Wisconsin’s law regarding the use of seclusion or physical restraint with students by school staff prohibits their use except in very

limited circumstances where a student’s behavior presents a clear, present, and imminent risk to the physical safety of students and/or school staff and it is the least restrictive intervention feasible. This law applies to all students, both with and without disabilities.

In this webinar, we will review the basic requirements of the law. We will discuss recent IDEA complaint decisions regarding seclusion and/or physical restraint. We will also discuss the data DPI collects from local educational agencies around the use of seclusion or physical restraint.

Presenter: Marge Resan is a School Administration Consultant from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.  Marge has worked for the department since 2007. Her work focuses on special education legal compliance issues.  She is the lead consultant for the state IDEA complaint process. Marge was a special education teacher in the Madison Metropolitan School District for several years where she taught many students with disabilities in classroom, community, and vocational settings.  She holds a law degree from the University of Wisconsin and has worked as an attorney in the areas of disability and elder law.