The Federal Government Collects Data on How Often Schools Seclude Children. The Numbers Don’t Add Up.

Even though school districts are required to report their use of seclusion and restraint to the U.S. Department of Education, it can be difficult for parents to see the full picture.

This investigation is a collaboration between ProPublica Illinois and the Chicago Tribune.

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In fall 2015, Glacier Ridge Elementary School in Crystal Lake first used its Blue Room, a padded space that allows school workers to place students in “isolated timeout” for safety reasons.

Students were secluded in that room more than 120 times during the 2015-16 school year, according to records obtained by ProPublica Illinois and the Chicago Tribune. Yet the district, in its required reporting to the federal government, said it hadn’t used seclusion at all that school year.

Crystal Lake District 47 is an example of how even with federal reporting requirements, it’s nearly impossible to know how often some Illinois schools seclude children. An investigation by the Tribune and ProPublica Illinois found widespread use of seclusion but little transparency.

All public school districts are required to report their use of seclusion and physical restraint to the U.S. Department of Education as part of its Civil Rights Data Collection, which the department uses to help investigate discrimination complaints and to ensure districts follow federal policies. The data is collected every other school year and published online.

Because the Illinois State Board of Education does not monitor the use of seclusion or restraint in public schools, the federal data is the only systematic way for communities to determine whether and how frequently those practices are being used in their schools...

https://www.propublica.org/article/illinois-school-students-seclusion-rooms-federal-government-data