'SOMETHING'S NOT RIGHT' Trauma lingers for FCPS students who experienced repeated seclusion and restraint

 

It was the first day of third grade, and James had been in school for 19 minutes.

By 9:20 a.m., the 8-year-old was locked in a padded, closet-sized room. He’d remain there, alone, for nearly three hours.

Though Maryland law is clear that no child may be kept in seclusion for more than 30 minutes, Frederick County Public Schools seemed to have found a loophole. In their logbook, staff recorded James’ seclusion time that day in half-hour chunks, according to discipline records provided by his mother and examined by The Frederick News-Post: 9:20 to 9:50. Then 9:51 to 10:21. Then 10:22 to 10:52. On and on until 12:08 p.m...

https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/continuing_coverage/seclusion_and_restraint_in_fcps/trauma-lingers-for-fcps-students-who-experienced-repeated-seclusion-and-restraint/article_4834bf96-d874-57e1-8793-a34b5a697228.html

Frederick Co. Schools superintendent on leave following student mistreatment settlement [Former MCPS Coordinator/Director 2000-2005]

The longtime superintendent of Frederick County Public Schools in Maryland, Dr. Terry Alban, is on administrative leave.

The change in her status comes after the school district reached a settlement following a Justice Department investigation into the school system’s mistreatment of students with disabilities.

Just one week after the Justice Department made public its finding and the resulting settlement into “pervasive misuse of seclusion and restraint practices against students with disabilities,” Alban’s administrative leave is effective Dec. 8.

https://wtop.com/frederick-county/2021/12/frederick-co-schools-superintendent-on-leave-following-student-mistreatment-settlement/

Background: Dr. Alban began her career as an elementary and special education teacher in Baltimore County Public Schools. There she wrote curriculum and served as a Supervisor of Professional Development. From 2000-2005, she worked in Montgomery County Public Schools as Coordinator of Student Assessment, Coordinator of Program Evaluation, and Director of the Shared Accountability Office. She then served in the Howard County Public School System in several positions, including Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of Strategic Planning, Assessment, and Program Evaluation.

https://www.fcps.org/centraloffice/superintendent-and-legal-counsel

UPDATE: Justice Department finds FCPS violated federal law in restraining, secluding students with disabilities [Superintendent Terry Alban is former MCPS Administrator]

A Department of Justice investigation and subsequent settlement announced Wednesday found that Frederick County Public Schools “systematically and improperly” secluded and restrained students with disabilities in violation of federal law.

The investigation, opened in October 2020, “revealed thousands of incidents of seclusion and restraint in just two and a half school years,” according to a DOJ news release.

The department focused on school years 2017-18, 2018-19 and the first half of 2019-20. During that period, FCPS performed 7,253 seclusions and restraints on 125 students. Thirty-four individual students were secluded or restrained more than 50 times each.

“Although students with disabilities make up only 10.8% of students enrolled in the district, every single student the district secluded was a student with disabilities, as were 99% — all but one — of the students the district restrained,” the release said.

The district was found to be discriminating against students with disabilities in “pervasive noncompliance” with the Americans with Disabilities Act. In addition to analyzing system policy and data on behavioral interventions, DOJ investigators conducted interviews with teachers, administrators, support staff and guardians of four affected students...

https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/education/doj-fcps-violated-federal-law-in-restraining-secluding-students-with-disabilities/article_9c3ac4db-75fd-5042-b61d-45a3a41f9726.html

Frederick Co. superintendent ‘deeply sorry’ for keeping schools fully open after bus rescue

After 10 children needed to be rescued from a bus caught in rising floodwaters, the superintendent of Frederick County Public Schools in Maryland said she’s “deeply sorry” for keeping the system open for a full day as the remnants of Hurricane Ida bore down on the D.C. region.

In a note to the school community, Superintendent Terry Alban apologized.

“Our decision to remain open for a full day led to last-minute changes for families, along with stress and anxiety for many. For that, I am deeply sorry. My first priority is to keep students and staff safe. I am grateful that everyone was able to get safely to their homes,” she wrote...

https://wtop.com/frederick-county/2021/09/frederick-co-superintendent-deeply-sorry-for-keeping-schools-fully-open-after-bus-rescue/?fbclid=IwAR2X1qryClp0YQO9yCZxmfkveNCcT2wgtEEFZXL6SbuKKxnVtqR1kwBXkus