By STEPHANIE BEECKEN
6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) - After a school resource officer handcuffed a five-year-old Cocke County boy to a chair, 6 News looked at state law and Knox County Schools policy on student restraint and isolation.
The boy's family is furious, but school officials say the handcuffs were the only way to prevent him from hurting himself or others.
Melissa Massie has worked for Knox County Schools for 23 years. She's now the executive director of student support services.
"We have behavioral specialists who will come and do observations in the classroom and help teachers develop individualized behavioral management plans," Massie said.
Knox County Schools has 10 behavior specialists. The goal is to teach educators how to deal with behavioral issues before they become worse or disrupt too much time in the classroom.
"We are going to look at what we can do to replace a negative behavior with a socially appropriate behavior," Massie said.
She says the plan is to discover the motivation behind the behavior, when it occurs and during what subject? Then make sure the student understands the consequences and also have positive reinforcements in place for good behavior.
However, not all bad behaviors are prevented. Sometimes, extra measures must be taken and the student must be restrained in what Massie calls a therapeutic hold.
"In Knox County, we don't put our hands on students unless we are in a situation where a student is going to be a danger to themselves or a danger to other people," she explained.
State law details how teachers and staff are allowed to restrain or isolate a special education student. Massie says there's not a state law detailing this information for general population students.
"School systems, how they deal with student behavior it's a local policy making decision," said Massie.
According to state law, special education students may be isolated and restrained in an emergency situation, but there are very strict rules.
Massie says when a Knox County student in the general population has to be restrained by a teacher or staff member, only a physical hold is used, not other items.
But she says for officers working in the schools, if there's a dangerous situation they may take additional action.
