Fair Haven Grade School. Photo Courtesy of Slate Valley Unified Union School District Communications Coordinator Lisa CacciatoreThe Vermont Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s decision Friday, ruling that student records regarding restraint and seclusion practices are entirely exempt under the state’s public records law.“The Supreme Court decision really is a victory for not just the students of Slate Valley, but it’s a win for all students in Vermont in terms of safeguarding their right to privacy,” said Slate Valley District Superintendent Brooke Olsen-Farrell.Plaintiff Curtis Hier, a former educator and Slate Valley school board member, filed the suit. He said the Supreme Court’s decision is not a victory for student privacy but for the privacy of school personnel.“It’s a real blow to transparency and accountability at Slate Valley,” said Hier. Hier said he had heard from parents and a former educator about cases of alleged abuses of restraint and seclusion practices in the Slate Valley school district, particularly with the seclusion room known as the “blue room” at Fair Haven Grade School. “Students are not supposed to be put in these rooms for more than 30 minutes, and I heard stories of them being put in there all day,” said Hier. ‘“I heard stories of them being restrained to the point where it left a mark, and I actually saw pictures of the marks that they left. I heard stories of kids just being dragged across the floor.”The use of restraint and seclusion at public schools has come under scrutiny in recent years, and lawmakers looked into limiting the controversial practices in 2023. Between October and April of that year, Vermont Agency of Education data found that students had been restrained or secluded at least 125 times.READ MORE Vermont lawmakers consider limiting restraint and seclusion in schools by Peter D'Auria March 14, 2023, 6:35 pmNovember 4, 2024, 4:04 pm After hearing these stories, Hier filed a complaint with the Agency of Education. He does not believe the accounts were investigated because the parents told him they were never contacted. Olsen-Farrell said Rule 4500, overseen by the state’s Board of Education, acts as a “built-in mechanism” of accountability, requiring schools to document the use of restraint and seclusion for student discipline with Rule 4500 forms.Hier made several freedom of information act requests to obtain the Rule 4500 forms filed by the Slate Valley Unified Union School District between January and April of 2021 to investigate the stories of alleged abuse. The district denied each request. Hier then filed a lawsuit against the school district, hoping to obtain the reports. Representing himself at trial, Hier argued that while student records are broadly considered confidential, when identifiable information is redacted, Rule 4500 forms could be considered incident reports. Therefore, it would be in the public’s interest to disclose the documents, he said. “It was a case that could have had national implications, because there’s not a lot of precedent on redactions,” Hier added. The initial Rutland civil court decision by Superior Court Judge Mary Miles Teachout ruled in favor of Hier, stating he was entitled to Rule 4500 documents, pending appeal to the Vermont Supreme Court. Olsen-Farrell said the district appealed the decision to the Vermont Supreme Court, because the district felt the federal Family and Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which protects student and parent’s rights to privacy, could be applied to the case. The Vermont Supreme Court ruled that the lower court’s decision balancing privacy rights with public interest was not warranted and that there was no genuine merit to the dispute given the facts of the case. “Some of our most vulnerable students and parents were very worried about this information being publicly released,” said Olsen-Farrell, adding that the district will continue to operate “according to what’s outlined in the law, as we always have.”Hier said he was disappointed by the decision, but hopes that people who advocate against restraint and seclusion practices still have a chance of recourse by continuing to report suspected cases of abuse to the Agency of Education.Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont Supreme Court reverses lower court on public access to school records on restraint and seclusion .