Four years after child’s fatal restraint, Davis schools commit to new safety training
Davis schools reached an agreement the federal government this week to update policies on restraining students, resolving an investigation triggered by the 2018 death of a 13-year-old student.
Davis Joint Unified committed to providing additional training and monitoring how schools practice restraint and seclusion for students with disabilities by January 2023.
The agreement with the U.S. Department of Education comes almost exactly four years after Max Benson died after an three employees at an El Dorado County nonpublic school placed him in a face-down prone restraint for nearly two hours. Max, who had autism, suffered fatal brain damage and died in November 2018.
The education department’s Office for Civil Rights initiated the compliance reviews in 2019 for more than 20 school districts across the country following Max’s death.
The report found that the district’s policies banned the use of seclusion, but allowed school officials to use restraint in emergencies. The Office for Civil Rights found that between 2017 and 2019, six Davis Joint Unified students – four of whom had disabilities – were restrained at district schools.
The findings also stated that three students with disabilities were placed in nonpublic schools. Max was one of them, and was subjected to “multiple restraints” at the now-closed Guiding Hands School in El Dorado Hills. Two other Davis students were at another unnamed nonpublic school, and restrained a total of 32 times, and placed in seclusion a total of 23 times.
“The tragic death of a child subjected to prolonged and repeated restraint at a school placement through this district underscores the urgency for school communities everywhere to carefully examine their restraint and seclusion practices to safeguard children in their care, in addition to their obligation to satisfy the federal civil rights laws we enforce,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon said in a statement.
The Office for Civil Rights found that Davis Joint Unified:
Failed to ensure that district staff had carefully considered information about the use of restraints and seclusion on district students.
Failed to ensure people that knew the children best “made the placement decisions regarding behavioral interventions for these students.”
Failed to reevaluate these students “to determine if the repeated use of restraint and seclusion” for these students denied them aids and services, and free appropriate public education, or FAPE, which often helps reduce the number of times students are restrained and placed in seclusion.
Failed to document all restraints and seclusion in nonpublic schools, and failed to properly identify all students who were subjected to restraint or seclusion.
The district agreed to resolve the violations, according to Davis Joint Unified. The district agreed to revise its policies for restraint and seclusion, maintain records of their use, provide training for all teachers and staff who have students with behavioral plans and monitor and ensure that the nonpublic schools they send students to are properly trained.
Oversight for California school restraints
A state law went into effect at the start of 2019 that prohibits restraining and secluding students as discipline. Former Gov. Jerry Brown signed it months before Max died.
Stacia Langley, Max’s mother, said that while the new agreement is appreciated, “if the Davis school district had been following the law, Max would be alive today.”
“Although we are relieved to see requirements for greater oversight and accountability, restraint and seclusion remain punitive, ineffective, prone to abuse and rife with dangers to defenseless children,” Langley said. “Our hope is that California and the nation will embrace the banning of these useless and antiquated cruelties. Better methods are available to teachers.”
Davis Joint Unified served about 8,500 students at the time of the review. About 18% of them were students with disabilities.
“We remain committed to the safety of our students and staff, and we intend to comply with the Office of Civil Rights requests,” read a statement from the district.
California also passed laws in 2019 protecting students with special needs at nonpublic schools, which largely serve students with significant behavioral needs. Schools must have qualified behavioral analysts on-site, and schools must train staff members who have contact with students in evidence based intervention and behavior management.
The tragedy prompted changes in how the state protects special needs students and the rights of the disabled, raising the question of whether schools can pin students down or isolate them.
Criminal charges move forward after student’s death
A criminal grand jury indicted Guiding Hands and three school staff members in Max’s death in July, and manslaughter charges were filed against them in 2019. A trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 28 in El Dorado Superior Court.
The school and staff are “rightfully being criminally prosecuted for their actions,” read a statement from Davis Joint Unified officials.
“For me and my family the loss of Max from our lives defies measure and description,” Langley said. “For society the killing of a child in the classroom at the hands of teachers while classmates watch is an unthinkable wrong that must be addressed.”