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Parents Want Student Restraint Rules Reformed

Student Restraint
Texas State Capitol Building | Image by Ricardo Garza/Shutterstock

Concerned parents from across the Lone Star State descended on the Capitol Building on Monday to show their support for legislation that would establish more oversight and accountability over the use of physical restraint on students in Texas public schools.

The move follows multiple instances of alleged physical abuse by school staff against students with special needs, which may have resulted in at least one death in Fort Worth.

As previously reported in The Dallas Express, Xavier Hernandez, a 21-year-old student with special needs and behavioral issues attending Fort Worth ISD, was apparently restrained face-down by two staff members in 2021. He ended up losing consciousness and died in a hospital that same day.

The advocacy organization Disability Rights Texas commented in a report about such restraints, stating, “Prone and supine restraints constrict air passages and cause death for many reasons.”

While the Texas Education Agency (TEA) does regulate how students can be restrained, some parents and state lawmakers say it is not enough.

One mother, Jeanna TenBrink, who went to the Capitol, alleged at a press conference that her daughter, who is mostly nonverbal and has special needs, would come home from school with cuts and bruises.

“I later found out she was routinely put in a dark bathroom and frequently restrained. I had no idea at the time what was happening in the classroom,” TenBrink claimed.

When she was finally informed by the school, Manvel Junior High in Alvin ISD, that her daughter had to be physically restrained by staff in 2020, she demanded to see video footage of the incident. After initially refusing to show it to her, the administration relented.

The footage reportedly showed her daughter being berated by her teacher, who was cursing at her and making fun of her speech impediment. When the student suddenly stood up, two staff members grabbed her and put her in a face-down restraint.

“I witnessed two teachers hold Leah face-down on the floor with both arms behind her back as her legs lifted in the air as she struggled to breathe,” TenBrink said.

Texas House Reps. Mary González (D-El Paso), John Bucy (D-Cedar Park), James Talarico (D-Round Rock), and Lacey Hull (R-Houston) were also at the press conference.

They voiced their support for enacting laws that would increase accountability for public school employees who unlawfully harm students with special needs, empower Child Protective Services to investigate incidents at schools, and give parents greater access to on-campus video surveillance footage.

“Clearly as we have heard the use of restraints disproportionately affects students with disabilities, many of whom are experiencing an emotional episode where handcuffs or other restraints only exacerbate the situation and inflict even more trauma on the student, their peers, their families, educators, and even the school resource officers involved,” said Hull.

While the use of physical restraints on students with special needs has inspired many in Texas to speak out, the flipside of the situation unfolded at Dallas Independent School District (DISD).

As previously reported in The Dallas Express, a student with special needs allegedly attacked a teaching assistant, who subsequently died from internal injuries.

The woman’s surviving sons lodged a federal lawsuit against the district for exhibiting negligence by keeping the student at DISD, even after he had physically attacked staff at least two times before the deadly incident.

DISD teachers recently sounded off at the district’s board of trustees, with educator Elizabeth Farris claiming, “We have teachers who are routinely facing classroom disruption, aggression, and violence without appropriate supportive solutions [from DISD], which has led to teachers and students experiencing serious injury.”

The Dallas Express spoke with Disability Rights Texas senior policy specialist Steven Aleman about the incident at DISD.

He stressed that there are students with a wide variety of special needs, most of which do not include a behavioral component, and that teachers and districts are legally obligated to plan for and provide all students with an education.

Aleman noted that it is also important to push back against the notion that all students with special needs are a challenge in the classroom.

“We are asking for better accountability and transparency. We also know that teachers need better support in classrooms, better training and behavioral supports, so that physical restraint does not have to be used on students,” he said.

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