(June 20, 2006) — ALBANY — The state Board of Regents is expected to approve a new policy today to ban skin shocks, noxious sprays, sleep deprivation and other measures used to control students who misbehave, unless a waiver is obtained.

New York prohibits corporal punishment but not punishments known as "aversive behavioral interventions" in schools. The emergency regulations are an attempt to set standards for and monitor unregulated practices, according to the Education Department.

"The statement we're trying to make is that this is an extreme form (of treatment) that is not acceptable except in very extreme circumstances," said Rebecca Cort, a deputy education commissioner.

A Board of Regents committee debated the controversial topic for more than an hour Monday and, although some said they had concerns about approving the measure, they passed it 7-1. Regent Harry Phillips of Hartsdale, Westchester County, voted no. The full board is scheduled to vote on the matter today.

The move to change the policy largely was prompted by complaints to the Education Department over treatment of children at the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center in Canton, Mass., where New York sends more than 150 special-education students for $50 million a year.

The institution uses skin shocks that last two seconds as a punishment for poor behavior.

The electric shock used is not the same as electroconvulsive therapy, used to treat severe depression.

The emergency regulations, which would take effect Friday, would permit exceptions on an individual basis. Parents would have to consent in writing.

School districts would seek the advice of an independent panel of experts before a waiver was granted. The treatments would be of the lowest intensity necessary and for behaviors that pose significant health and safety concerns.

CLMATTHE@Gannett.com