UW–Madison’s Andrea Ruppar, an associate professor in the School of Education’s Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education, was quoted in a recent FOX47 News article examining the Madison Metropolitan School District’s efforts to reduce seclusion and restraint incidents involving students with disabilities.
The FOX47 report notes that during the 2024–2025 school year, MMSD recorded 506 seclusion and restraint incidents. Of those, 156 involved students with disabilities, accounting for nearly 30% of the total.
In the article, Ruppar described seclusion and restraint as “traumatic” for students.
“Restraint and seclusion are two ways of restricting students’ movement within a school. And they are interventions that are meant to be used very rarely and only in cases of emergency,” she said.
Ruppar added that schools should move away from using these restrictive practices.
“Bottom line is that we need to be moving away from practices that restrict students movements within schools, especially those that can be dangerous, like restraint.”
The district is implementing nonviolent crisis intervention training for staff as part of its stated goal to reduce incidents. Ruppar characterized the district’s training efforts as “a good first step” in addressing the issue.
Read the full FOX47 News story for more details.