducted by DPI is also provided above.
Data was collected by DPI from public school districts and private schools participating in the Special Needs Scholarship Program (SNSP) throughout Wisconsin. Each record within the spreadsheet contains the total number of incidents of seclusion and restraint in a given school, as well as the number of students involved, disaggregated by students with disabilities.

Data Disclaimer: The DPI collects seclusion and restraint data required by 2019 Act 118, which does not include disaggregation by race or documentation of the involvement of law enforcement (including SROs). The DPI strongly encourages LEAs to collect, analyze and review this data to ensure practices, policies and procedures are equitable, appropriate and in the best interest of students. Information related to any school that has a student with a disability population of less than five has been redacted in order to prevent the disclosure of personally identifiable information. Incidents in which both seclusion and restraint occurred simultaneously are counted as separate instances and therefore the total number of individual students involved in seclusion or restraint combined is unattainable due to issues of double counting. Similarly, the data does not confirm whether the same student was repeatedly secluded or restrained.
For questions regarding pupil seclusion and restraint data, please contact Casie Sulzle.

Academic Year 2021-2022

For questions about this information, contact SRmonitoring@dpi.wi.gov 

 

Contact Special Education