Feb 12, 2025, Philly Burbs: Illegal restraints used in Central Bucks special education classroom, state finds
The Pennsylvania Department of Education has found that illegal restraints were used on two children at Jamison Elementary, according to a report obtained by this news organization.
The department's Bureau of Special Education opened an investigation at Central Bucks School District last month after this news organization reported that multiple witnesses saw two non-verbal children being restrained on a regular basis in a Jamison Elementary classroom.
Physical restraint incidents must be reported to the state. But the state education department hadn't received any restraint reports from that classroom, which drew their interest, according to people the department interviewed.
The head of the Central Bucks special education department, Alyssa Wright, said Tuesday that the teacher had not reported any restraint incidents to the district this school year.
The teacher declined to comment via a lawyer.
Multiple people told state investigators that they saw the restraints used against students for 20 to 40 minutes at a time, multiple times per day, according to the redacted report. The department also found that Central Bucks failed to report the use of restraints to the state, and failed to offer parents meetings to discuss the restraints.
The state has issued a corrective action plan to the district according to the report, which is dated Feb. 10.
The parent of one student whom witnesses said was restrained — Jim Pepper, who is also a school board member — told this news organization that his son does not have physical restraints approved in his education plan, and that Pepper and his wife were never told about the use of restraints. . . .
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In a December email to Pepper obtained by this news organization, Yanni said the district found his son had been denied access to water, but only because the boy was spending too much time at water fountains. "I'm sharing that so you have a complete understanding of the information," Yanni wrote.
Multiple witnesses interviewed by this news organization said that Pepper's son's water bottle was confiscated, that he was denied water when he asked for it through his speech device and that he didn't spend an excessive amount of time at water fountains.
"CBSD failed to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of" several state laws related to free appropriate public education, individualized education plans for students, and behavior support, the report states.
State issues corrective action plan for Central Bucks
The Pupil Services Department at Central Bucks reports restraint incidents to the state. Teachers are to report all restraint incidents to a program specialist in the department, who then does the state report, the department director, Alyssa Wright, said on Tuesday.
The special education bureau is requiring the district to report past restraint incidents that had not previously been reported to the state, according to the report. But her department has no record of the incidents, Wright said.
"At no time during this entire school year did the teacher report any use of restraints to the program specialist," Wright said. . . .
The district must also provide additional staff training, and review whether some of the students are owed additional education time due to the violations. Someone is also being required to attend a "Principals Understanding How to Lead Special Education" course, according to the redacted report.
Although the state bureau that investigated at Jamison Elementary typically issues findings related to special education statutes — and therefore may not issue findings on other issues, like child abuse — it can also refer its findings to other agencies.
The legal director of Disability Rights Pennsylvania Kelly Darr has told this news organization that in general, a restraint in school can itself be problematic. "If the restraint is illegal, it is by definition child abuse,” Darr said. . . .
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