Lawsuit against Mat-Su District alleges excessive restraint, seclusion of students with disabilities.

Yet another lawsuit was filed against the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD) in federal court, Monday, this time to call for an end the District’s illegal practice of excessively restraining and secluding students with disabilities.

The lawsuit alleges that practice of using excessive and unjustified restraint and seclusion on disabled students.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are L. Shane Land and Dr. Christi Angelo, the parents of T.L., a 7-year old student in the MSBSD. They allege that the District’s excessive and unjustified use of restraint and seclusion on many students with disabilities, including T.L., violates state and federal law.

“The District treats its vulnerable students like incarcerated criminals by using these demeaning and ineffectual practices to silence, detain, isolate, control, and punish students who have behavioral challenges as a manifestation of their disabilities,” according to lawsuit documents.

The plaintiffs are represented by the Northern Justice Project, LLC. In a press release, the NJP said:

“National studies have shown that restraint and seclusion traumatize and injure vulnerable students and are wholly ineffective at managing a student’s behavioral challenges. Alaska law therefore prohibits a school from restraining or secluding students except in rare emergency situations. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District does not seem to care. Data from the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development shows that the District’s schools routinely use restraint and seclusion on students, often as a form of punishment.”

Between August 2015 and May 2023, there were a reported 1,802 incidents of restraint and seclusion in the MSBSD. During the 2021-2022 school year, the District reported 235 incidents of restraint and seclusion, and nearly all of these incidents involved students with disabilities. To put these numbers in perspective, the Los Angeles Unified School District, which serves more than 550,000 students (almost 30 times the District’s student population), reported only 119 restraints and zero seclusions during 2021–2022 school year.

During the 2022-2023 school year, the plaintiffs allege that T.L. was placed in the isolation room at Shaw Elementary School – a small cinder block room with a metal door that looks just like a prison cell – on multiple occasions. The lawsuit alleges that MSBSD staff also restrained T.L., using prohibited techniques that inflict pain and risk serious injury.

“None of this should have ever happened. It is against the law and it harms our children,” said Mr. Land. “The purpose of this Class Action Lawsuit is to protect every child in the Mat-Su Borough, not just our son. We encourage every parent whose concerns have not been heard or have been neglected to come forward and speak out,” Dr. Angelo added.

Goriune Dudukgian, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, said: “Students with disabilities are not second class citizens. They are entitled to be treated with dignity and respect, just like everyone else. They should not be getting placed in a solitary confinement room for the convenience of staff or as a form of punishment. It also should not have to be said that our children should not be getting abused and injured when they are at school.”

In a similar lawsuit brought against the Anchorage School District (ASD) earlier this year, a settlement was reached following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice of ASD’s restraint and seclusion practices. That district also agreed to eliminate entirely the use of seclusions, and implement numerous safeguards to ensure that any restraints are safely applied.

The plaintiffs of this case are seeking a similar outcome in this case.