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JACKSON, Miss. – The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) announced today that a federal judge has approved a settlement agreement with Jackson Public Schools (JPS) to reform discipline policies across the district and to end the brutal practice of handcuffing students to railings and poles for hours at a time as punishment for minor rule violations.

“This settlement agreement is a victory for the students of Jackson Public Schools who have been subjected to years of brutal disciplinary policies,” said Jody Owens, who leads the SPLC’s Mississippi office. “Jackson Public Schools officials at the highest levels failed to protect students from a prison-like environment, where children were subjected to regular shackling and chained to poles and railings for minor, non-criminal violations of school rules. This handcuffing policy demonstrated a punitive school culture and a broken model of school discipline that focused on criminalizing students at the expense of educating them.”

The agreement, approved this morning by U.S. District Court Judge Tom Lee, resolves a federal civil rights class-action lawsuit the SPLC brought against JPS in June 2011 on behalf of Capital City Alternative School (CCAS) students who were shackled and handcuffed to railings and poles by JPS officials. These children were frequently left unsupervised for up to six hours at a time, forced to eat their lunches while restrained, and had to beg JPS staff to release them in order to use the restroom. These abusive and excessive tactics were used as discipline for perceived violations of minor school rules, including dress code infractions.

Under the agreement, JPS must overhaul discipline policies throughout the school district. The specific reforms approved and ordered by the court include:

· A written directive from the district barring all JPS employees from using fixed restraints on any JPS students.

· A ban on the use of handcuffs on all students under the age of 13, and a ban on the use of handcuffs as punishment for non-criminal behavior.

· A school climate assessment of Capital City Alternative School within 60 days, including student, parent, and teacher satisfaction surveys.

· The adoption of a Social Emotional Learning curriculum at CCAS designed to help students develop appropriate social skills and emotional regulation.

· Training for all individuals employed at CCAS on behavior management, verbal de-escalation, and effective communication.

· The implementation of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports at CCAS, including the regular review of discipline data and interviews with staff and students.

· The formation of an Oversight Council comprised of students, parents, child advocates, and a mental health professional to oversee disciplinary reforms.

The settlement agreement also requires JPS to hire an independent expert to monitor the district’s compliance with the terms of the agreement.

The SPLC’s education reform efforts in Mississippi include advocacy to reform school discipline practices that cause children to leave school and that have a disproportionate impact on students of color or with special needs.

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The Southern Poverty Law Center, with offices in Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama, is a nonprofit civil rights organization that combats bigotry and discrimination through litigation, education and advocacy. For more information, see http://www.splcenter.org.

Previous Comments

Also today, the US Dept. of Education released a resource document that says restraint or seclusion does not reduce the occurrence of problem behaviors and “should not be used except in situations where the child’s behavior poses imminent danger of serious physical harm to self or others.” More here: http://1.usa.gov/JscZEB

#167822 | Author: lizwaibel | Date: May 25 2012

MFP Solutions Lab logo

The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.

Founding Editor Donna Ladd is a writer, journalist and editor from Philadelphia, Miss., a graduate of Mississippi State University and later the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, where she was an alumni award recipient in 2021. She writes about racism/whiteness, poverty, gender, violence, journalism and the criminal justice system. She contributes long-form features and essays to The Guardian when she has time, and was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Jackson Free Press. She co-founded the statewide nonprofit Mississippi Free Press with Kimberly Griffin in March 2020, and the Mississippi Business Journal named her one of the state's top CEOs in 2024. Read more at donnaladd.com, follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @donnerkay and email her at donna@mississippifreepress.org.