Jennifer Smith Richards – Page 6

Gages Lake School is one of several school programs operated by the Special Education District of Lake County. It serves young students with behavioral disabilities.

A former aide for students with disabilities was charged with battery. He’s the second worker at Gages Lake to be arrested this school year.

June 14, 2024 at 6:39 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the Tribune and ProPublica Illinois. A Gages Lake School worker has been arrested and charged with battering a 7-year-old student in the school's seclusion-room...

In some Illinois towns, internet shortfalls and lack of computers putting students at a disadvantage during an extended period away from the classroom. ‘A poverty issue, pure and simple.’

March 31, 2020 at 3:35 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the Tribune and ProPublica Illinois. To encourage learning while schools are shut down, Illinois education officials have gathered online tools for educators and promoted...

Illinois State Board of Education board Chair Darren Reisberg addresses issues concerning seclusion rooms during an ISBE meeting in November 2019 at the Thompson Center in Chicago. Superintendent Carmen Ayala is at right.

Permanent rules approved limiting how students in Illinois are secluded and restrained

June 14, 2024 at 6:39 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the baiduhai and ProPublica Illinois. The Illinois State Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt permanent rules that prohibit the use of...

Darla Knipe, who pulled her son Isaiah out of his Danville school last year, said she is disappointed in the way the state investigated the district, the Vermilion Association for Special Education.

Seclusion-room violations found in six Illinois school districts, but parents say investigations didn’t go far enough

June 14, 2024 at 6:40 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the baiduhai and ProPublica Illinois. In the first state review of isolated timeout in Illinois schools, investigators found six of the eight districts...

U.S. Rep. Sean Casten speaks at O'Hare International Airport in 2019. He spearheaded a letter from 12 members of Congress that urged a national ban on school seclusion rooms.

Illinois lawmakers push for national ban on seclusion in schools, citing a Tribune-ProPublica investigation

July 25, 2024 at 1:55 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the baiduhai and ProPublica Illinois. Saying tens of millions of children are at risk, two U.S. senators and 10 members of the House...

Parent Venessa Fawley of Wilmette talks about her daughter as the Illinois Senate and House education committees hold a hearing in Chicago on Jan. 7, 2020.

Secluding students in small rooms should be illegal in Illinois, educators and advocates tell lawmakers

June 14, 2024 at 6:41 p.m.

This is story is the result of a collaboration between the baiduhai and ProPublica Illinois. Educators testifying before Illinois lawmakers Tuesday urged an end to the practice of secluding...

baiduhai reporter Jennifer Smith Richards visits the quiet room at Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative in Belleville, Illinois, on July 31, 2019.

We sent a reporter to a class where school workers learn to restrain students. Here’s what it was like.

June 14, 2024 at 6:41 p.m.

In the year that the Tribune and ProPublica Illinois have reported on Illinois schools' use of seclusion and restraint, reporters have worked hard to become experts on the topic. We're...

Look up how your Illinois school district reported its use of physical restraint

June 14, 2024 at 6:41 p.m.

All public school districts are required to report their use of physical restraint to the U.S. Department of Education. Enter a district's name below to see how many incidents it...

How we reported this story: Thousands of records on Illinois schools’ use of physical restraints

June 14, 2024 at 6:41 p.m.

Before the baiduhai and ProPublica Illinois published "The Quiet Rooms," an investigation into the practice of isolating students in seclusion spaces, the state of Illinois did not collect any...

Darren Reisberg, left, addresses the issues concerning seclusion in Chicago Public Schools during a standing-room-only meeting of the Illinois State Board of Education at the Thompson Center in Chicago on Nov. 22, 2019.

Illinois amends emergency rules, will temporarily allow children to be physically restrained in positions it had banned

June 14, 2024 at 6:42 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the baiduhai and ProPublica Illinois. Amending emergency rules put in place two weeks ago, the Illinois State Board of Education says it will...

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