Milwaukee Public Schools reported an increase in seclusion incidents and a decrease in physical restraints during the 2025-26 school year at its Sept. 24 board meeting. Students with disabilities were eight times more likely to be secluded and about five times more likely to be restrained than students without identified disabilities, Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said. The district recorded 45 seclusion incidents, up from 30 the previous school year. Restraint incidents fell to 319 from 345. Wisconsin law allows school staff to use seclusion or physical restraint only when a student’s behavior creates an imminent risk to the physical safety of students or staff. The board also celebrated seven schools that improved enough to leave federal Comprehensive Support and Improvement or Additional Targeted Support and Improvement status. Those designations identify schools or student groups with especially low performance and make federal support funding available for improvement efforts. Luther Burbank School was among those exiting the targeted-support category. State accountability data showed proficiency scores for students with disabilities there increased from 7.2 to 9.0 in English language arts and from 10.8 to 13.1 in math between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years. Cassellius promoted four vaccination clinics for students and families. The Northwest Health Center, 7630 W. Mill Road, will host clinics from 2 to 6 p.m. Oct. 2 and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 10. The Southside Health Center, 1639 S. 23rd St., will hold clinics from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 3 and 2 to 6 p.m. Oct. 9. MPS notifies families when student immunization records are missing or incomplete. Wisconsin permits medical, religious and personal-conviction exemptions; students may attend while families work to meet vaccination requirements or submit a valid exemption, according to district information cited at the meeting. The board also held a moment of silence for five MPS high school students who died. Among them was Bay View High School student Camron Bowen, who was shot and killed Sept. 19 on West Layton Boulevard and West Greenfield Avenue, three days after his 16th birthday. An 18-year-old Pulaski High School student, Antwon Mooney, also died that week. A Pulaski paraprofessional remembered Mooney as a student who brought light to the school. The disability-related disparities in seclusion and restraint remain a concern for advocates. Disability Rights Wisconsin advocacy specialist Joanne Juhnke has said students with disabilities are disproportionately affected and described seclusion and restraint as potentially punitive for students.