Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County School Board, Student Services Committee Work Session, Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Date: Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Place: Loudoun County Public Schools / School Board meeting (see BoardDocs / LCPS-TV)
Length: 1h (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/1047283645?rel=0
BoardDocs (School Board): https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/loudoun/Board.nsf/Public

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-16. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

[00:00:11] Good evening, everyone. Apologies for the delay. Thank you all for being here for the January 15th, 2025 work session of the Student Services Committee. As a reminder, this meeting is being audio recorded, not video recorded or live streamed, but the audio recording will be available for future viewing/listening on the LCPS website.

[00:00:35] we are not having public comment as part of the meeting today we're going to dive right into our work session number two item number two on our agenda revisions for policy 5345 restraint and seclusion of students miss Richardson thank you chair Donahue appreciate that we are starting right off our work session with a staff spotlight this afternoon we are joined by miss Debbie Reagan assistant principal at Discovery Elementary School and she just has a few bits of information and perspective to share with the committee members as you

[00:01:09] are working through policy 53-45 restraint and seclusion. Mrs. Regan. Thank you Ms. Richardson and thank you and welcome Ms. Regan. Public speaking is not my favorite activity however I am so passionate about our students and our communities in Loudoun County that when Donna Smith approached me about tonight I felt it was vital for me to share my thoughts with you this evening. At

[00:01:48] At Discovery, our mission is rooted in the belief that strong trusting relationships between students and staff are the foundation of a thriving learning environment. We understand that students can only truly engage in the education when they feel safe, valued and confident.

[00:02:04] This is why we emphasize love before learning as the core principle of our school culture. We are committed to creating a community where every student feels welcomed, loved, cared for, respected and safe. Our staff works tirelessly to build connections with students, fostering an atmosphere of trust, mutual respect, and safety.

[00:02:27] These relationships empower students to take risks, embrace challenges, and achieve their fullest potential academically, personally, and emotionally. As an administrator, I firmly believe that our most important role is to nurture this sense of belonging and emotional security.

[00:02:43] Without a supportive and uplifting environment, meaningful learning cannot occur. By prioritizing the well-being of our students and ensuring that they feel a deep sense of connection and safety within our school, we create the conditions necessary for success in all areas of life.

[00:03:01] We strive to be more than just a place of learning. We aim to be a second home where students are inspired to grow and thrive. The core of this philosophy aligns with my perspective on restraint and seclusion in our school. We have several programs in our building, and with that can come students who have significant crises.

[00:03:20] We are also seeing a rise in extreme behaviors among our general education students. If you ask any of my staff members, they will tell you that we do not restrain or seclude students at Discovery. This is reiterated endlessly when I am working with my staff and my hope is we truly never have to.

[00:03:41] But after I'm certain that all of this has sunk in, then I add an addendum. We do not restrain or seclude students at Discovery unless we have exhausted all other options first and even then it is an absolute last resort.

[00:03:56] Restraint and seclusion are not the tools in our tool belt that we reach for first. However, there are some instances on very rare occasions that the imminent safety of a student or staff member is in jeopardy and it is a necessity.

[00:04:12] As such, we must be fully prepared and trained so that we will be ready to appropriately handle these rare situations. Continuous training is vital to the process, beginning with annual MANT training. Within MANT training there are two components and each are critical.

[00:04:27] The first and most important is the relational part of MANT. It is crucial for us to build and maintain strong relationships with our students to create a culture where we can exemplify the mantra of MANT in this place with these people, I feel safe.

[00:04:43] This relational MANT concept is where the bulk of our work resides. It provides us with a map for our daily interactions with students, aids our understanding of the subtle cues children display they are growing frustrated and helps us understand the preventative measures we can take as we work to understand the crisis cycle of a student the second component is technical mant which is a critical piece as there will be times rare as they are when we have utilized every other tool in that tool belt and we must be able to use a crisis management strategy to safeguard the student in

[00:05:17] crisis or a staff member to be clear not every crisis demands technical mant the majority should not but on that blue moon occasion that it does it is of the utmost importance that everyone is trained and the knowledge is fresh to keep this knowledge fresh our staff participates in annual training and meets quarterly with county supervisors to review our training practice skills and debrief specific crises that have occurred in in our building at discovery we also hold monthly meetings with our staff where we review protocols and walk through cases from our

[00:05:54] building. In addition to MANT training, other continuous training is also key. We take advantage of the real-life opportunities that present themselves through the crises in our building and use them as teaching tools afterward. Debriefing with staff to ensure that we learn something from every crisis. We identify what worked well, what triggered the crisis, modify protocols as needed, and work together as a team to problem solve how we might be able to do better next time. We You recognize that it can be traumatic for everyone involved in a crisis, especially one where restraint or seclusion had to be used.

[00:06:31] This is why we have strong supportive structures in place as part of our normal process. We support our students emotionally with our mental health team and other trusted adults with whom our students have strong relationships.

[00:06:46] We support our students physically by always having our nurse check the student afterwards. We also debrief with our student after the fact when everyone has had time to come back to baseline to help the students reflect on their crisis so they can understand how it happened and to receive student feedback of what they think they need to support them.

[00:07:07] We support our staff with our school social worker, our nurse, and our administration. The debriefings we hold are crucial so that everyone can take a beat to reflect on their own mental health, talk through their experience with their colleagues and admin who were there understand what it's like and to get a pulse check on how our staff may have been impacted I am sure that it is tremendously difficult for our families

[00:07:32] to receive a phone call from me when these crises occur so we also do our best to support our family's needs through clear timely and transparent communication we also practice empathetic listening provide relevant resources and work as a team to problem-solve together to ensure we have the strongest plan possible in place to support our students when the students

[00:08:10] are special education students we will also often convene IEP teams to review behavior intervention plans crisis plans the related data collection and ensure that there is transparency with the team at large to be frank try as we might crises are not always preventable and they are becoming more frequent and more intense more and more of our students are coming to school with increasing levels of significant trauma and most trauma we are not even aware of in our schools in 2025 apologize we have to assume that any student may have experienced some trauma at some time

[00:08:50] we have students in our schools and in our programs that 10 15 years ago would have been in treatment centers we are seeing more students with self-injurious behaviors that sometimes in order to maintain their safety require restraint but again only as an absolute last resort many of of our elementary schools are near very busy roads with high speeds and despite our Herculean efforts to prevent that students from eloping outside this may be a time where restraint is the safest option to keep a student out of imminent danger frankly it is terrifying to be responsible for someone's precious child

[00:09:28] who may be in immediate danger it is even more terrifying to imagine how I could possibly keep them and my staff safe if all other avenues had been exhausted and restraint or seclusion were not options even as the danger was still imminent despite the many incredible strategies structures and relationships built there are times when you simply run out of all other options to ensure the safety of our precious students and our staff our responsibility for the safety of our students is immense and it is a privilege we are honored to

[00:10:03] uphold we are steadfast in our commitment to ensuring the physical and emotional safety of every child entrusted to us. By fostering a secure and supportive environment especially during a crisis we create a space where students feel welcomed loved cared for respected and safe enabling them to thrive academically personally and socially. Thank you. Thank you very much Ms.

[00:10:30] Regan for your comments and for your service to our students in our community. If the committee doesn't have any questions from Ms. Regan I think she did a masterful job of truly sort of walking us through what it's like at the building level we will move forward with the proposed policy revisions that the committee asked staff to make at our last meeting which was december 19th 2024.

[00:10:59] happy new year to you all i neglected to say that before my apologies and now i'll pass it over to donna smith and we'll do just a line-by-line update and refresher on what you had asked staff to make with regards to revisions good evening I'll give you a paper copy of the chart that's on the screen as well to be able to follow along beside the the red line version of the policy and these are just the changes that were recommended from our last meeting so starting on line eight we deleted that

[00:11:35] and that every effort shall be taken and replaced it with a language that was provided I think by chair Donahue that says the intent of this policy is to ensure that every effort is taken to eliminate the use of restraint and seclusion and then on eight and nine so eight and nine was the addition of that language on line 12 we deleted physical restraint and seclusion procedures and changed it with the recommended language procedures for the use of physical restraint and the use of seclusion to clarify that it's for both procedures

[00:12:13] and line 13 so that was the addition and then going to line 133 there was the addition of the use of physical restraint for students under the age of six and that's one of the prohibited practices that we added and then because we added that as number one is a the priority number one it renumbered all of the ones under that as well so that would be lines 133 through 163 with that change yes ma'am could you give me miss Smith could you give me the I don't see

[00:12:47] that here could you point me to what line is the am i missing it the red line in front of us i i

[00:13:17] believe still has use of prone restraint as number one thank you miss smith questions comments

[00:15:20] make sense we're gonna take a moment or two to go through this so we had talked

[00:16:59] about a separate policy for what was your wording again isolation and exclusion that would be it yes mm-hmm and that's something that would be going through the that that's something that could be worked on separately yes after this yes we said please let us survive policy 5345 and then we can begin working on a brand new policy isolation and exclusion and we will be thoughtful

[00:17:36] about the naming of policy but yes so I was just checking the hyperlink online

[00:18:29] what is currently line 161 in the red line and it is still I believe it is still taking me to a section of the code that deals with restraint and seclusion but it is not the section that defines seclusion rooms it took me to 8 vac 20 - 7 5 0 - 5 which is I just clicked on it it took me to 20 - 750 - 50

[00:19:08] zero the one online we probably need to check the online version the online version that you see say 750 instead of five because it originally thinks said five in our first version it is it is taking me to just 750 should say

[00:19:48] seclusion standards for use yes I could ask a perhaps foolish question I'm

[00:21:00] looking at section D procedures for appropriate use of physical strain the use of seclusion in part six beginning on line 212 in line 217 it says if the IEP or section 504 team determines that future use is likely the team shall consider among other things the need for one an FBA what is an FBA functional behavioral assessment which should be referenced in previous but I can outline that too it's defined also in the regulation it's an assessment to assess

[00:21:39] the the function of the behavior so we can do a behavior intervention plan for that student thank you is it mentioned somewhere else with the thing they're looking for because if not we might as well spell it out and in a bit too if that's not if we can check to see if those are if those terms if we can verify if those terms are used earlier in the policy and if they're not if we

[00:22:16] could write them out in those in those spots yes madam chair I'm wondering so So SEAC has a huge list of references and resources where there's a lot of different code.

[00:22:38] And I'm just wondering if, because it is, there are a lot of pieces of code for this policy that are referenced. And I'm just wondering if we've gone through those to look to make sure that we have everything that we need in here.

[00:22:58] We did review those and also Division Council reviewed them as well to ensure that we had all the codes referenced as well. And a number of those codes are also in the regulation, where we have some of these components in regulation.

[00:24:18] So, that means everything. In January 8th, there was a Secretary's letter on restraint and seclusion.

[00:24:36] And I think we're doing a lot of it, but as far as, well, if it would be okay, I'd just like to read it, just because. Dear governors, chief state school officers, administrators of lead agencies, school district administrators, and early childhood program and school leaders.

[00:24:59] As education leaders, we have a collective responsibility to ensure that all children are educated in learning environments that are safe, supportive, and responsive to their needs. We must keep this responsibility in mind when considering the practices of restraint and seclusion in schools. The U.S. Department of Education remains concerned that children continue to be subjected to restraint and seclusion practices, even though these practices are harmful to the children and despite the lack of evidence that these practices are effective strategies to respond to child's behavior, or that these practices reduce the occurrence of behaviors that interfere with learning.

[00:25:34] The use of restraint and seclusion practices is inconsistent with our shared goal to ensure every child is treated with dignity and free from abuse. The most recently publicly available data shows that more than 50,000 public school students were restrained or secluded in public schools during the 2020-2021 school year.

[00:25:53] Restraint and seclusion practices can have a lasting and negative impact on children. There's ample evidence of significant harms to students due to these practices, including serious physical injury, emotional trauma, and even death. Schools and early childhood programs should do everything possible to align their practices to ensure all children are educated in learning environments that are safe, supportive, and responsive to their unique needs.

[00:26:19] Which I think we're doing. I'm just going to say that right now. Instead of relying on reactive restraint and seclusion practices, it is critical for educators to be given opportunities to learn about and implement positive proactive practices in schools and early childhood programs and how to effectively support and respond to students' behavioral needs, which, again, I think we focus on.

[00:26:43] As described in previous guidance from the department, this involves using practices that provide a behavioral framework to support the social, emotional, physical, and mental health needs of students, including through the use of multi-tiered systems of supports with individualized, targeted, and effective interventions for high-needs students.

[00:27:03] Schools and early childhood programs should implement evidence-based practices to foster climates of inclusion, safety, and belonging as an alternative to exclusionary discipline and restraint and seclusion practices. I commend those states and districts that have prohibited the use of seclusion and limited the use of restraint in schools and early childhood programs, and those districts and programs that have committed to implementing evidence-based, responsive, and inclusive practices to support student behavior.

[00:27:34] The rejection of seclusion and the shift away from the reliance on restraint in our nation's schools and our early childhood programs is long overdue, and we must equip educators and early childhood providers with the proactive, positive, and evidence-based tools and resources to meet the needs of all students.

[00:27:52] I encourage all states that have not done so to invest in providing educators with evidence-based positive behavior support alternatives that support students and prevent the need to use restraint and seclusion practices, which can be harmful. The department has invested $1 billion through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Stronger Connections Grant Program for states to award subgrants to high-need local educational agencies to establish safer, healthier, and more inclusive learning environments.

[00:28:21] The department also published a guide for schools on how to implement positive proactive approaches for supporting children with disabilities as an alternative to seclusion restraints practices and a guide to implement functional behavioral assessments, which are those FBAs, for any student whose behavior interferes with learning.

[00:28:41] In addition, the department continues to provide resources to ensure educators and early childhood providers are prepared to respond effectively to students' behavior needs. school and early childhood program leaders can keep both their communities including children and staff safe while ensuring every child is included supported and treated fairly our children are depending on us and the time to act is now and I thought it would be important to read this because I think we're doing a lot of things right and that we're focusing on the training and I think I would like to get away from seclusion as we all know and then restraint

[00:29:20] and restricting restraint to very last danger to self, danger to others. So I do appreciate the time that we have spent here doing this. And while nothing's perfect, I think we've worked really hard to try and get as far as we can get to make sure that our kids feel safe and our teachers feel safe.

[00:29:51] Thank you, Ms. Mansfield. I would like to extend my appreciation to Ms. Richardson and Ms. Smith and your team for having grace with us while we have been struggling with these issues and trying to work with the representatives from the community because this is such a fraught issue, and we're all parents here.

[00:30:17] We understand that these are really challenging issues as parents, and I am not a teacher, but I've talked to several. In addition to obviously hearing from Ms. Regan today that we're at least somewhat aware of how challenging it is for the staff involved and what a toll it can potentially take on them in addition to the students and their families.

[00:30:48] And that's why we have been taking such a long time looking at this, because we want to get it as right as we possibly can with this iteration of revisions. And I'm very pleased with where we have come out on this version, on this draft.

[00:31:10] I think that we've made a lot of good changes here. I am aware that there is a movement to do away with seclusion entirely. I will say I don't think that I'm there yet to support moving seclusion to a prohibited practice.

[00:31:39] And I have had conversations with parents in the community who have told me some extremely concerning anecdotes about situations that have been reported to them about their children that I find very troubling. But that being said, I'm also particularly in light of what Ms. Regan said about the increasing concerning behavior that so many of our students are exhibiting.

[00:32:09] I am loathe to take away a tool that is available for our staff if they find themselves in the middle of an emergency situation. I don't want them to be in the moment trying to decide how to react to an evolving situation and be thinking in their head, is this crossing the line to something that I'm not allowed to do and have that inhibit how they react.

[00:32:44] I do have some, I do have a question about our, so we are still, our definition of seclusion, we are still listing here as the involuntary confinement of a student alone in a room or area for which the student is physically prevented from leaving.

[00:33:04] Provided that no such room or space is locked, seclusion does not include, there's the list of things it does not include. this doesn't when we say a student alone in a room if a student is if a student has been escorted to a room and there is a staff person standing in a doorway with the doors open but there's a staff person standing in the doorway and the

[00:33:39] student can't leave is that is that student alone in a room physically prevented from leaving they would not be because there's no barrier between them there's still staff member in the room so we're not counting that as a alone. Correct. And Chair Donahue and that's the reason why that's the crux of the problem. Right. I'm spinning through hypotheticals because that is what I do.

[00:34:11] What if what if the staff employees back was to the student. As long as the student's not alone in the room it's not considered seclusion because they're not isolated. So sometimes you're in a room with the student and if you're facing that student sometimes you facing them that eye contact increases the crisis event that student is in so sometimes you don't look at them I would not recommend turning my back to a student in crisis but regardless that would not be considered a seclusion. And if the staff person if there is a door that is closed but not locked with a staff person outside looking in through a

[00:34:50] window is that student alone in the room? Yes ma'am that's seclusion. I mean I understand objectively where we're drawing those lines but I don't really understand qualitatively how that's different, but that is why I think we need to address those other situations.

[00:35:17] And then I did have a question. So the part about data collection and reporting, part I that begins on line 302 of the redline version. So we've taken out that the annual report prepared by, I believe, Ms. Richardson, will not include information regarding employee training.

[00:35:44] But I wanted to know, is the information about employee training related to restraints and seclusion otherwise publicly available? I mean, is there anywhere that if the public went and was Googling that they would be able to find, here is a list of the positions that are required to have this type of training, and what are the types of training that we provide?

[00:36:11] I'm fairly certain that is actually part of the regulation, but the policy also explicitly says who has to be trained and manned for the restraints and seclusion piece of it. The required members of the school, the number of people in the school, that's all part of the policy as well.

[00:36:31] And sorry, could you direct me to which part? This one is long. I'm looking at, I'm thinking we should be looking at 235, let's see.

[00:36:47] I know it's I do know what's in the regulation because it's a principal it outlines everybody the members of the bit team So I'm thinking that that's actually explicitly laid out in the regulation Okay, so so we do have this section on training that begins on line 231 ensure that all school personnel receive training that focuses on skills responsive to positive behavior support Ensure that all school personnel receive initial training regarding regarding regulations policies and procedures governing use of physical restraint seclusion Provide advanced training in the use of physical restraint seclusion for at least one administrator in every school building And ensure that any initial or advanced training is evidence-based

[00:37:26] So is the regulation does it more specifically identify what training we're administering? It doesn't explicitly name the actual type of training the training itself But it talks about if you are In positions that require that likely are to require restraint or seclusion you have to have the more advanced training but it doesn't explicitly name what that advanced training is.

[00:37:53] Would that be possible to either include that in the regulation or, if not in the regulation, to have it be publicly available somewhere? The name of, like, MANT and UKERU? Yes, so that interested, concerned parents or community members are able to see not just that our staff is receiving training, but to see what kind of training, how they're being trained, what kind of programs we're using.

[00:38:19] I think historically we have not put the name of the training program in case we change the program. So you don't like name the actual technique. There is explicit data that or information that says what the training has to include.

[00:38:37] And that's actually part of the federal regulation as well or the state code. So those are things that we have. But we don't typically name the actual training program. Well, I certainly understand that in policy and even in a regulation. But is there any, would there be any barrier to having that information publicly available somewhere on the website?

[00:39:00] And you don't have to, I don't necessarily expect that you can answer that now, but I would like to know if that's something that we can do. I mean, it might, I can't tell you how to write your regulations, but I suppose I could gently suggest or request that you consider putting in the regulation that the type of training being provided be listed on you know for public inspection somewhere on the

[00:39:31] lcps website are there other so there's mant and ukeru is there another lcps provided homegrown training that happens related to restraints occlusion no i'm going to defer to dr carter too to make sure i there's nothing new that's been brought no there is not nothing homegrown

[00:39:53] thank you I feel like the name should not be in there first of all because if it changes and you know just it's by us and we don't go back and change a name and we're using something else it's it could create a problem with parents saying well you're supposed to be using this but you say you're using that also

[00:40:32] it causes us to come back to the policy that we've worked so hard to do maybe two or three times in the course of the five-year life before we revit revise again and the other problem that I see with that is if we name one program and a parent comes across and sees another program oh I want this program for my child instead of that one that might be an issue I think it's far better that if they have questions about what program we're using that they come in sit down talk to us we show them the program we can give them access to the program

[00:41:11] itself let them look at it discuss it and see how it works I think that's a much more helpful way to deal with what kind of programs we're using and how we are using them and a discussion between a parent and somebody on the staff would be more conducive to a cooperative relationship between everyone they do regularly use they should regularly review the use of physical restraint

[00:41:48] and seclusion and Department of Student Services will provide training support and monitoring accountability for schools to promote consistent implementation of this policy and its company regulation and I mean they have to regularly review it and I don't see that we have annually in here doing we do what we do here we are what we do annually is teachers must take the training and review the training annually so if the training is to be changed that would be something that would be noted at the time because we'd

[00:42:22] have to retrain everybody on whatever the new program is so in a sense yes we review demand every year I can't tell you how many copies I have of that but yes we do review it and we go through training every year so I'm I'm looking at the at the revisions it did previously say annual but it looks like our revisions now don't say annual they do say ensure all school personnel receive training but does not I I don't see where it says annual currently so some

[00:43:01] that was recommendations from Division Council for the for the rewording of the training section and some of it was to align with the actual code for the requirement training requirements but we do we do do it annually for you guys looking at the regulation right do you guys do it it's up here yes we put the regulation up for you so it's section C of the regulation that denotes at the building level who does these the role the roles of persons that are trained in

[00:43:35] each building but administration looks at it annually as well yes so in the between the Office of Special Education and the Office of Procedural Support they train they track the training and certification or recertification of staff members across the division not an easy task and but and they're updating it constantly and our current practice is that we we do require annual training

[00:44:09] yes for staff so the man system requires annual the system that we currently use requires annual training so if we were to switch to a different we would then follow whatever the new system would the requirements of the new system I mean I can tell you having done three of them you know three different ones and three different it was annual every year I mean work in the hospitals and everything else that what you had to do it every year it's just like a CPR so are we okay not having it say I mean where are we do we want to add back annual ensure that

[00:44:43] all personnel receive annual training I would like it in there but I wasn't sure where you were going since you said it does happen annually anyway I it would make a statement to the parent or anybody who wasn't familiar with it if somebody came new into our system I think that would they would find it comforting to see that we are annually trained I don't think we need to say man I think we could you could just say annually trained on the behavior process

[00:45:19] or what training we're using I would like to I would like to see a couple of additional edits to the training section to say annual that we require annual training we will ensure that all school personnel receive annual training and I I'm leaning towards saying, and that the type of training we offer will be identified on the website.

[00:45:46] Not that it needs to be named in the policy or named in the regulation, but... I mean, when they do their present, when y'all do presentations to SEAC and stuff, it's a known quantity that you guys are, that we're doing, UKERU and MANT.

[00:46:01] I don't see a problem saying we're doing that on a website or something. And then if we do decide, or if there is a decision to update, change to a different type of training, which I'm sure would be accompanied with well-supported reasoning and a lot of conversation, but then you can make, or you can update the website without making changes to the policy or the regulation.

[00:46:27] Staff are not opposed to indicating on the website the current pools that we utilize. We would just prefer and caution putting the names in the policy because as Ms. Labelle shared, we would then possibly be having to come back and make policy changes.

[00:46:46] I would like to add two things. We also do parent training in MANT. I mean, it's that well-known that we offer sessions for parents as well. In regards to the word annual in this part of the training policy, the reason why it doesn't say annual training online 231 is because this is all the different types of trainings that are required if you are a school division that does restraint and seclusion there is one part of the policy that is training that is required for all staff in the schools and it's a one one and done through the we really do our training through ODU and that's

[00:47:22] anybody that school-based does that training it's not autism it's actually explicit to restraint and seclusion and that's the first bullet that's number one so and the second one also is not mant related as well the third one is what we do annually and that is when you are in the positions that require the use of restraint that the additional training for restraint and seclusion that is our special education staff that's our bit team so the third one is the restraint and seclusion that is required annually the initial training regarding the policies and those sort of things those are the two

[00:48:01] components that are separate from the actual annual requirements for MANT not all of this is MANT does that make sense so the suggestion might be for item 3 yes but annually there well so sorry but but what about in bullet 1 ensure that all school personnel receive training that focuses on skills related to positive behavior support conflict prevention de-escalation and crisis response including follow-up support and social emotional strategy support for

[00:48:39] students staff and families so that's the one time for not just special education staff that's all anybody that's in the building it's your custodians your cafeteria staff that's everybody in a building transportation and do anybody that is student facing is required anybody that would happen to go into a school and be student facing are required to do that training correct okay okay so then yes I for bullet three I would like it to say provide annual

[00:49:13] advanced training in the use of physical restraints inclusion and if upon further consideration by y'all there's not heartburn about adding something to say the types of training that we use will be identified on the website

[00:49:42] there is one more training that they're doing and that's ODU the ODU one the ODU training is one that's been developed by the ODU and the Virginia Department of Education when this policy when the new regulation came out that required anyone in a building to be have that training if a school division is using restraint seclusion that's ODU so yes I guess that would that would be that's not restraint and it's not a mant training it's really to inform it's really to

[00:50:19] make sure everybody understands what they're seeing if they happen to see a restraint or seclusion so yes that would be another training that occurs for all staff versus specific to special ed or program staff that we do with me I see on the regulations page their principal or designee special ed teacher general education teacher and other staff designated by the principal I think that we need to include specifically behavioral or classroom assistance but

[00:50:59] another group of people that have addressed have contacted me that would like some training on this are the bus assistance because sometimes they're on the bus and they encounter this I think that somehow we need to make sure that that they receive training to deal with students that are having issues on buses.

[00:51:24] That might be a good thing. And they would also like to know what are the best -- what are the triggers and what are the best ways to deal with those, which obviously are in IEPs, but they're never given any of that information. So I've been asked to see if we could find a way for them to learn these things.

[00:51:45] And it would be different for every bus driver, every student, or bus assistant and every student but at least give them the basic training and then worry about how we're going to get them the IEP information in another way maybe the other staff designated by the principal this so this section really is thinking about your school-based staff teaching assistants particularly if you're assigned to a specialized program you you are trained in MANT and UKERU if there was a

[00:52:24] a teaching assistant not necessarily assigned to a program a principal certainly could reach out assistant principal Dean even the TA them them themselves could reach out and say hey I would really like to be trained in man it's not that we're going to deny anyone training in man as far as transportation staff we are certainly open to working with our transportation team to see how and when we can coordinate the training that might be needed and to what level? All of the transportation staff that drive special

[00:53:00] education buses are trained in relational MANT. All special education teachers and all special education TAs and BAs are trained are required to be trained in relational MANT. It is the program teachers for students with emotional disabilities and autism that receive the technical MANT training and the UKERU training as as well as the behavior intervention teams that are the response teams that support a student in crisis as well but all special education staff are required to be trained in relational man's one more area where we might want

[00:53:37] to provide relational man training would be substitutes now I know we can't do every substitute but I know in many buildings we have like a permanent sub who goes from class to class they would probably need because at some point they're going to be in a special ed class need the relational training and it was the bus assistance that needed the driver obviously can't stop and deal with a student that's having a bad day but the bus assistance are the ones that actually need it so those are the two that I would recommend adding to who

[00:54:16] gets it whether we do it in this regulation or whether we just do it as part of our own process I think they need to have the additional training and if another substitute would like to have it I mean that's another story but at least the one that is assigned to a school should have it so adding the site-based subs for each building right thank you thank you miss LaBelle we see that it is now just a few minutes after six o'clock and I thought my colleagues

[00:54:48] but don't in any case don't want to take up too much of don't want to impose on time of staff or my fellow committee members ms labelle did you have other questions concerns suggestions related to the proposed provisions the full title

[00:55:24] functional behavior and the VIP behavioral intervention plan those are the only two things that I think we need to worry about and I did go through and I didn't see it anywhere else we also noted that where it says IEP I don't think it's been spelled out for that on this document either so we're gonna do that the first I mean I'm just gonna we all know I want to get rid of it it's a restraint and seclusion but I do think that this is a

[00:56:00] step in the right direction so uh you know i'll be i'll be re-looking at it and everything for our next uh because i think that this is better than what we have currently i agree and i appreciate all the staff's hard work trying on working with us to improve this policy um so because the january schedule is crazy with budget meetings uh i believe um both of my fellow committee members

[00:56:33] have been contacted about having our monthly meeting next friday the 24th at 8 30 in the morning is that is that doable is mansfield and ms labelle i did not say ideal is that doable only if there's no traffic back up on route 9 i would be late but i would come i'm expecting

[00:57:01] some donuts and some sweets and do we are we ready to bring this back to us as an action item I think it's all right thank you for putting this work session together for us I am glad that we had this extra time to finish going through

[00:57:34] the proposed revisions we will have our next meeting on Friday January 24th at 8:30 a.m. this is a one-off it will not be our regular schedule for the rest of the year and at that meeting we are we would like the revisions to policy 5345 with some of the notes that we discussed today to come back to us as action and And if I could ask, if you've been working on the regulation knowing that we don't have input in the regulation, but we like to see them,

[00:58:13] if it would be possible for us to see the regulation, that would be great. And if that's not possible at this time, I think it would. Whenever it's done. Well, I was going to say, there may be a harder push to see it before it's voted on at the full board.

[00:58:39] Right. The current process is that we really work on the policy first because we don't know where you're going to land, right? So we bring it back for action next Friday. You could have some more recommendations. If we start working on regulations, those things might be null and void.

[00:58:54] We don't start updating the regulations until the full board has voted and approved the final policy. Then we go back to see what revisions or adopted changes now impact regulation. So certainly it's going to come back to you guys' action.

[00:59:13] It would go to the full board the first meeting in February. You guys would take action as a full board the second meeting in February. We wouldn't be able to get a regulation back to you until about March based on where we finally land with all changes in the policy.

[00:59:31] Great. Thank you for that timeline, Ms. Richardson. With that, our January 15th, 2025 work session is adjourned. Thank you. Thank you, everyone, for being here and get home safely.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Coraggio Consulting · aguyonx.com