Virginia Beach – The School Board on Tuesday banned the use of dedicated seclusion rooms to isolate students during behavioral outbursts.
The change follows months of scrutiny after the isolation of an 11-year-old student with autism led to police and school investigations and a $150 million suit against a special education provider.
The board unanimously adopted a new policy limiting seclusion, a practice that disproportionately affects special education students. The policy also governs the use of restraint, a related technique meant to prevent harm to a student or others.
The policy doesn’t prohibit seclusion entirely, as some other communities have done. But school leaders believe the policy can reduce instances of seclusion…