2 school workers reprimanded in restraint case

The principal and a student services manager at Fort McCoy School have received written reprimands from Superintendent of Schools Hiedi Maier after an 11-year-old boy with autism was restrained on the floor for six minutes.

The restraint occurred on Nov. 1 during a United Way event at the school. The boy, identified by his parents as sixth-grader Dale Adams, began acting out when he did not win a prize during game day, according to his parents.

Mike McGovern, one of the school’s student services managers (formerly called deans), restrained the child, holding him on the ground for six minutes, Maier said. The parents were upset their son was restrained and suspended for two days.

A restraint is defined as a “personal restriction that immobilizes or reduces the ability of a student to move his or her torso, arms, legs, or head freely.” Such restraints include, for example, holding a child’s wrists to keep him from hurting himself or others.

“He (McGovern) said that he feared my son was going to fall off the stage and wanted to protect him,” said Mary Adams, Dale’s mother. “I know my son has autism, but he is not clumsy.”

Maier said Wednesday that because the Adams family had been emailing the School District on many occasions since September about unrelated issues, she personally supervised the investigation into the incident. Such investigations are typically handled by a special team under human resources.

“Because of the sensitivity with the Adams family, I wanted to make sure that this investigation was handled properly,” Maier said. “And at the end of the investigation, I determined that I did not like what I saw.”

Maier said that McGovern and Principal Mike Hearn each received a written reprimand and that both men were counseled. Maier said she instructed the school district's attorney to contact the family with the results of the investigation.

Maier and her administrative team announced early this year that the district has been working closely with the state to reduce the number of restraints.

In 2012, 1 in 91 students was restrained in Marion County. The state average was 1 in 314. Despite a lengthy U.S. Department of Education report in 2012 urging states to reduce these methods, Marion’s rates have continued to be higher than the state.

In 2013-14, Marion hit a five-year low: 395 restraints. That was still higher than the state average. Marion was back up to 498 restraints in 2014-15 and 467 restraints in 2015-16. So far this year, the district has had 185 restraints.

After a discussion with the state DOE early this year, Maier decided to better train teachers and administrators on how to address behavior before it leads to restraints. The nation’s top education experts believe these tactics should only be used as a last resort.

“There is no reason why a grown man should hold down a child like that,” Adams noted. “I am glad he (McGovern) was reprimanded for what they did.”

Joe Callahan can be reached at 867-4113 or at joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeOcalaNews.