Fort Worth schools changed policies after a student with autism died. Will it help?
The Fort Worth school district modified how it handles physical restraints after the death of a student. But a representative from a self-advocacy group for people with disabilities says the district needs to do more to keep students safe.
Among other changes, district officials consolidated restraint and de-escalation training under a single program across the district. But teachers and staff at schools that already used that program, including the school where the student was physically restrained before he died, will continue to receive the same training they did before the change.
Meanwhile, district officials have refused to release details of the incident that led to Hernandez’s death, either to the Star-Telegram or to Hernandez’s family. Cindi Paschall, a volunteer assistant with the Self-Determination Group, said it’s worrisome that the district isn’t more forthcoming with information about Hernandez’s death.
“You can be transparent without violating a person’s privacy, and I don’t think the district has done a very good job of it,” she said.
Combined effects of restraint, medication led to death
Xavier Hernandez, 21, died March 1 at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Hernandez, who had autism, had been a student at Boulevard Heights, a Fort Worth school for students with disabilities. District officials confirmed school staff physically restrained Hernandez on the day he died.
Last week, Tarrant County medical examiners ruled Hernandez died of the combined effects of physical restraint and chlorpromazine, an antipsychotic medication that’s sometimes used as a sedative for aggressive behaviors in children and teenagers. Hernandez’s aunt confirmed that he’d been prescribed the drug. A clinical pharmacy expert told the Star-Telegram that when someone who has taken chlorpromazine is physically restrained, the two could have a compounding effect on blood flow and oxygenation.
The Fort Worth Police Department’s homicide division investigated Hernandez’s death. A police spokesperson said last week that detectives don’t expect to make an arrest.
At the district’s July Board of Trustees meeting, members of the Self Determination Group, a North Texas self-advocacy organization for people age 14 and up with disabilities, called on school officials to bring in an outside investigator to review the district’s policies and practices around physical restraint.
Boulevard Heights training won’t change
Clint Bond, a spokesman for the school district, said the district hired a third-party investigator to conduct a review “that included, but was not limited to, practices, policies and procedures related to restraints” immediately after Hernandez’s death.
Following that review, the district moved to the use of a single training program for restraint and de-escalation techniques, Bond said. Before the change, the district used two separate training programs, both of which were approved by the Texas Education Agency, he said. Using a single training program ensures that school staff will all be trained on the same techniques and terminology, he said.
Following the change, the district will use training from the Milwaukee-based firm Crisis Prevention Institute districtwide, Bond said. Staff members at Boulevard Heights received training from the institute before Hernandez’s death.
The district has also automated its system for documenting and notifying parents after restraints, Bond said. Officials will also review the district’s procedures for debriefing, staffing and support after restraints that involve teams of staff members to ensure that all team members understand their roles, he said.
Disability advocate calls for trauma-informed care training
Paschall, Self-Determination Group representative, said the district needs to do more than it’s already done to ensure students with disabilities are safe at school. The district could start by ensuring that all teachers at Boulevard Heights have been through trauma-informed care training. The training would help teachers understand how trauma affects their students and recognize when it influences their behavior.
That’s important for teachers to understand, Paschall said, because certain actions that look like misbehavior can actually be a response to trauma. For example, loud crashing noises might be a trauma trigger for a student who has been in a bad car accident. If there’s a loud crash at school, that student’s fight-or-flight impulse might take over, and he or she might try to run away, she said.
“So often, people say that this is bad behavior,” she said. “Bad behavior is different than a trauma response.”
Paschall said she’d also like to see the district upgrade video surveillance systems in schools. The news of Hernandez’s death has left many Boulevard Heights parents worried about what happens at the school, she said. If the district had more extensive video surveillance, and made that surveillance footage available to parents, it could help parents get a better idea of what goes on at their children’s school, she said. That video footage could also help district leaders ensure that teachers at the school follow their training and district policy during restraints.
Paschall would also like to see credentialed trainers make random, unannounced visits to schools to ensure that teachers are following the training they received. She’s worried that teachers at Boulevard Heights will continue to receive the same training they received before Hernandez’s death. But because of what she calls a lack of transparency on the district’s part, she isn’t even sure how worried she should be. She wants the district to release the third-party investigator’s report so she and other disability rights advocates can ensure the district is following the investigator’s recommendations.
Bond, the district spokesman, said staff members followed their training — the same training Boulevard Heights teachers will continue to receive — during the incident that left Hernandez dead. When asked whether district officials had any reason to believe the change in training methodologies might have prevented his death, Bond wouldn’t say.
“That would be speculation,” he said.
This story was originally published August 20, 2021 at 5:15 AM.
