- A new state law will ban seclusion among Utah kindergartners starting May 7.
- Opponents of seclusion say it’s a positive step and should help decrease the use of the intervention in the state moving forward.
- The sponsor behind the new law said she plans to continue pursuing legislation on seclusion, pledging that it will be an “ongoing conversation.”
SALT LAKE CITY — Under a new state law taking effect early next month, Utah schools will no longer be allowed to put kindergarten students in seclusion — an emergency behavioral intervention that sometimes involves small, padded rooms no bigger than a closet.
The new rules come after months of reporting by FOX 13 News, including about instances of misuse of the tactic, which is allowed only when a student poses an imminent safety risk.
During debate of the bill, several lawmakers said they were previously unaware seclusion was happening in Utah schools. But state Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City and the sponsor behind the new law, said she felt “responsible” to address it once she learned about seclusion through news stories and calls from constituents.
“I mean, now I know,” she added in a recent interview with FOX 13 News.
Starting May 7, seclusion will continue to be allowed among students in first grade and older only when a child poses an “immediate and significant” safety threat to themselves or others and for a maximum of 30 minutes at a time.
State code will also now specify that seclusion can’t be used for “coercion, retaliation, or humiliation” or “due to inadequate staffing or for the staff member’s convenience.”
Guy Stephens, a national opponent of seclusion with the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint, would like to see a full ban on the practice but said the new law overall marks “positive progress.”
And while he said the state's prohibition on seclusion for kindergarten students is among the narrowest he’s seen, he believes the new rules may still lead to a decline in the number of students put in seclusion each year.
“One of the things that we know is that it's very often very young children who are more often secluded and physically restrained – and again, very often young children with disabilities,” he said in an interview. “So putting a prohibition on children in kindergarten or below actually will decrease the amount of seclusion statewide, or should have that effect.”
Overall, Utah students were put in seclusion more than 1,300 times in the 2020-2021 school year, according to an analysis of the most recent data available from the federal government. It’s not clear how often seclusion has been used specifically among kindergarten students in the state.
A spokeswoman with the Utah State Board of Education told FOX 13 News that it was “possibly and legally being used in kindergarten prior to this legislation’s passage,” though she didn’t have any specifics.
Better data collection emerged as one of the focuses of the new law, which will require school districts to collect and report information on their use of seclusion annually to the state board – including what interventions an educator tried before turning to seclusion.
State lawmakers appropriated nearly $40,000 in ongoing funding and $44,000 in one-time funding to update current reporting systems and support ongoing reporting.
"They are supposed to be already reporting,” Escamilla said in an interview. “But we know that ... the reporting wasn’t happening.”
While existing federal data gives a picture of seclusion around the country, experts agree there are likely far more instances of seclusion than those that arepublicly disclosed.
Asked about the new rules, the Utah State Board of Education said in a statement to FOX 13 News that it has a responsibility to “respect and uphold all legislation” and plans to support schools “as they implement policy and procedural changes after this legislative session.”
Escamilla said she feels confident that the state board “will provide some good guidelines” to help schools “through that process.”
An ‘ongoing conversation’
Opponents of seclusion have long raised concerns about its disproportionate use on students with disabilities and the lifelong trauma faced by some students subjected to it. But many special education teachers say it’s necessary in emergency situations — especially as behavioral problems have worsened in their classrooms since the pandemic.
Escamilla said she heard from special education teachers while working on the bill and wanted to be “very respectful” of educators who are “doing their best in very difficult situations.”
“They all call me, like, ‘Senator, we need help,’” she said. “Which like, 100% agree. A 17-year-old student that’s throwing things or being violent, there needs to be some intervention.”
Over the last few months, FOX 13 News has requested interviews with school districts and teachers using seclusion on multiple occasions, but all have declined to go on camera.
Some districts and charter schools that have reported using seclusionary time-out instead released statements stressing their compliance with the state’s rules and saying that the tactic is always used as a last resort.
Read more of our coverage of seclusion in Utah schools here:
- Opponents want a timeout on forcing kids into padded rooms in Utah schools
- These Utah school districts and charter schools put children in seclusion
- Are too many kids put in seclusion in Utah’s schools? It’s hard to know.
- Utah students speak out about their experiences in seclusion
- Bill that would have banned seclusion in Utah schools now allows it again
While lawmakers recognized during debate of the bill that there are legitimate uses for seclusion, some also raised concerns about instances of misuse.
The FOX 13 Investigates team recently reported, for example, about a 15-year-old student who was repeatedly put in seclusionary time-out in elementary school for behaviors that didn’t pose a serious safety risk.
In one case, documents show he was put in seclusion for running out into the school hallway. In another, he was taken to isolation for spraying hand sanitizer and refusing to sit at his desk. In that instance, the teacher said he would have to finish his time-out the next morning.
Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-Ogden and the bill’s House sponsor, said during debate of the bill that seclusion “hasn’t been applied appropriately all the time.”
“When your child has been secluded in a classroom, we have a situation often where parents rightfully question both the method, the utilization and the application of the policy,” he added.
In addition to its other provisions, the rules legislators approved will create new penalties for teachers who misuse seclusion, making it a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail.
Among the parents who has questioned the use of seclusion is Alisha Hadden, a South Jordan mother to two children with autism who have previously been put in isolation.
Records show her 9-year-old daughter, Gracelynn, was repeatedly put in a “time-out booth” in school – situations Hadden said led to more behavior problems, as well as long-term emotional trauma.
“I very much didn’t understand the degree to which it was being used and what it was being used for,” she said in an interview.
But once she learned more about the practice – and saw the changes it created in her child – Hadden became so concerned that she recently moved her daughter to a school where she wouldn’t be subjected to seclusion.
Now, Hadden said she’s “really grateful” lawmakers have starting to take a closer look at the issue – and she believes the ban on kindergarten students will make a difference.
“I’m glad that students entering kindergarten ... this year won't be as traumatized as my second and third grader,” she said.
Still, Hadden said she’d ultimately like to see Utah follow the lead of states like Georgia, Hawaii, Nevada and Texas, which have either banned or severely limited the use of seclusion.
"I'm hopeful that next year, we can push through some legislation that does address more of the concerns,” she said.
As the new law begins to take effect, Stephens said good guidance for educators on when it’s appropriate to use seclusion will be essential — especially since he believes most instances of misuse are a product of poor training.
"I think these are things that exist and continue to exist often because people don't know what else they can or should do,” he said. “So there really is an upstream issue here. And ultimately providing better staffing, support, training gets things moving in a better direction.”
For her part, Escamilla — who at one point this session proposed banning seclusion altogether — said she plans to continue pursuing the issue on Capitol Hill and pledged to maintain an “ongoing conversation” about seclusion.
Moving forward, she expressed interest in the idea of putting cameras in classrooms that use seclusion, as suggested by several Utah families who are opposed to the practice. And she also recognized the need to offer teachers more tools to keep their classrooms safe in ways that don't have lasting impacts on students.
"To me, I think if we can find a mechanism where students can get the assistance they need without having to potentially create trauma is kind of like a win,” she said. “And you know, if that looks like we will get rid of those rooms that are dark and no window, absolutely. That should not be in the conversation.”