Advocacy groups are demanding action after a critical report by the U.S. Department of Justice was issued earlier this week highlighting failures within the state school system.

The groups called for a moratorium on all state school admissions and the use of physical restraints on residents and suggested the removal of the state school system’s current oversight authority.

In the past year, 114 people have died in the state school system, with 53 of those deaths being preventable, such as respiratory failure, according to the Department of Justice report.

In the 62-page letter sent to Gov. Rick Perry by acting Assistant Attorney General Grace Chung Becker from the Department of Justice, the deaths were the result of “lapses in care or a failure to put medical interventions in place in a timely manner.”

The Denton State School — the largest state school facility in Texas — had 25 categorical deficiencies, including abuse, neglect and mistreatment, according to a survey conducted by the Center for Medicaid in April.

Along with Austin and El Paso facilities, the Denton school scored a 20 out of 100 by the state’s own Quality Reporting System in 2008, the lowest scores recognized in the Department of Justice letter.

State officials declined to comment on the recent survey results.

Other problems outlined in the report include deaths and injuries of residents who were restrained, as well as residents swallowing nonfood items including Swiss Army knives and plastic wrap.

Jeff Garrison-Tate, president of advocacy group Community Now!, said the count of 53 preventable deaths over the last year is haunting.

“In the way the folks died, it was a horrible way to die and it didn’t happen overnight in their sleep,” Garrison-Tate said. “The system is broken and we continue to see these horrific outcomes.”

The condition of the state school system is one reason Garrison-Tate said he kept his own 7-year-old daughter, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome, out of state institutions.

Community Now! has called for the closure of some state school facilities and an increase in community-based programs after the report this week.

“There are several very high-functioning people that don’t have the opportunity to get out. That’s very disturbing. That’s a civil rights violation,” Garrison-Tate said. “The easiest way to get out of a state school is to die.”

Another group, Advocacy Inc., called for a moratorium on all new state school admissions and the use of physical restraints such as straightjackets, at a press conference held in Austin on Friday,

But the governor was not considering stopping admissions, said Allison Castle, a spokeswoman for Perry. Instead, she said, Perry expects the Department of Aging and Disability Services, which oversees the state schools, to take steps to ensure the residents receive the highest level of care.

Cecilia Fedorov, a spokeswoman for the Department of Aging and Disability Services, said the organization is in the process of reviewing the 62-page letter and will work with the Department of Justice to come up with a comprehensive agreement.

However, state and federal officials have yet to reach an agreement on the federal investigation of the Lubbock State School findings, which sparked the initial inquiry by the Department of Justice in 2005 and were reported to Perry in December 2006.

“We are working with the Department of Justice and will continue to work with the Department of Justice,” Fedorov said. “We are looking into the agreement of options and in the meantime we will continue to provide improvements.”

Fedorov said the state school system has added 1,200 new positions, expanded training for employees and increased community-based efforts since the last legislative session in 2007.

But more than 800 state school employees across the system have been suspended or fired for allegedly abusing disabled residents over the last four years, according to the Department of Justice report.

 Emily Ramshaw of the Dallas Morning News contributed to this report.

 CANDACE CARLISLE can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is ccarlisle@dentonrc.com .