Indiana commission accused of neglecting oversight of restraint, seclusion in schools

A new state law, prompted by a WFYI investigation, now requires the Indiana Commission on Seclusion and Restraint to meet twice per year.

But the group has gone 14 months without a single meeting.

The WFYI investigation found that a years-long lack of oversight at the state level has prevented officials from knowing whether schools are forcibly isolating and restraining students as intended under Indiana law.

The commission is responsible for adopting rules that govern how schools seclude and restrain students. It is also required to create a model policy for schools to follow, review reports of restraint and seclusion from the public and provide recommendations to the Indiana Department of Education.

Kim Dodson, a member of the Commission on Seclusion and Restraint and CEO of the Arc of Indiana, said “the commission just continues to ignore its responsibilities.”

“There's truly no oversight,” Dodson said. “So I think it just sends a message to schools that you know, we're too busy to truly care and prioritize this issue, which is a horrible message to be sending to our schools about the safety of our students.”

Forcibly isolating and restraining students are controversial practices in schools that can result in injury, emotional trauma and, in rare instances, death. Children with disabilities are disproportionately subjected to restraint and seclusion.

WFYI found that some schools in Indiana inaccurately report how often they use these interventions on students, despite a decade-old law requiring them to provide this information to IDOE.

Required meetings

The chair of the commission has the authority to call a meeting. After the new law took effect July 1, Dodson said she reached out to the chair, Stephen Balko — who also serves as director of school building security for IDOE — to ask when a meeting would be scheduled. Dodson said she didn’t receive a response.

“It's been concerning that I've been reaching out to them without any response back,” Dodson said.

On Dec. 9, WFYI emailed IDOE to confirm that the commission hadn’t met since the summer of 2023.

Two hours later, Dodson received an email from Balko asking to schedule a commission meeting during the last two weeks of this year.

“I understand this is a busy time of year for everyone and appreciate your flexibility as we work to get this scheduled,” Balko wrote in the email to Dodson and other commission members.

According to an email obtained by WFYI, the commission meeting was subsequently scheduled for Dec. 30. The agenda includes discussion of an audit IDOE conducted of restraint and seclusion data submitted by 57 schools for the 2023-24 school year. The audit is required by a state rule.

A spokesperson for IDOE said the department waited until their annual report was complete —  which includes the audit — to schedule a commission meeting. They said the commission will also set a meeting schedule for 2025 at the Dec. 30 gathering.

For the audit, the department randomly selected 3% of schools and asked them to provide reports associated with the restraint and seclusion incidents they had reported to the state.

Of the schools selected, four submitted incident reports that did not match the data they initially reported to the state. The IDOE report does not identify the four schools.

But the audit shows that Jeremiah Gray Kindergarten — part of Perry Township Schools — reported only one restraint incident to IDOE last school year. But during the audit, it submitted reports for six incidents of either restraint or seclusion. And Templeton Elementary School, part of the Monroe Community School Corporation, reported 10 restraint incidents to IDOE, but submitted zero reports during the audit.

The IDOE audit concluded that there’s a need for “enhanced record keeping” by schools and “improvement” on how incidents are reported to the state. It’s the same conclusion included in audits for prior school years.

Dodson said the commission chair’s failure to schedule a meeting until the second to last day of the calendar year reflects a lack of ownership over the commission and its work.

A 2013 state law that created the Commission on Seclusion and Restraint also intended to curb the use of seclusion and the practices in schools requires schools to limit their use to situations where a student poses an imminent threat to themselves or others. However, several parents have told WFYI their children were restrained and secluded as a form of discipline.

Dodson said her organization continues to hear from parents who believe their children have been inappropriately restrained and secluded in schools.

“We need oversight,” Dodson said. “We need somebody to take responsibility for this important issue and care and try to eliminate, quite honestly, the use of these practices in our schools.”

Families who believe their student was improperly secluded or restrained can report the incident to the commission here.

Contact WFYI investigative education reporter Lee V. Gaines at lgaines@wfyi.org.