KENT, Wash. -- There are new recommendations out on the controversial practice of handcuffing students in the Kent School District.

An independent panel says the practice should be dropped.

The panel was formed in response to allegations that guards used excessive force to discipline black students.

It gave its recommendations to the Kent School Board last night.

The panel says school officials should call police if restraints are necessary.

It also says school security guards should not carry firearms, batons or pepper spray.

In March, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed claims of over $36 million by parents of black students who say they were roughed up by school guards.

The use of handcuffs by school security guards was suspended in the neighboring Federal Way School District.