The Indiana commission in charge of creating a new set of guidelines for restraint and seclusion policies in schools will meet over the next few weeks to complete its work.
The policies set the rules for how teachers are supposed to act when dealing with students who are misbehaving to the point where they need to use hands-on or seclusion techniques.Kentucky already underwent changes to its policy this year following incidents involving students with special needs. The Indiana commission was formed from legislation passed this year following similar incidents.( Click here to see Kentucky's new policy, which was approved this year.)The policies also follow similar recommendations released by the U.S. Department of Education in 2012.The list of rules being created in Indiana won’t be mandated, but schools will be expected to use them to measure against and improve their current policies, says Indiana Deputy Superintendent Danielle Shockey, who is also chair of the commission. “Our goal will really be to provide them a minimum level of expectation but with a policy that guides that work for them to personalize," she says.Shockey says the state legislature could decide to mandate the rules next year and that the commission is working in that capacity. The commission is scheduled to meet twice more over the next couple of weeks, and expects to complete the report by August 1.
