The restraint of special education students in Bucks County schools is a contentious issue, with recent reports suggesting widespread underreporting and inconsistent notification to parents.
Despite clear state and federal laws requiring schools to document and report any instance of restraining students, the system relies heavily on self-reporting by public school employees. This reliance has exposed significant gaps in compliance, leaving parents and advocates questioning the integrity of the process.
State and federal laws mandate that schools must report restraint incidents involving special education students to parents, as well as state and federal educational offices, within strict timeframes.
Pennsylvania law permits restraining students only in emergencies where a child poses an imminent danger to themselves or others. Even then, it should only be used as a last resort after less restrictive measures have failed. Yet, in Bucks County, many incidents appear unreported or are reported only after significant delays.
Two high-profile cases at Davis Elementary School in the Centennial School District and Jamison Elementary School in the Central Bucks School District illustrate the problem. At Davis Elementary, a teacher allegedly grabbed and held down a five-year-old student with autism and dragged another by the ears. The parents were not notified of the incidents until weeks later, raising questions about compliance with state reporting requirements.
At Jamison Elementary, a state investigation confirmed that nonverbal autistic children were repeatedly restrained without documentation or parental notification. Witnesses reported students being physically restrained for extended periods, sometimes up to 40 minutes, multiple times per day. The Pennsylvania Department of Education issued a corrective action plan to Central Bucks but noted that teachers were not following established reporting procedures.
Available data highlights the inconsistencies. While Pennsylvania reported 4,711 special education students being restrained statewide in the 2023-24 school year, federal data from 2020-21 shows that only 1,003 students were reported restrained. This discrepancy has raised concerns among disability rights advocates about widespread underreporting. Some school districts, such as Bensalem, Morrisville, and Palisades, reported zero restraint incidents over a decade—a claim advocates find highly improbable.
Central Bucks School District, the largest in the county, reported the highest number of restraint incidents over a decade, with 35 special education students restrained in nine elementary schools. But the findings at Jamison Elementary suggest even those numbers may not reflect the full picture. The state’s compliance monitoring process, which reviews school districts every six years, is another weak point, offering only limited insights into restraint practices.
The lack of transparency in how Bucks County schools report restraining students, combined with inadequate oversight, leaves families with little recourse. Parents describe feeling helpless, particularly when their children are nonverbal and unable to communicate what happened to them. Families have responded in different ways—filing lawsuits in some cases and pushing for stronger oversight and improved staff training in others.
Although investigations and corrective measures are underway, the problem persists. State officials have not disclosed how many improper restraint investigations have been opened in Bucks County since 2018–19. Without a reliable and transparent reporting system, families and advocates fear that vulnerable children will continue to face unnecessary harm.
The Central Bucks School District has announced changes to improve oversight at Jamison Elementary, including hiring outside consultants and implementing additional staff training.
But without more aggressive enforcement of existing reporting laws and better oversight mechanisms, the question remains: How many more incidents are going unreported in Bucks County schools?
