FIRST TAKE If you’ve fallen behind on your current events, as often can happen during holiday
vacations, you might have missed several significant bits of news on the business and operations of transporting students with disabilities. For those of you who decry the fact that school buses are so often left out of conver-
Showing Safety Restraint Takes on a Whole New Meaning
By Ryan Gray
sations taking place in Washington, D.C., eat your heart out. First, in November, there was an interesting development from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services on the significance school transportation plays in the educational experience of children with disabilities. STN contributor Peggy Burns does a great job this month in completing her two-part analysis of this new guidance. Ten, one month to the day after the OSERS FAQs hit the Internet, legislation was
introduced that outlines minimum national standards for schools to follow when employing physical restraint and seclusion of students. It’s been high on the U.S. De- partment of Education’s target list since a report came out last year on the prevalence of seclusion and restraint as a form of discipline against students, especially of the special needs variety. Te bills introduced by Reps. George Miller (D-CA) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers
(R-WA) in the House and outgoing Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) in the Senate ex- empts child safety restraint systems used in school buses from being rolled up under the definitions and limitations of seclusion and restraint. It’s a big win for school trans- portation from the standpoint that Congress took the initiative to include the industry. Case closed, right? Wrong. As highlighted in this issue, Senior Editor Stephane Babcock uncovers that, indeed,
there is more than meets the eye regarding how school districts train their employees on how to specifically use CSRSs for student passengers and, indeed, how manufactur- ers and vendors market their products. NAPT President Linda Bluth says that, while the topic of safety restraint systems remains open ended because legislation is still pending, manufacturers can still be proactive and avoid any potential conflict by naming their products correctly. For example, there are no ramifications when talking about a “vest” for a child on the
school bus. But the term child safety “restraints” in buses can be up for interpretation if one is not careful, especially in the IEP meeting and when communicating to parents. Te National Disability Rights Network issued the report in January 2009 that showed an alarming number of improper, unsafe and even potentially deadly seclusion and re- straint tactics employed across the nation. Said Curt Decker, executive director of the organization: “Tis legislation will ensure proper notification of parents and guardians when restraint or seclusion is used on their children, and will through national reporting allow to help the proper authorities identify where problems may exist that could be addressed with additional training and technical assistance.” It could be important for schools to draw in their policies a strong delineation be-
tween what is and is not acceptable for the seclusion and restraint of students and necessary and appropriate passenger safety restraints used in transportation service and to properly communicate to parents the difference. As Decker said in early Decem- ber, when NDRN praised the proposal of the federal legislation, parents and the general public know little about the use of seclusion and restraint in schools. So it is up to school transportation operations to stand up to the forefront of the public discussion to ensure the right message is heard. n
12 School Transportation News Magazine February 2010
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