A bill introduced in Connecticut's legislative education committee would ban schools from secluding students in locked rooms, while introducing new rules around the use of physical restraint, among other reforms relating to special education.

Advocates have long criticized the use of restraint and seclusion in Connecticut schools, describing the interventions as dangerous and counterproductive in most cases. A Hearst Newspapers investigation published last fall revealed that students nationwide are restrained or secluded hundreds of thousands of times each year, resulting in thousands of injuries and, on rare occasions, death.

In Connecticut, schools reported restraining and secluding special education students tens of thousands of time annually over the past decade, with Black students and those with autism particularly likely to have the interventions used against them.

The new legislation, introduced Thursday, would replace seclusion with "time outs" in unlocked settings, while establishing that restraint can't be used as a planned intervention (only in "emergency" situations). It would also require that schools convene a meeting with parents each time a student is restrained to provide details of the incident and explain why that level of response was necessary.

"They are significant proposals and continue to move us in a more science-directed way, with what interventions work for kids and what intentions are harmful for kids," Sarah Eagan, the state's child advocate, said Friday.

Associate child advocate Christina Ghio, who as an attorney has represented children and parents in restraint and seclusion cases, also praised the proposals, though she said she hoped to learn more about what a "time out" might look and how it would differ from seclusion.

"The definition of time out is going to be very important," she said.

The proposals around restraint and seclusion are part of a broader bill regarding special education, which would also permit dual remote and in-person instruction if required by an individualized education program, expand the charge of a special ed task force, give parents the right to have an interpreter at a planning and placement team meeting and more.

The education committee will hear testimony regarding the bill at a public hearing Wednesday.

Rep. Jeff Currey, an East Hartford Democrat who co-chairs the education committee, said the proposals in the bill came from a Connecticut-based nonprofit organization called Special Education Equity for Kids. Andrew Feinstein, a lawyer with SEEK, said he considers the restraint and seclusion provisions the most important part of the broader legislation.

"Our view is that seclusion does nothing but terrorize kids, it is not en educational intervention in any way," Feinstein said. "It serves no valid purpose and is incredibly destructive to kids, and it has no place in a public school or any school."

The education committee's other co-chair, Sen. Doug McCrory, D-Hartford, said he supports preventing schools from secluding students who act out, likening the practice to "solitary confinement."

"We have to do a better job of working with children's mental health, and putting them in a room by themselves ... I don't think that's the appropriate way that we should be handling that," he said. "I think there are other ways right now that we know work better."

McCrory said he wants to see Connecticut improve the "climate" in schools to reduce the need for serious interventions such as restraint and seclusion.

Kate Dias, president of the Connecticut Education Association, said she supports the intention of the new proposals around restraint and seclusion but is worried about reducing the options teachers have for dealing with students in crisis.

"When kids are really struggling and disregulated, we do need to have options for them, and we do need to have space for them to deescalate, to manage and assess their own feelings and responses, and to have conversations about developing better techniques and management skills," she said.

During the pandemic-disrupted 2020-21 school year, the most recent for which data is available, more than 2,000 Connecticut special education students were restrained or secluded a total of 23,511 times.

Connecticut has gradually restricted restraint and seclusion over the years, limiting their use to emergency situations and tightening data collection protocols, but advocates have pushed for them to restricted further.

A spokesperson for State Department of Education said the department was reviewing the bill and planned to weigh in this week.