A fresh, photo-heavy report and new state data have shoved Minnesota’s controversial school “seclusion rooms” back into the spotlight at the Capitol this spring, with disability-rights lawyers and key lawmakers dug in on opposite sides. Advocates describe closet-sized, cinder-block spaces where students with disabilities are isolated, while parents and at least one senator argue schools still need a last-resort option to keep people safe.
What the Report Found
The Minnesota Disability Law Center at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid documented 194 registered seclusion rooms across roughly 100 school buildings in about 50 districts and photographed more than 80 of those spaces. The group’s report, "Children in Confinement," describes rooms with concrete floors, heavy doors and magnetic locks, and lays out case examples of children who were hurt or traumatized, according to Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid.
Staff and Researchers Describe Harm
A school psychologist who spoke with Minnesota Public Radio said seclusion can be deeply traumatic for students and for the staff members who have to supervise them. MPR News’ coverage also highlights a photo of an adult sitting in one registered seclusion room at Cedar School in Eagan, a shot advocates say makes the rooms look more like cells than therapeutic spaces, according to MPR News.
State Data Show Shifting Patterns
Department of Education records show districts reported 3,451 seclusions during the 2023-24 school year, affecting 553 students with disabilities, per the agency’s annual restrictive-procedures report, according to the Minnesota Department of Education.
The Seclusion Working Group’s final report says seclusions fell to 1,871 in 2024-25 while physical holds climbed to 19,097, a pattern critics argue shows schools are swapping one coercive practice for another rather than truly ending restrictive interventions, according to the Seclusion Working Group.
Capitol Fight: Rollback or Phase-Out?
Senator Judy Seeberger has pushed amendments and convened the Seclusion Working Group to explore changes that would allow seclusion under specific conditions for older students, a direction disability-rights advocates strongly oppose. Local coverage of the debate notes that some proposals would require parental permission before seclusion could be used with older students and would still aim for a longer-term phase-out of the practice, according to reporting from FOX 9.
Legal and Equity Stakes
Investigators with Legal Aid, along with state data they cite, report that Black and Native students with disabilities are overrepresented among those secluded, raising civil-rights and discrimination concerns, according to Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid.
Federal guidance from the U.S. Department of Education warns that repeatedly placing the same student in seclusion can violate civil-rights protections, a warning advocates point to in pressing for a full ban, per the U.S. Department of Education.
Alternatives and District Practice
Some districts have already walked away from seclusion altogether. Minneapolis Public Schools, for example, stopped using the practice and now relies on sensory rooms, teams of mental-health staff and restorative practices, district officials told the Seclusion Working Group. Working-group materials and district presentations say schools that shifted resources and training in this way report far fewer seclusions, according to the Seclusion Working Group.
What to Watch
The proposal to broaden when seclusion can be used faces an uncertain path at the Capitol and currently has no matching bill in the House, meaning the issue is likely to play out in a string of committee hearings and late-session amendments. Parents, advocates and school leaders say the real test will be whether lawmakers fund alternatives and stronger oversight or simply reopen a toolbox many argue is already doing harm, according to local reporting and the working-group findings.
