Wake Schools physically restrained or secluded nearly 400 students in fall 2025, new data shows

New data shows nearly 400 Wake County students were physically restrained or secluded in a private area this fall, according to the school system.

They are, by and large, elementary school students with disabilities. Most of them are Black students. Those are disparities that school board members have raised concerns about, worried that they represent bias toward how employees respond to students.

The disparities are "unfortunate trends" that the district needs to focus on, Paul Walker, the district's senior director of student due process, said during a school board committee meeting. Walker said the district is working with schools on identifying when restraint or seclusion is appropriate and when it's not.

On Tuesday, Lisa Allred, district assistant superintendent of special education services, outlined numerous steps the district has taken this year or plans to take to reduce restraint and seclusion, in particular any inappropriate use of it.

Board Member Christina Gordon, who chairs the student achievement committee, thanks district leaders for acknowledging that many students and their families are affected by restraint and seclusion and that there are improvements to be made.

"We have some work to do around the trust and the things we're doing around special education," Gordon said.

Many people contend that seclusion should be prohibited and that restraint is overused and traumatic, though Wake and other schools contend the practices are sometimes necessary to manage student behavior.

In total, the 371 students were restrained or secluded more than 1,000 times.

This fall, schools reported 768 instances of physical restraint, up from 628 instances during the same time period the year before. Schools reported 288 instances of seclusion, up from 264 instances.

The federal and state governments have different approaches to restraint and seclusion, in definition, when it's allowed, and when it must be reported to government authorities.

Generally, restraint is when a student is restricted from freely moving their torso, arms, legs or head.

Seclusion is generally when a student is in a space where they are prevented from leaving. Oftentimes, they are in an enclosed space and physically unable to leave.

Since Allred took over the special education services department, she has been trying to overhaul it.

To reduce concerns around restraint and seclusion, Allred is expanding training for special education staff on behavior analyses and intervention planning and using state Department of Public Instruction-provided training for all teachers on handling certain situations.

Two kindergarten teachers at each school will get training on working with students with complex behavioral needs. Certain schools are getting training on de-escalating behavioral issues. All instructional assistants will get training on interventions, too.

Allred plans to contract with more registered behavioral technicians and board-certified behavior analysts, who can work with schools to effectively educate students with behavioral challenges. They can also identify and analyze what triggers a student's behavior, she said.

Many of the restraints and seclusions take place at Bridges Academy, a separate school for elementary students with the highest behavioral needs. Typically, about a dozen or more students attend in any given year.

Principal Heather Boling said her school this year has done more number crunching and intervention with teachers on when restraint and seclusion are and aren't appropriate, and has provided more training.

Allred said any successes Bridges has, after analyzing data, will hopefully be shared with other elementary behavior support programs in the district.

The Wake school system presents the data on restraint and seclusion every six months as a part of a settlement with a family in 2023.

That settlement stemmed from a case in which the family said their elementary school daughter, who has disabilities, was locked in a closet numerous times. The lawsuit also noted that at the time, the school system had reported no incidents of restraint or seclusion to federal education officials during biennial reporting.

The settlement now requires the public reporting of the data. It also stipulates that families of children who are restrained or secluded be notified of the incident as soon as "reasonably practicable" and no later than the end of the school day.

The school system is overhauling how it serves students with disabilities generally. In September, officials said they planned to expand training on working with students in crisis or having behavioral challenges.