BETHESDA, Md. — A new report from the Government Accountability Office released Tuesday shows that MCPS reported the second highest rate of seclusion incidents in the country for the 2015-2016 school year.
One of the students involved in an incident is Monica Martinez's son.
She said he used to be part of a Montgomery County elementary school special education program, because he has autism.
“It was in the fourth grade...I don’t recall what the trigger was, but he became very upset in the classroom and was unable to calm himself down," said Martinez. "[He] had to be physically removed from the room and then put in the seclusion room that was part of the special education program he was enrolled in at the time.”
The report shows that MCPS reported 332 incidents of restraint and 120 incidents of seclusion for the 2015-2016 school year.
It also states that boys and students with disabilities are disproportionately affected.
“It’s very difficult for the child," said Martinez. "When he gets upset, he feels really bad about it, and it seems to negatively impact his self-esteem.”
Maryland passed a law in 2017 requiring the State Superintendent of Schools to convene a task force to review assignments related to restraint and seclusion, review existing provisions of the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR), and make recommendations to the State Board of Education and the Maryland General Assembly by October 1, 2017.
The task force presented a number of suggestions to the legislature to update COMAR.
In a 2018 report for the 2017-2018 school year, the State Department of Education showed 681 incidents of seclusion for MCPS students with a special education program and 1,480 incidents of restraint.
MCPS said in a statement:
"MCPS has a long-standing commitment to accurate, detailed reporting in compliance with federal and state law. As one of the largest school systems in the nation, our numbers reflect our enrollment and commitment to transparency.”
You can find more information about the district's behavioral policy here.
“I think those numbers reflect that there needs to be more training of paraeducators especially but also educators on how to help students with behavioral challenges on how to overcome those behaviors in the classroom," said Martinez.
Martinez is currently serving as the executive director for the Partnership for Extraordinary Minds, a Montgomery County organization with the mission of "improving the educational experiences and outcomes of students on the autism spectrum in Montgomery County, MD."