New rules on physically restraining students with disabilities

What happened

On August 12, 2026 the board adopted, on second reading, a policy on physical restraint and seclusion for students with disabilities, alongside new policies on high school graduation and high school diplomas and a revised policy on career education. Restraint and seclusion rules set out when staff may physically hold a child or place them alone in a room, what has to be recorded and when a parent has to be told. The policy was adopted six months after the board had abolished its previous special education policy and all thirteen of its regulations. The district had also trained fifteen staff in a restraint certification programme in November 2025 at a cost of $3,510.

Why it matters to families

Restraint and seclusion are the most physically serious things that can happen to a child at school, and they fall most often on children with disabilities. A parent needs to know the rule exists, that the district must record each use and notify them, and where to find the text. The policy arrived in the same year that the older special education regulations were removed, so families should read the new manual rather than relying on what the district used to say.

The evidence

The August 12, 2026 agenda records the second reading and adoption of policy 5561 on physical restraint and seclusion for students with disabilities, together with policies 1330, 1331, 2411 on career education, 5460 on high school graduation, a new 5461 on high school diplomas and 1643. The February 25, 2026 policy list records the abolition of policy 2461 and regulations 2461 through 2461.12 on special education. The November 25, 2025 agenda approves restraint certification training for fifteen staff at $3,510.

The source