By BENEDICT CAREY
Published: July 15, 2008
International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/15/healthscience/15restraint.php
The children return from school confused, scared and sometimes with bruises on their wrists, arms or face. Many won’t talk about what happened, or simply can’t, because they are unable to communicate easily, if at all.
“What Tim eventually said,” said John Miller, a podiatrist in Allegany, N.Y., about his son, then 12, “was that he didn’t want to go to school because he thought the school was trying to kill him.”
Dr. Miller learned that Tim, who has Asperger’s syndrome, was being unusually confrontational in class, and that more than once teachers had held him down on the floor to “calm him down,” according to logs teachers kept to track his behavior; on at least one occasion, adults held Tim prone for 20 minutes until he stopped struggling.
The Millers are suing the district, in part for costs of therapy for their son as a result of the restraints. The district did not dispute the logs but denied that teachers behaved improperly.
For more than a decade, parents of children with developmental and psychiatric problems have pushed to gain more access to mainstream schools and classrooms for their sons and daughters.
One unfortunate result, some experts say, is schools’ increasing use of precisely the sort of practices families hoped to avoid by steering clear of institutionalized settings: takedowns, isolation rooms, restraining chairs with straps, and worse.
No one keeps careful track of how often school staff members use such maneuvers. But last year the public system served 600,000 more special education students than it did a decade ago, many at least part time in regular classrooms. Many staff members are not adequately trained to handle severe behavior problems, researchers say.
In April, a 9-year-old Montreal boy with autism died of suffocation when a special education teacher wrapped him in a weighted blanket to calm him, according to the coroner’s report. Two Michigan public school students with autism have died while being held on the ground in so-called prone restraint.
Michigan, Pennsylvania and Tennessee have recently tightened regulations governing the use of restraints and seclusion in schools. California, Iowa and New York are among states considering stronger prohibitions, and reports have appeared on blogs and in newspapers across the country, from The Orange County Register to The Wall Street Journal.
“Behavior problems in school are way up, and there’s good reason to believe that the use of these procedures is up, too,” said Reece L. Peterson, a professor of special education at the University of Nebraska. “It’s an awful combination, because many parents expect restraints to be used — as long as it’s not their kid.”
Federal law leaves it to states and school districts to decide when physical restraints and seclusion are appropriate, and standards vary widely. Oversight is virtually nonexistent in most states, despite the potential for harm and scant evidence of benefit, Dr. Peterson said.
Psychiatric facilities and nursing homes are generally far more accountable to report on such incidents than schools, experts say.
In dozens of interviews, parents, special education experts and lawyers who work to protect disabled people said they now regularly heard of cases of abuse in public schools — up to one or two a week surface on some parent e-mail lists — much more often than a decade ago.
“In all the years I went to school, I never, ever saw or heard of anything like the horrific stories about restraint that we see just about every day now,” said Alison Tepper Singer, executive vice president of Autism Speaks, a charity dedicated to curing the disorder.
The issue is politically sensitive at a time when schools have done a lot to accommodate students with special needs, and some have questioned whether mainstreaming has gone too far.
“Some parent organizations, they’re so grateful to the schools that their kids have been mainstreamed that they don’t want to risk really pushing for change,” said Dee Alpert, an advocate in New York who reports on the issue in the online journal specialeducationmuckraker.com.
For teachers, who have many other responsibilities — not least, to teach — managing even one child with a disability can add a wild card to the day.
“In a class of 30 to 35 children, there’s a huge question of how much safety or teaching a teacher can provide if he or she is being called on to calm or contain a student on a regular basis,” said Patti Ralabate, a special education expert at the National Education Association.
“The teacher is responsible for the safety of all the children in the classroom.”
The line between skillful conflict resolution and abuse is slipperier than many assume. Federal law requires that schools develop a behavioral plan for every student with a disability, which may include techniques to defuse the child’s frustration: a break from the class, for instance, or time out to listen to an iPod.
But in a hectic classroom, children with diagnoses like attention deficit disorder, anxiety or autism can seemingly become defiant, edgy or aggressive on a dime — and the plan, if one exists, can go straight out the window, investigations have found. Even defying a teacher’s instructions — “noncompliance” — can invite a takedown or time alone in a locked room, they found.
In an extensive report published last year, investigators in California documented cases of abuse from districts in the San Francisco Bay Area, the suburbs of Los Angeles and in the rural northeastern part of the state.
During the 2005-6 school year, an 8-year-old with a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder and mild mental retardation was repeatedly locked in a “seclusion room” alone, adjacent to the classroom — at least 31 times in a single year. His parents heard about it from another parent, who saw the boy trying in vain to escape.
In another school, a teacher held a 12-year-old with a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder “face down on the floor, straddling him at his hips, and holding his hands behind his back,” according to the investigation, which was done by California’s office of protection and advocacy. Congress established such offices in each state in the 1970s to protect the rights of the disabled.
Leslie Morrison, director of investigations at the California office, said parents often complained about such episodes but were usually reluctant to cooperate with an investigation. “They’re afraid the school will retaliate,” she said.
And the children, who have an array of psychiatric diagnoses, from attention deficit to autism, often do not understand what is happening or why. “They just think they did something wrong and are being punished,” Ms. Morrison said. “Many of them are not verbal at all and can’t even tell their parents.”
In Tim Miller’s case, school logs obtained by his father illustrate how quickly a situation can escalate, regardless of behavior plans. In one entry, dated March 18, 2005, a teacher wrote:
“Tim was screaming down the hall. He ran past me and began to double his fist to punch the locker. At this point I scooped my arm underneath his and directed him into my room.”
After the boy continued to struggle, this teacher and another “laid him onto the mat, where he was held approximately 20 minutes,” the log said.
Tim, now 15, graduated from the school last year and in June completed his first year of high school, excelling in a variety of mainstream classes without incident. In a telephone interview, he said he no longer thought much about the takedowns.
“I just think now that they were idiots to do that,” he said. “I remember telling my mom to pray to God that they wouldn’t keep doing it, and wishing the other kids would see what was happening.”
When a school has a so-called zero tolerance approach to bad behavior, it often does makes a public spectacle of controlling a child’s behavior, said several parents interviewed for this article.
Kathy Sexton, who lives near Dallas, had to pick up her 11-year-old son, Anthony, who has a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder, at the police station, after school staff members had the boy hauled away in handcuffs for cursing at a teacher.
“I didn’t hear about it for hours and had to go get him at jail,” Ms. Sexton said in a phone interview. “He was hysterical, obviously, and he’s had his ups and downs since then. It’s hard to know what a thing like that does to a child that age.”
Several companies offer programs to teach so-called de-escalation techniques to school staff, and a scattering of schools have developed model programs to pre-empt confrontations, and defuse them when they happen.
But experts say that until policymakers and schools adopt standards, on exactly which techniques are allowed and when, children with behavior problems will in many districts run the risk of being forcibly brought into line.
Dr. Peterson, the Nebraska professor, illustrates the challenges by citing two recent cases in Iowa. In one, the parents of an 11-year-old who died while being held down called for a ban on restraints; in the other, parents charged that a school failed their son by not restraining him. The boy ran away and drowned.
“It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” Dr. Peterson said, “and it reflects the level of confusion there is about this whole issue.”
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Principal's out to get me, charges teacher in 'Rubber Room' suit
BY RACHEL MONAHAN
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Monday July 14th 2008, 7:36 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2008/07/14/2008-07-14_principals_out_to_get_me_charges_teacher.html
A Brooklyn teacher claims he was banished to a "Rubber Room" after blowing the whistle on his principal for preventing special education students from getting services, the teachers union charges.
Kimani Brown, a teacher at Frederick Douglass Academy IV for three years, is suing Principal Marian Bowden for punishing him in retaliation.
"I'm a special education teacher. I'm supposed to make sure my students are getting their services provided," Brown said. "So I spoke up."
Brown charged Bowden hadn't hired a resource room teacher until months into the 2007-08 school year and that special education students were denied counseling and weren't given mandated extra time on tests.
The allegations mark another controversy swirling about the school, which reported a mom to child welfare services over her daughter's supposed absences, even though she wasn't enrolled, the Daily News reported last month. Brown has been idling at full pay in a detention room since May 21, a lawsuit the union filed July 3 in Manhattan Supreme Court charges.
The suit refers to a letter of commendation Bowden wrote in 2006, praising Brown for his "commitment" to "the special needs population."
After Brown's complaint last fall, the suit charges, city and state education officials visited and gave the school until yesterday to file a plan to correct problems, including the lack of individualized education plans for some students.
The officials said they are reviewing the document and will monitor the academy to ensure compliance.
Education Department spokeswoman Margie Feinberg declined to comment.
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Monday July 14th 2008, 7:36 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2008/07/14/2008-07-14_principals_out_to_get_me_charges_teacher.html
A Brooklyn teacher claims he was banished to a "Rubber Room" after blowing the whistle on his principal for preventing special education students from getting services, the teachers union charges.
Kimani Brown, a teacher at Frederick Douglass Academy IV for three years, is suing Principal Marian Bowden for punishing him in retaliation.
"I'm a special education teacher. I'm supposed to make sure my students are getting their services provided," Brown said. "So I spoke up."
Brown charged Bowden hadn't hired a resource room teacher until months into the 2007-08 school year and that special education students were denied counseling and weren't given mandated extra time on tests.
The allegations mark another controversy swirling about the school, which reported a mom to child welfare services over her daughter's supposed absences, even though she wasn't enrolled, the Daily News reported last month. Brown has been idling at full pay in a detention room since May 21, a lawsuit the union filed July 3 in Manhattan Supreme Court charges.
The suit refers to a letter of commendation Bowden wrote in 2006, praising Brown for his "commitment" to "the special needs population."
After Brown's complaint last fall, the suit charges, city and state education officials visited and gave the school until yesterday to file a plan to correct problems, including the lack of individualized education plans for some students.
The officials said they are reviewing the document and will monitor the academy to ensure compliance.
Education Department spokeswoman Margie Feinberg declined to comment.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
After PSL Autistic boy's case, Attorney General weighing more complaints from parents
By Colleen Wixon
Saturday, July 12, 2008
TALLAHASSEE — Stemming from its investigation into a Port St. Lucie autistic boy voted out of kindergarten, the state Office of the Attorney General is looking at how children with autism are treated in Florida schools.
"We want to understand this issue on a more global scale," said Sandi Copes, press secretary for the Office of the Attorney General in Tallahassee. "To see if there is an underlying problem."
Since the office's initial investigation into the case of 5-year-old Alex Barton, several people with autistic children have come forward with their own complaints, Copes said.
Parents are expressing frustration their complaints haven't been heard, so the Attorney General's office wants to talk with them to see if there's any way to help, she said. Those discussions could take place in the coming weeks, she said.
The investigation began after Alex told his mother, Melissa Barton, he was voted out of his kindergarten class by his fellow students. Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillo told police she wanted Alex to hear from his peers how his behavior affected others. She then took a poll as to whether Alex should be allowed to return to the classroom, according to reports.
Alex lost the vote, 14 to 2.
At the time, he was in the process of being tested for Asperger Syndrome, a type of high-functioning autism. He since has been diagnosed with the disorder, Barton said.
The St. Lucie County School District continues to investigate the incident.
When the Attorney General's office investigated Alex's situation, Barton mentioned other parents who had contacted her regarding the treatment of their autistic children, Copes said.
Barton said she is glad parents finally have someone paying attention to them.
"Finally, things are getting done," she said. "There is some justice in it."
It's no longer just about Alex, she said.
"There are other children out there that have been waiting (for help) a very long time," she said.
"No one has been listening forever."
The Attorney General's office is trying to compile a list of participants to meet and talk about their issues, Copes said. The investigation is statewide and not concentrating on one area in particular, she said.
Meanwhile, Barton said parents are trying to mobilize. She said now is the time for parents with complaints to come forward.
The Office of the Attorney General is interested in talking with parents of children with autism who have concerns about their child's treatment in schools. Parents with concerns can call the citizen services hotline at (866) 966-7226.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
TALLAHASSEE — Stemming from its investigation into a Port St. Lucie autistic boy voted out of kindergarten, the state Office of the Attorney General is looking at how children with autism are treated in Florida schools.
"We want to understand this issue on a more global scale," said Sandi Copes, press secretary for the Office of the Attorney General in Tallahassee. "To see if there is an underlying problem."
Since the office's initial investigation into the case of 5-year-old Alex Barton, several people with autistic children have come forward with their own complaints, Copes said.
Parents are expressing frustration their complaints haven't been heard, so the Attorney General's office wants to talk with them to see if there's any way to help, she said. Those discussions could take place in the coming weeks, she said.
The investigation began after Alex told his mother, Melissa Barton, he was voted out of his kindergarten class by his fellow students. Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillo told police she wanted Alex to hear from his peers how his behavior affected others. She then took a poll as to whether Alex should be allowed to return to the classroom, according to reports.
Alex lost the vote, 14 to 2.
At the time, he was in the process of being tested for Asperger Syndrome, a type of high-functioning autism. He since has been diagnosed with the disorder, Barton said.
The St. Lucie County School District continues to investigate the incident.
When the Attorney General's office investigated Alex's situation, Barton mentioned other parents who had contacted her regarding the treatment of their autistic children, Copes said.
Barton said she is glad parents finally have someone paying attention to them.
"Finally, things are getting done," she said. "There is some justice in it."
It's no longer just about Alex, she said.
"There are other children out there that have been waiting (for help) a very long time," she said.
"No one has been listening forever."
The Attorney General's office is trying to compile a list of participants to meet and talk about their issues, Copes said. The investigation is statewide and not concentrating on one area in particular, she said.
Meanwhile, Barton said parents are trying to mobilize. She said now is the time for parents with complaints to come forward.
The Office of the Attorney General is interested in talking with parents of children with autism who have concerns about their child's treatment in schools. Parents with concerns can call the citizen services hotline at (866) 966-7226.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
State agencies faulted over alleged abuse at Anderson School
By Cara Matthews • Journal Albany Bureau • June 11, 2008
ALBANY -- A report released by the state inspector general today says two agencies neglected their duties in investigating alleged abuses of an autistic and developmentally disabled adolescent while he was in the care of a Dutchess County school.
Inspector General Joseph Fisch faulted the state Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for People with Disabilities for deficiencies in New York’s oversight of Jonathan Carey’s care at the Anderson School in Staatsburg from 2003 to 2004.
The CQC and the state Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities provided misleading or inadequate information about Jonathan’s care to his parents and the Governor’s Office, Fisch found.
The CQC in particular conducted a “shoddy child-abuse investigation, failing to fully address allegations that Jonathan was neglected, inadequately fed and left to lie naked on a urine-soaked bed,” the report said.
“The case of Jonathan Carey teaches us that our disabled children deserve a better system,” Fisch said in releasing a 244-page document on the matter.
Jonathan’s parents, Michael and Lisa Carey of Delmar, Albany County, sparked the inspector general’s probe and have sued the Anderson School. Jonathan died last year while he was in the care of the O.D. Heck Developmental Center in Schenectady last year. He was 13. Two workers have been convicted in his death.
Fisch’s report makes 20 recommendations to prevent another case like Jonathan Carey’s, including a review of the state’s Social Services Law related to abuse in institutional settings.
The CQC and Office of Mental Retardation have promised to improve their oversight in the case of children with disabilities, Fisch’s report said.
Michael and Lisa Carey planned a news conference later today to comment on the report.
A spokesman for the Anderson School could not immediately be reached for comment.
Fisch’s investigation included a review of some 25,000 pages of documents and more than 75 interviews.
“It is difficult to contemplate any tragedy more difficult for parents to endure than the death of a child,” Fisch said in a statement. “Such pain is more intolerable when the child, as was the case with Jonathan Carey, suffered at the hands of professionals who were entrusted with Jonathan’s care.
“Jonathan was autistic and developmentally disabled. Such children require more attention, more love, more understanding and more kindness than other youngsters. Parents, and indeed society, have every right to expect and demand such effort in their behalf,” Fisch said.
Other findings in the report include:
-- The CQC misrepresented the extent of its work to the state Senate, the governor, the inspector general and Michael and Lisa Carey.
-- OMRDD “generally conducted an adequate review and gave follow-up assistance to the Anderson School to correct problems.” But the agency did not fully address potential violations by the school in the neglect and maltreatment of Jonathan.
-- OMRDD was deficient in its communications with the Careys and provided inaccurate or misleading information to the governor.
Gov. David Paterson has proposed legislation that would improve the safety of children in residential programs. It would define certain behaviors, such as kicking, biting or withholding food, as abuse, even if they did not injure a child.
ALBANY -- A report released by the state inspector general today says two agencies neglected their duties in investigating alleged abuses of an autistic and developmentally disabled adolescent while he was in the care of a Dutchess County school.
Inspector General Joseph Fisch faulted the state Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for People with Disabilities for deficiencies in New York’s oversight of Jonathan Carey’s care at the Anderson School in Staatsburg from 2003 to 2004.
The CQC and the state Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities provided misleading or inadequate information about Jonathan’s care to his parents and the Governor’s Office, Fisch found.
The CQC in particular conducted a “shoddy child-abuse investigation, failing to fully address allegations that Jonathan was neglected, inadequately fed and left to lie naked on a urine-soaked bed,” the report said.
“The case of Jonathan Carey teaches us that our disabled children deserve a better system,” Fisch said in releasing a 244-page document on the matter.
Jonathan’s parents, Michael and Lisa Carey of Delmar, Albany County, sparked the inspector general’s probe and have sued the Anderson School. Jonathan died last year while he was in the care of the O.D. Heck Developmental Center in Schenectady last year. He was 13. Two workers have been convicted in his death.
Fisch’s report makes 20 recommendations to prevent another case like Jonathan Carey’s, including a review of the state’s Social Services Law related to abuse in institutional settings.
The CQC and Office of Mental Retardation have promised to improve their oversight in the case of children with disabilities, Fisch’s report said.
Michael and Lisa Carey planned a news conference later today to comment on the report.
A spokesman for the Anderson School could not immediately be reached for comment.
Fisch’s investigation included a review of some 25,000 pages of documents and more than 75 interviews.
“It is difficult to contemplate any tragedy more difficult for parents to endure than the death of a child,” Fisch said in a statement. “Such pain is more intolerable when the child, as was the case with Jonathan Carey, suffered at the hands of professionals who were entrusted with Jonathan’s care.
“Jonathan was autistic and developmentally disabled. Such children require more attention, more love, more understanding and more kindness than other youngsters. Parents, and indeed society, have every right to expect and demand such effort in their behalf,” Fisch said.
Other findings in the report include:
-- The CQC misrepresented the extent of its work to the state Senate, the governor, the inspector general and Michael and Lisa Carey.
-- OMRDD “generally conducted an adequate review and gave follow-up assistance to the Anderson School to correct problems.” But the agency did not fully address potential violations by the school in the neglect and maltreatment of Jonathan.
-- OMRDD was deficient in its communications with the Careys and provided inaccurate or misleading information to the governor.
Gov. David Paterson has proposed legislation that would improve the safety of children in residential programs. It would define certain behaviors, such as kicking, biting or withholding food, as abuse, even if they did not injure a child.
Judge ponders lawsuit over teen’s hanging
By Stephen Gurrsgurr@gainesvilletimes.com
POSTED July 9, 2008 11:52 p.m.
Lawyers for a Gainesville special-needs school where a troubled teen hanged himself in 2004 say his parents have no grounds to sue under a federal law.
The attorney representing the parents of 13-year-old Jonathan King said the case is important to the futures of "countless other severely behaviorally disordered children across the state" and what policies will be in place to protect them from themselves and others.
A Hall County Superior Court judge will decide if the civil case goes forward after hearing a motion for summary judgment Wednesday from an attorney for Pioneer Regional Educational Service Agency, or RESA, and Alpine Psychoeducational Program, the Athens Street facility where King hanged himself in a seclusion room for unruly students in November 2004.
The teen used a rope that was given to him by a school official earlier in the day to keep his pants up.
Attorney Phil Hartley, representing Pioneer RESA, asked Chief Judge C. Andrew Fuller to dismiss the suit on the grounds it does not meet the requirements of a specific federal civil rights law.
Don and Tina King sued Pioneer RESA, a 12-county entity that oversees the Alpine program and other special-needs schools, under a federal law that permits people to sue state government employees and others acting "under color of state law" for constitutional law violations. The law is commonly used in police brutality claims.
The Kings’ attorney, Wyc Orr, told Fuller in a lengthy oral argument that Pioneer RESA and the Alpine program’s failure to properly train employees in how to deal with suicidal students represented "a constitutionally infirm set of policies, practices and customs, and it cost Jonathan King his life."
Hartley, representing the school, said the Kings failed to show that policymakers knew of a risk of a constitutional violation and were "deliberately indifferent."
"They cannot point to the actions of anybody, much less Pioneer RESA, that shock the conscience of the court," Hartley said.
Hartley said that courts have repeatedly held that under the law, schools have no special "custodial relationship" with students in which they have a constitutional duty to protect them from themselves or others.
Only prisoners, arrestees and those who are involuntarily committed could sue on those grounds, Hartley said.
Hartley said that from 1976 until King’s death, there had been no suicides at the facility.
"No record exists that this is a chronic kind of problem that everyone would be on notice about," Hartley said.
Orr countered that "some 10 times a year there would be some mention of suicide," at the Alpine Psychoeducational Program.
Orr said the teen previously mentioned or expressed thoughts of suicide to school officials, but "the word did not pass back down" to the teacher aids who placed him in seclusion the day he hanged himself.
"He went into a seclusion room with a rope they gave him," Orr said. The suicide, he said, "happened because of their deliberate indifference to a known risk of suicide by Jonathan King."
Hartley said case law upholds his client’s position that they cannot be sued under the federal law.
"We have similar facts happen, unfortunately, all across the country, and the parents want to blame someone," Hartley said. "The courts have been clear, there is no right (to sue)."
Fuller has already dismissed the Georgia Department of Education from the suit.
Fuller, with the teen’s parents looking on from the plaintiff’s table, said the case represented "a very tragic set of facts," but that he must consider the law, and the "narrow interpretation of when you can pursue a claim" in making his decision.
"I’ll give great attention to the law," the judge said.
Fuller said he would try to rule soon after receiving final briefs from the parties.
POSTED July 9, 2008 11:52 p.m.
Lawyers for a Gainesville special-needs school where a troubled teen hanged himself in 2004 say his parents have no grounds to sue under a federal law.
The attorney representing the parents of 13-year-old Jonathan King said the case is important to the futures of "countless other severely behaviorally disordered children across the state" and what policies will be in place to protect them from themselves and others.
A Hall County Superior Court judge will decide if the civil case goes forward after hearing a motion for summary judgment Wednesday from an attorney for Pioneer Regional Educational Service Agency, or RESA, and Alpine Psychoeducational Program, the Athens Street facility where King hanged himself in a seclusion room for unruly students in November 2004.
The teen used a rope that was given to him by a school official earlier in the day to keep his pants up.
Attorney Phil Hartley, representing Pioneer RESA, asked Chief Judge C. Andrew Fuller to dismiss the suit on the grounds it does not meet the requirements of a specific federal civil rights law.
Don and Tina King sued Pioneer RESA, a 12-county entity that oversees the Alpine program and other special-needs schools, under a federal law that permits people to sue state government employees and others acting "under color of state law" for constitutional law violations. The law is commonly used in police brutality claims.
The Kings’ attorney, Wyc Orr, told Fuller in a lengthy oral argument that Pioneer RESA and the Alpine program’s failure to properly train employees in how to deal with suicidal students represented "a constitutionally infirm set of policies, practices and customs, and it cost Jonathan King his life."
Hartley, representing the school, said the Kings failed to show that policymakers knew of a risk of a constitutional violation and were "deliberately indifferent."
"They cannot point to the actions of anybody, much less Pioneer RESA, that shock the conscience of the court," Hartley said.
Hartley said that courts have repeatedly held that under the law, schools have no special "custodial relationship" with students in which they have a constitutional duty to protect them from themselves or others.
Only prisoners, arrestees and those who are involuntarily committed could sue on those grounds, Hartley said.
Hartley said that from 1976 until King’s death, there had been no suicides at the facility.
"No record exists that this is a chronic kind of problem that everyone would be on notice about," Hartley said.
Orr countered that "some 10 times a year there would be some mention of suicide," at the Alpine Psychoeducational Program.
Orr said the teen previously mentioned or expressed thoughts of suicide to school officials, but "the word did not pass back down" to the teacher aids who placed him in seclusion the day he hanged himself.
"He went into a seclusion room with a rope they gave him," Orr said. The suicide, he said, "happened because of their deliberate indifference to a known risk of suicide by Jonathan King."
Hartley said case law upholds his client’s position that they cannot be sued under the federal law.
"We have similar facts happen, unfortunately, all across the country, and the parents want to blame someone," Hartley said. "The courts have been clear, there is no right (to sue)."
Fuller has already dismissed the Georgia Department of Education from the suit.
Fuller, with the teen’s parents looking on from the plaintiff’s table, said the case represented "a very tragic set of facts," but that he must consider the law, and the "narrow interpretation of when you can pursue a claim" in making his decision.
"I’ll give great attention to the law," the judge said.
Fuller said he would try to rule soon after receiving final briefs from the parties.
Questions linger over school’s room
07:39 AM EDT on Monday, July 7, 2008
By Katie MulvaneyJournal Staff Writer
School officials created a room in the basement of the Block Island School as a last resort for a student with mental health and behavioral problems who needed a place to calm down, according to a spokesman for the attorney general’s office.
The room was used four or five times with one or two school staff accompanying the student, two during more violent episodes, in which he was observed through a small window on the door,
Michael Healey said during a recent interview.
“Appearances notwithstanding, it seems to be a good-faith effort to try to deal with a young boy with special needs,” he said.
Working with the boy’s mother, the school created the room because options are limited on the island, he said.
“I don’t know if it was ever locked or not,” Healey said.
“We don’t see anything criminal about the conduct of anybody so far,” Healey said, adding it appeared staff never used the room to punish that child or any other.
The student occasionally asked to go to the room to “chill out;” another student liked to read there, he said.
Healey offered these preliminary observations when asked for the outcome of a visit to the school June 12 by state police detectives and Assistant Attorney General Susan Urso, chief of the juvenile division. They are working with the school district’s lawyer, Denise Myers, to get documents to corroborate the school’s official explanations about the room’s use and have interviewed staff and probably will speak with parents, he said.
The Journal first reported on the existence of the room, which until recently could be bolted shut from the outside, after receiving an anonymous letter raising questions about whether unruly students might have been sent there. In a DVD accompanying the letter, a camera slowly pans Room 20 showing door locks, pillows and blankets in a jumble on the floor, an open utility outlet, chipped paint, and fingerprints smudging the walls. Plywood covers one window. The doorknob is missing.
The state police were very concerned by the letter and the DVD, said Maj. Steven G. O’Donnell. “Our concerns are greatly diminished” upon visiting the school, he said late last week.
Still, fire, building and education officials find news of such a room troubling.
“There should be no lock on the outside that someone could accidentally lock,” said William Howe, chief of inspections for the state fire marshal’s office.
Seclusion rooms at Butler Hospital and the school at Bradley Hospital, he said, have fail-safe designs using magnetic locks that can only be latched from the outside when someone presses a button. Once the button is released, the door unlocks.
“I’ve never seen one where they lock the kid in,” said Howe, who had not heard of the room at the Block Island School. Fire-safety inspections are done locally, he said.
Block Island’s building official, Marc Tillson, said he does a cursory inspection of the island’s only school every year. He did not notice exterior locks on the basement room during his inspection last August, but could have missed them, he said.
“If and when somebody put locks on that exterior, I have no knowledge of it,” he said. But, he would consider pursuing criminal charges against the person who placed the locks on the door, he said, if he learned who it was.
“I hope whoever put the locks on the exterior of the door learned their lesson and never does it again,” he said.
The locks were removed June 10, the same day a Journal reporter inquired about the room’s existence, according to Police Chief Vincent Carlone. The Journal’s request to see the room that
day was refused.
In response to a question about the locks on the door, Myers, the district’s lawyer, said by e-mail last Thursday, “It is unknown when the doorknob was removed and it is unknown when the slides were installed.” It remains unclear how long the room has been in place. Jack Lyle, the school’s previous superintendent, has said there was no such room when he led the district from 2004 until Supt. Leslie Ryan, who doubles as the special-education director, took over in August 2006. “That wouldn’t have happened on my watch,” Lyle, now a practicing lawyer, said. “That would go against every fabric of my being.”
Davida Irving, principal of the two-story school since last July, has said she had been told the room was developed in consultation with Bradley Hospital as a space for a child “to chill out.”
Bradley has repeatedly denied any involvement.
Someone from Bradley consulted with the school in early 2007 about the educational and behavioral needs of a student, but “did not provide clinical recommendations on the design or development of a specific behavioral room” at the Block Island School, Jessica Grimes, spokeswoman at Bradley Hospital, reiterated late last week.
Asked for the name of the Bradley consultant who reportedly helped develop the room, Myers said: “At this time, the School Department will not comment further as to consultations regarding the room.”
Officials from the state Department of Education’s office for equality and access plan to visit the school, possibly in the fall, according to Elliot Krieger, spokesman for the department.
“From what we’ve heard, we’re very concerned,” Krieger said.
While locked time-out rooms are debated nationwide, they are not allowed in Rhode Island.
Schools may have designated areas to isolate violent or disturbed students, but cannot have rooms only for time-outs, he said.
State regulations do not allow unobserved time-out rooms or a student to be confined alone in a room without access to school staff.
Krieger said he was not aware of any similar rooms in the state.
The department is awaiting reports from Block Island about students being physically restrained at the school, Krieger said. All districts are supposed to detail any time a school uses restraints, he said, and the department has not received such reports from the district.
“We’ll take a very close look at that when we get it,” Krieger said. The absence of reports from the district, he said, “is another reason why the [office for equality and access] wants to talk to the superintendent.”
A district would not have to file a report if restraint was not used, he said.
When reached last week, Superintendent Ryan said the letter and DVD and subsequent news reports have caused a great deal of anxiety on the island and have been harmful to staff and teachers.
“We have never nor would we ever take any action that in any way would be harmful to students,” she said.
She hoped the person who sent the anonymous letter and DVD would be “brought to some type of justice.”
Meanwhile, the district’s School Committee met June 16 and voted to assess the overall safety at the Block Island School in light of the controversy about the basement room.
The School Committee has agreed to hire one or two consultants to ensure that the school meets all state fire-safety codes and regulations, Myers said.
“The priority is to make sure going forward it is safe,” Myers said. Their findings, which will be made public, will not address use of the room before the date of their review, she said.
School Committee Chairman William Padien did not return a phone call seeking comment.
http://www.projo.com/ri/newshoreham/content/ROOM_20_folo_07-07-08_7SANU7O_v30.403cda2.html
kmulvane@projo.com
By Katie MulvaneyJournal Staff Writer
School officials created a room in the basement of the Block Island School as a last resort for a student with mental health and behavioral problems who needed a place to calm down, according to a spokesman for the attorney general’s office.
The room was used four or five times with one or two school staff accompanying the student, two during more violent episodes, in which he was observed through a small window on the door,
Michael Healey said during a recent interview.
“Appearances notwithstanding, it seems to be a good-faith effort to try to deal with a young boy with special needs,” he said.
Working with the boy’s mother, the school created the room because options are limited on the island, he said.
“I don’t know if it was ever locked or not,” Healey said.
“We don’t see anything criminal about the conduct of anybody so far,” Healey said, adding it appeared staff never used the room to punish that child or any other.
The student occasionally asked to go to the room to “chill out;” another student liked to read there, he said.
Healey offered these preliminary observations when asked for the outcome of a visit to the school June 12 by state police detectives and Assistant Attorney General Susan Urso, chief of the juvenile division. They are working with the school district’s lawyer, Denise Myers, to get documents to corroborate the school’s official explanations about the room’s use and have interviewed staff and probably will speak with parents, he said.
The Journal first reported on the existence of the room, which until recently could be bolted shut from the outside, after receiving an anonymous letter raising questions about whether unruly students might have been sent there. In a DVD accompanying the letter, a camera slowly pans Room 20 showing door locks, pillows and blankets in a jumble on the floor, an open utility outlet, chipped paint, and fingerprints smudging the walls. Plywood covers one window. The doorknob is missing.
The state police were very concerned by the letter and the DVD, said Maj. Steven G. O’Donnell. “Our concerns are greatly diminished” upon visiting the school, he said late last week.
Still, fire, building and education officials find news of such a room troubling.
“There should be no lock on the outside that someone could accidentally lock,” said William Howe, chief of inspections for the state fire marshal’s office.
Seclusion rooms at Butler Hospital and the school at Bradley Hospital, he said, have fail-safe designs using magnetic locks that can only be latched from the outside when someone presses a button. Once the button is released, the door unlocks.
“I’ve never seen one where they lock the kid in,” said Howe, who had not heard of the room at the Block Island School. Fire-safety inspections are done locally, he said.
Block Island’s building official, Marc Tillson, said he does a cursory inspection of the island’s only school every year. He did not notice exterior locks on the basement room during his inspection last August, but could have missed them, he said.
“If and when somebody put locks on that exterior, I have no knowledge of it,” he said. But, he would consider pursuing criminal charges against the person who placed the locks on the door, he said, if he learned who it was.
“I hope whoever put the locks on the exterior of the door learned their lesson and never does it again,” he said.
The locks were removed June 10, the same day a Journal reporter inquired about the room’s existence, according to Police Chief Vincent Carlone. The Journal’s request to see the room that
day was refused.
In response to a question about the locks on the door, Myers, the district’s lawyer, said by e-mail last Thursday, “It is unknown when the doorknob was removed and it is unknown when the slides were installed.” It remains unclear how long the room has been in place. Jack Lyle, the school’s previous superintendent, has said there was no such room when he led the district from 2004 until Supt. Leslie Ryan, who doubles as the special-education director, took over in August 2006. “That wouldn’t have happened on my watch,” Lyle, now a practicing lawyer, said. “That would go against every fabric of my being.”
Davida Irving, principal of the two-story school since last July, has said she had been told the room was developed in consultation with Bradley Hospital as a space for a child “to chill out.”
Bradley has repeatedly denied any involvement.
Someone from Bradley consulted with the school in early 2007 about the educational and behavioral needs of a student, but “did not provide clinical recommendations on the design or development of a specific behavioral room” at the Block Island School, Jessica Grimes, spokeswoman at Bradley Hospital, reiterated late last week.
Asked for the name of the Bradley consultant who reportedly helped develop the room, Myers said: “At this time, the School Department will not comment further as to consultations regarding the room.”
Officials from the state Department of Education’s office for equality and access plan to visit the school, possibly in the fall, according to Elliot Krieger, spokesman for the department.
“From what we’ve heard, we’re very concerned,” Krieger said.
While locked time-out rooms are debated nationwide, they are not allowed in Rhode Island.
Schools may have designated areas to isolate violent or disturbed students, but cannot have rooms only for time-outs, he said.
State regulations do not allow unobserved time-out rooms or a student to be confined alone in a room without access to school staff.
Krieger said he was not aware of any similar rooms in the state.
The department is awaiting reports from Block Island about students being physically restrained at the school, Krieger said. All districts are supposed to detail any time a school uses restraints, he said, and the department has not received such reports from the district.
“We’ll take a very close look at that when we get it,” Krieger said. The absence of reports from the district, he said, “is another reason why the [office for equality and access] wants to talk to the superintendent.”
A district would not have to file a report if restraint was not used, he said.
When reached last week, Superintendent Ryan said the letter and DVD and subsequent news reports have caused a great deal of anxiety on the island and have been harmful to staff and teachers.
“We have never nor would we ever take any action that in any way would be harmful to students,” she said.
She hoped the person who sent the anonymous letter and DVD would be “brought to some type of justice.”
Meanwhile, the district’s School Committee met June 16 and voted to assess the overall safety at the Block Island School in light of the controversy about the basement room.
The School Committee has agreed to hire one or two consultants to ensure that the school meets all state fire-safety codes and regulations, Myers said.
“The priority is to make sure going forward it is safe,” Myers said. Their findings, which will be made public, will not address use of the room before the date of their review, she said.
School Committee Chairman William Padien did not return a phone call seeking comment.
http://www.projo.com/ri/newshoreham/content/ROOM_20_folo_07-07-08_7SANU7O_v30.403cda2.html
kmulvane@projo.com
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
State weighs limits on school 'timeouts,' restraints
DesMoinesRegister.com
By STACI HUPPshupp@dmreg.com
June 30, 2008
Iowa has joined a nationwide push to curb the use of physical force and "timeout" rooms in schools to discipline the most unruly students.
A proposal before the state Board of Education would limit how and when teachers can lock up children and would ban risky methods of restraint, including chokeholds.
Teachers also would be trained to use "positive" alternatives, such as talking through disputes with children.
"Teachers struggle with what's appropriate," said Judy Jeffrey, director of the Iowa Department of Education. "This really provides additional guidance."
State law allows school officials to hold down and confine children who are a threat to themselves or others, just as group homes do. But critics say educators overdo it sometimes.
In 2006, a Waukee couple complained that their 8-year-old daughter was alone in timeout for more than three hours because she refused to finish a reading assignment. Waukee school officials have said they did nothing wrong, but an administrative law judge disagreed. The district's discipline policy has not changed.
"The problem that some of my colleagues have noted is an educationally inappropriate use of seclusion and restraint - 'You were disrespectful; go into the timeout room,' versus 'You were disrespectful; how can we help you be more respectful?' " said Thomas Mayes, an attorney for the education department.
Dave Wilkerson, Waukee's superintendent of schools, said he's open to input from state officials but questions that such a specific policy will work. "To try to put a policy in place that's going to fit every situation, I think, is going to be impossible," he said.
Other states have reviewed timeout in the face of lawsuits against school districts, researchers say.At the same time, studies have shown teachers confine students for the wrong reasons.
A James Madison University survey of teachers at one Minnesota school found that teachers were more likely to lock up children for minor misbehavior.
"Without any guidance and policies, they make very poor choices, and kids suffer the consequences of it," said Joseph Ryan, a Clemson University professor who worked on the 2004 survey.
How often teachers lock up students in Iowa is difficult to track because the state lacks a clear reporting system. That would change under the state proposal, which calls on educators to keep records of every incident.
The proposal would be part of Iowa's corporal punishment law, which has been in place since 1991. The law covers public and private schools and area education agencies.The state proposal also says educators:
- Can't hold a child face down or otherwise use force that hampers a child's ability to breathe.
- Must provide "continuous" supervision of children in timeout rooms.
- Must get permission from an administrator to confine a child for longer than an hour.
- Can't lock up or restrain children for "minor infractions."
- Can lock the door of a timeout room only if they hold the lock in position, or the lock automatically releases when school alarms go off or power is cut off.
- Must use timeout rooms that are safe and suitable for children of varying sizes, ages and conditions.
"It's kind of frightening, frankly, to see that you have to be this specific," said Susan Myers, a mother who heads the Access for Special Kids Family Resource Center, a nonprofit advocacy group.
"I don't believe that teachers or building administrators set out to be unkind or cruel or harmful to children. In the rare occasion that that happens, it happens really because of ignorance as to what to do. This should help alleviate any instance of that."
Iowans can weigh in on the state proposal at a public hearing July 8. Members of the state education board are expected to vote on it this fall.
A spokeswoman at the state's largest teachers union said she wasn't familiar enough with the proposal to comment about it.
Doug and Eva Loeffler, the parents who complained about the Waukee school district timeout policy, could not be reached for comment last week.
By STACI HUPPshupp@dmreg.com
June 30, 2008
Iowa has joined a nationwide push to curb the use of physical force and "timeout" rooms in schools to discipline the most unruly students.
A proposal before the state Board of Education would limit how and when teachers can lock up children and would ban risky methods of restraint, including chokeholds.
Teachers also would be trained to use "positive" alternatives, such as talking through disputes with children.
"Teachers struggle with what's appropriate," said Judy Jeffrey, director of the Iowa Department of Education. "This really provides additional guidance."
State law allows school officials to hold down and confine children who are a threat to themselves or others, just as group homes do. But critics say educators overdo it sometimes.
In 2006, a Waukee couple complained that their 8-year-old daughter was alone in timeout for more than three hours because she refused to finish a reading assignment. Waukee school officials have said they did nothing wrong, but an administrative law judge disagreed. The district's discipline policy has not changed.
"The problem that some of my colleagues have noted is an educationally inappropriate use of seclusion and restraint - 'You were disrespectful; go into the timeout room,' versus 'You were disrespectful; how can we help you be more respectful?' " said Thomas Mayes, an attorney for the education department.
Dave Wilkerson, Waukee's superintendent of schools, said he's open to input from state officials but questions that such a specific policy will work. "To try to put a policy in place that's going to fit every situation, I think, is going to be impossible," he said.
Other states have reviewed timeout in the face of lawsuits against school districts, researchers say.At the same time, studies have shown teachers confine students for the wrong reasons.
A James Madison University survey of teachers at one Minnesota school found that teachers were more likely to lock up children for minor misbehavior.
"Without any guidance and policies, they make very poor choices, and kids suffer the consequences of it," said Joseph Ryan, a Clemson University professor who worked on the 2004 survey.
How often teachers lock up students in Iowa is difficult to track because the state lacks a clear reporting system. That would change under the state proposal, which calls on educators to keep records of every incident.
The proposal would be part of Iowa's corporal punishment law, which has been in place since 1991. The law covers public and private schools and area education agencies.The state proposal also says educators:
- Can't hold a child face down or otherwise use force that hampers a child's ability to breathe.
- Must provide "continuous" supervision of children in timeout rooms.
- Must get permission from an administrator to confine a child for longer than an hour.
- Can't lock up or restrain children for "minor infractions."
- Can lock the door of a timeout room only if they hold the lock in position, or the lock automatically releases when school alarms go off or power is cut off.
- Must use timeout rooms that are safe and suitable for children of varying sizes, ages and conditions.
"It's kind of frightening, frankly, to see that you have to be this specific," said Susan Myers, a mother who heads the Access for Special Kids Family Resource Center, a nonprofit advocacy group.
"I don't believe that teachers or building administrators set out to be unkind or cruel or harmful to children. In the rare occasion that that happens, it happens really because of ignorance as to what to do. This should help alleviate any instance of that."
Iowans can weigh in on the state proposal at a public hearing July 8. Members of the state education board are expected to vote on it this fall.
A spokeswoman at the state's largest teachers union said she wasn't familiar enough with the proposal to comment about it.
Doug and Eva Loeffler, the parents who complained about the Waukee school district timeout policy, could not be reached for comment last week.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Some California Schools Locking Children In Closets
Jun 27, 2008 12:19 am US/Pacific
Anna Werner
(CBS 5) Locking children in closets doesn't sound like something that could possibly happen in California's school system. But CBS 5 Investigates has uncovered evidence that it is a hidden problem, not reported by schools, and unknown to many parents.
A closet in a classroom that brings the memories back for a student we will call Chris.
"The door is closed, it's totally dark. There is a little tiny beam of light that comes under the door, but that's it." Chris told CBS 5 Investigates. When he was asked if he was trapped, he responded, "Pretty much."
Chris was a 6th grader at Mendenhall Middle School in Livermore. Despite his high IQ, behaviors resulting from a diagnosis of ADHD landed him in a special education class. He quickly discovered that anything considered 'misbehavior', like getting up out of your chair or not completing class assignments meant a trip to the closet.
"You really don't understand what it's like until you actually go through it," Chris said.
He says he was put in the "Quiet Room" a lot, and there was no getting out. "They would sit on the door so you couldn't get out and then sometimes they would put a chair up against the door," Chris recalled. "I sat in there for a whole school day one time."
And once, he tried to resist going in and a teacher got physical.
"He twisted my arm up behind my back and then he just pushed me and I hit the wall pretty hard," Chris said. "I felt intimidated kind of, because I mean he is bigger than me and he knows that."
How can that happen? Most parents can't imagine it: Their child shut into a room, sometimes as small as a closet. Under California law, it's only supposed to happen if the child is a danger to themselves or others. But advocates tell CBS 5 Investigates it's happening far more frequently than that.
Leslie Morrison is an investigator with Protection and Advocacy Inc., a non-profit that works with the disabled. "I think it's an enormous problem," she said. "In all of the cases that we investigated, the underlying incident that triggered restraint and seclusion is non-compliance with staff direction. They didn't do what the teacher asked them to do."
For example, there is a fenced area that looks kind of like a dog run at the John F. Kennedy School near Modesto. A U.S. Department of Education investigation found children were left here without access to a toilet, water or food, even some who had medical conditions including diabetes, seizures and asthma.
"Seclusion is very psychologically traumatizing, especially for children. Children fear being locked in a closet," Morrison said.
And it's not just seclusion. Morrison said teachers also sometimes physically restrain children improperly. Such as a 6-year-old who came home with duct tape on his clothing. It was used to literally tie him into a chair at a school in Southern California.
And staff at many schools also engage in so-called "take downs." Morrison said, "The most common one is face down on the floor and then you lean into their back or sides so that they can't breathe."
But Morrison said without proper training, "As the child is struggling to breathe the person is holding them down on the floor to stop the struggling. And what happens is you actually stop them breathing."
Morrison's group is backing SB 1515, legislation by California State Senator Sheila Kuehl that would limit restraints and ban seclusion. But some who work in the field oppose it.
Carroll Schroeder heads the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, a lobbying group for non-profit providers which opposes SB 1515. "If and when the time comes, you need to have at least those two options available to you," Schroeder said. "If those kids don't have that option of that room, either the schools call the police, and the police will pick them up, or they will be suspended from school."
But not according to Frank Marone, a recognized behaviorist with B*E*T*A Behavior Education Training Associates. The group works with students with disabilities. "We have been able to illustrate that restraint is not necessary," he said.
They work with students such as Mario McMillan, who is autistic. "He would start hitting, throwing chairs, throwing his shoes," his mother Rufina McMillan told CBS 5 Investigates. At his former private school in Oakland, Spectrum, documents show teachers physically restrained McMillan on numerous occasions.
"I was very worried," Rufina McMillan said. "Maybe he would stop breathing."
But at the Via school, where Mario goes to school now, and where Marone trains teachers only positive behavior techniques and not to use restraint or seclusion, a big change. "He's calm now, totally calm," his mother said.
Meanwhile, Chris is now home-schooled and doing better. But he said that he can't forget that closet. "Human beings aren't supposed to be treating each other like that, you know," Chris said. "I mean it's just not supposed to happen."
After Chris's family filed a complaint, the Livermore School District shut his special education program down. John F. Kennedy School in Modesto said they have changed their practices as a result of the government investigation. As for Spectrum, they say they use safe and approved techniques to restrain students when there is danger.
Editor's Note: The following are statements from schools reacting to the CBS 5 Investigates report on children being restrained or shut into closets at California schools.
Statement by Chris Holmes
Regional Director, West
Spectrum Center Schools
The emotional and physical well-being of our students and staff are paramount and we do everything humanly possible to safeguard them. Our students have significant, complex needs and our staff is specially trained to respond to students in an appropriate therapeutic manner. For example, we redirect students' behavior by encouraging them to take a short break with a staff member or participate in some other activity that allows them to re-engage the required educational task. At times, the Individual Education Program (IEP) team, including parents and school district representatives, may determine that seclusion is necessary for occasions when a student is in severe crisis and may seriously injure himself or others.
In other cases, staff members employ safe and approved hands-on, non-mechanical techniques to help manage a student who is in danger of causing serious injury to himself or others. In all cases, these actions are taken with the student's safety, dignity and privacy as our most important priorities.
Statement by Jane Johnston
Assistant Superintendent
Stanislaus County Office of Education
We worked with an outside expert consultant to review practices at John F. Kennedy School (JFK). As a result we have increased documentation of responses to student behaviors and training for staff over the last year. While rarely used as a behavioral management strategy, escorting a student to an area where they can calm down rather than physically restraining them is often the best option. It is also often the most dignified and respectful option, as well as the safest for students and staff.
We continue to be very proud of our program which focuses on positive behavioral interventions. Our students (approximately 57 out of the 14,000 special education students in Stanislaus County) are severely handicapped and behaviorally challenged. While their behavior problems have impeded their ability to be successful in their home schools, they make significant progress at JFK.
Anna Werner
(CBS 5) Locking children in closets doesn't sound like something that could possibly happen in California's school system. But CBS 5 Investigates has uncovered evidence that it is a hidden problem, not reported by schools, and unknown to many parents.
A closet in a classroom that brings the memories back for a student we will call Chris.
"The door is closed, it's totally dark. There is a little tiny beam of light that comes under the door, but that's it." Chris told CBS 5 Investigates. When he was asked if he was trapped, he responded, "Pretty much."
Chris was a 6th grader at Mendenhall Middle School in Livermore. Despite his high IQ, behaviors resulting from a diagnosis of ADHD landed him in a special education class. He quickly discovered that anything considered 'misbehavior', like getting up out of your chair or not completing class assignments meant a trip to the closet.
"You really don't understand what it's like until you actually go through it," Chris said.
He says he was put in the "Quiet Room" a lot, and there was no getting out. "They would sit on the door so you couldn't get out and then sometimes they would put a chair up against the door," Chris recalled. "I sat in there for a whole school day one time."
And once, he tried to resist going in and a teacher got physical.
"He twisted my arm up behind my back and then he just pushed me and I hit the wall pretty hard," Chris said. "I felt intimidated kind of, because I mean he is bigger than me and he knows that."
How can that happen? Most parents can't imagine it: Their child shut into a room, sometimes as small as a closet. Under California law, it's only supposed to happen if the child is a danger to themselves or others. But advocates tell CBS 5 Investigates it's happening far more frequently than that.
Leslie Morrison is an investigator with Protection and Advocacy Inc., a non-profit that works with the disabled. "I think it's an enormous problem," she said. "In all of the cases that we investigated, the underlying incident that triggered restraint and seclusion is non-compliance with staff direction. They didn't do what the teacher asked them to do."
For example, there is a fenced area that looks kind of like a dog run at the John F. Kennedy School near Modesto. A U.S. Department of Education investigation found children were left here without access to a toilet, water or food, even some who had medical conditions including diabetes, seizures and asthma.
"Seclusion is very psychologically traumatizing, especially for children. Children fear being locked in a closet," Morrison said.
And it's not just seclusion. Morrison said teachers also sometimes physically restrain children improperly. Such as a 6-year-old who came home with duct tape on his clothing. It was used to literally tie him into a chair at a school in Southern California.
And staff at many schools also engage in so-called "take downs." Morrison said, "The most common one is face down on the floor and then you lean into their back or sides so that they can't breathe."
But Morrison said without proper training, "As the child is struggling to breathe the person is holding them down on the floor to stop the struggling. And what happens is you actually stop them breathing."
Morrison's group is backing SB 1515, legislation by California State Senator Sheila Kuehl that would limit restraints and ban seclusion. But some who work in the field oppose it.
Carroll Schroeder heads the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, a lobbying group for non-profit providers which opposes SB 1515. "If and when the time comes, you need to have at least those two options available to you," Schroeder said. "If those kids don't have that option of that room, either the schools call the police, and the police will pick them up, or they will be suspended from school."
But not according to Frank Marone, a recognized behaviorist with B*E*T*A Behavior Education Training Associates. The group works with students with disabilities. "We have been able to illustrate that restraint is not necessary," he said.
They work with students such as Mario McMillan, who is autistic. "He would start hitting, throwing chairs, throwing his shoes," his mother Rufina McMillan told CBS 5 Investigates. At his former private school in Oakland, Spectrum, documents show teachers physically restrained McMillan on numerous occasions.
"I was very worried," Rufina McMillan said. "Maybe he would stop breathing."
But at the Via school, where Mario goes to school now, and where Marone trains teachers only positive behavior techniques and not to use restraint or seclusion, a big change. "He's calm now, totally calm," his mother said.
Meanwhile, Chris is now home-schooled and doing better. But he said that he can't forget that closet. "Human beings aren't supposed to be treating each other like that, you know," Chris said. "I mean it's just not supposed to happen."
After Chris's family filed a complaint, the Livermore School District shut his special education program down. John F. Kennedy School in Modesto said they have changed their practices as a result of the government investigation. As for Spectrum, they say they use safe and approved techniques to restrain students when there is danger.
Editor's Note: The following are statements from schools reacting to the CBS 5 Investigates report on children being restrained or shut into closets at California schools.
Statement by Chris Holmes
Regional Director, West
Spectrum Center Schools
The emotional and physical well-being of our students and staff are paramount and we do everything humanly possible to safeguard them. Our students have significant, complex needs and our staff is specially trained to respond to students in an appropriate therapeutic manner. For example, we redirect students' behavior by encouraging them to take a short break with a staff member or participate in some other activity that allows them to re-engage the required educational task. At times, the Individual Education Program (IEP) team, including parents and school district representatives, may determine that seclusion is necessary for occasions when a student is in severe crisis and may seriously injure himself or others.
In other cases, staff members employ safe and approved hands-on, non-mechanical techniques to help manage a student who is in danger of causing serious injury to himself or others. In all cases, these actions are taken with the student's safety, dignity and privacy as our most important priorities.
Statement by Jane Johnston
Assistant Superintendent
Stanislaus County Office of Education
We worked with an outside expert consultant to review practices at John F. Kennedy School (JFK). As a result we have increased documentation of responses to student behaviors and training for staff over the last year. While rarely used as a behavioral management strategy, escorting a student to an area where they can calm down rather than physically restraining them is often the best option. It is also often the most dignified and respectful option, as well as the safest for students and staff.
We continue to be very proud of our program which focuses on positive behavioral interventions. Our students (approximately 57 out of the 14,000 special education students in Stanislaus County) are severely handicapped and behaviorally challenged. While their behavior problems have impeded their ability to be successful in their home schools, they make significant progress at JFK.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Ruling: Hicksville improperly removed home instruction
BY JOHN HILDEBRAND john.hildebrand@newsday.com
June 26, 2008
NewsDay.com
A state review officer has ruled that the Hicksville school system acted improperly in canceling home instruction for a developmentally disabled student whose case became a focus of statewide efforts to improve special-education services.
The student, Billy Schafer Jr., 17, made headlines two years ago, after his parents complained of his detention for misbehavior in a 5-by-6-foot "timeout" chamber at a Nassau BOCES center. The teen had been referred to the center by his home district.
A multimillion-dollar legal action filed by the parents against Hicksville and the Board of Cooperative Educational Services is pending in federal district court in Central Islip.
In their lawsuit, William and Janet Schafer accuse Hicksville of cutting off their son's home instruction and therapy in retaliation for their decision to withdraw the teen from the BOCES center. The son has since enrolled in a private school.
The Schafers also petitioned the state for restoration of educational services formerly provided for their son at home.
Following hearings on that petition that extended over nearly two years, a state review officer, Paul Kelly, granted the parents' request on Friday. Kelly ordered Hicksville to provide the son with three hours of weekly home instruction, along with behavioral, speech and physical therapy.
Hicksville's administrative assistant for community services, Catherine Knight, had no comment on the decision when contacted by Newsday.
Kelly's ruling did not deal directly with the retaliation issue. It did find, however, that the district "improperly removed" home services from Billy Schafer's education plan without advance notice to the parents and without their consent. Hicksville has not yet announced whether it plans to appeal.
The Schafers also petitioned the state for restoration of educational services formerly provided for their son at home.
Following hearings on that petition that extended over nearly two years, a state review officer, Paul Kelly, granted the parents' request on Friday. Kelly ordered Hicksville to provide the son with three hours of weekly home instruction, along with behavioral, speech and physical therapy.
Hicksville's administrative assistant for community services, Catherine Knight, had no comment on the decision when contacted by Newsday.
Kelly's ruling did not deal directly with the retaliation issue. It did find, however, that the district "improperly removed" home services from Billy Schafer's education plan without advance notice to the parents and without their consent. Hicksville has not yet announced whether it plans to appeal.
The Schafers also petitioned the state for restoration of educational services formerly provided for their son at home.
Following hearings on that petition that extended over nearly two years, a state review officer, Paul Kelly, granted the parents' request on Friday. Kelly ordered Hicksville to provide the son with three hours of weekly home instruction, along with behavioral, speech and physical therapy.
Hicksville's administrative assistant for community services, Catherine Knight, had no comment on the decision when contacted by Newsday.
Kelly's ruling did not deal directly with the retaliation issue. It did find, however, that the district "improperly removed" home services from Billy Schafer's education plan without advance notice to the parents and without their consent. Hicksville has not yet announced whether it plans to appeal.
June 26, 2008
NewsDay.com
A state review officer has ruled that the Hicksville school system acted improperly in canceling home instruction for a developmentally disabled student whose case became a focus of statewide efforts to improve special-education services.
The student, Billy Schafer Jr., 17, made headlines two years ago, after his parents complained of his detention for misbehavior in a 5-by-6-foot "timeout" chamber at a Nassau BOCES center. The teen had been referred to the center by his home district.
A multimillion-dollar legal action filed by the parents against Hicksville and the Board of Cooperative Educational Services is pending in federal district court in Central Islip.
In their lawsuit, William and Janet Schafer accuse Hicksville of cutting off their son's home instruction and therapy in retaliation for their decision to withdraw the teen from the BOCES center. The son has since enrolled in a private school.
The Schafers also petitioned the state for restoration of educational services formerly provided for their son at home.
Following hearings on that petition that extended over nearly two years, a state review officer, Paul Kelly, granted the parents' request on Friday. Kelly ordered Hicksville to provide the son with three hours of weekly home instruction, along with behavioral, speech and physical therapy.
Hicksville's administrative assistant for community services, Catherine Knight, had no comment on the decision when contacted by Newsday.
Kelly's ruling did not deal directly with the retaliation issue. It did find, however, that the district "improperly removed" home services from Billy Schafer's education plan without advance notice to the parents and without their consent. Hicksville has not yet announced whether it plans to appeal.
The Schafers also petitioned the state for restoration of educational services formerly provided for their son at home.
Following hearings on that petition that extended over nearly two years, a state review officer, Paul Kelly, granted the parents' request on Friday. Kelly ordered Hicksville to provide the son with three hours of weekly home instruction, along with behavioral, speech and physical therapy.
Hicksville's administrative assistant for community services, Catherine Knight, had no comment on the decision when contacted by Newsday.
Kelly's ruling did not deal directly with the retaliation issue. It did find, however, that the district "improperly removed" home services from Billy Schafer's education plan without advance notice to the parents and without their consent. Hicksville has not yet announced whether it plans to appeal.
The Schafers also petitioned the state for restoration of educational services formerly provided for their son at home.
Following hearings on that petition that extended over nearly two years, a state review officer, Paul Kelly, granted the parents' request on Friday. Kelly ordered Hicksville to provide the son with three hours of weekly home instruction, along with behavioral, speech and physical therapy.
Hicksville's administrative assistant for community services, Catherine Knight, had no comment on the decision when contacted by Newsday.
Kelly's ruling did not deal directly with the retaliation issue. It did find, however, that the district "improperly removed" home services from Billy Schafer's education plan without advance notice to the parents and without their consent. Hicksville has not yet announced whether it plans to appeal.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Texas town reels from horrific abuse in its midst
By PAUL J. WEBER, Associated Press Writer
Sun Jun 22, 5:44 PM ET
MINEOLA, Texas - In the windowless front rooms of a former day care center in a tiny Texas community, children as young as 5 were fed powerful painkillers they knew as "silly pills" and forced to perform sex shows for a crowd of adults.
Two people have already been convicted in the case. Now a third person with ties to the club, previously known in town only as a swingers group, is set to go on trial Monday not far from Mineola, population 5,100.
"This really shook this town," said Shirley Chadwick, a longtime resident of Mineola. "This was horrible."
Patrick Kelly, 41, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, tampering with physical evidence and engaging in organized criminal activity.
In all, six adults have been charged in connection with the case, including a parent of the three siblings involved.
Jurors this year deliberated less than five minutes before returning guilty verdicts against the first two defendants, who were accused of grooming the kids for sex shows in "kindergarten" classes and passing off Vicodin as "silly pills" to help the children perform.
Jamie Pittman and Shauntel Mayo were sentenced to life in prison. Kelly also faces a life sentence if convicted, and Smith County prosecutors hope for another swift verdict.
Thad Davidson, Kelly's attorney, said his client passed a lie-detector test proving his innocence and worries about getting a fair trial in Tyler, 25 miles southeast of Mineola, which is in Wood County.
"I think it's impossible to get a fair trial within 80 miles of Smith County," Davidson said.
Mineola, about 80 miles east of Dallas, is a close-knit, conservative bean-processing town of with more than 30 churches. Residents there want to put the scandal behind them as quickly as possible.
The one-story building where prosecutors say four children — the three siblings, now ages 12, 10 and 7, and their 10-year-old aunt — were trained to perform in front of an audience of 50 to 100 once a week has been vacant since the landlord ousted the alleged organizers in 2004.
Down a slight hill is a retirement home, and even closer is the office of the local newspaper. Doris Newman, editor of The Mineola Monitor, said rumors of swinger parties spread around town but that no one mentioned children being involved.
Newman, who can see the building from her office window, said she remembers the parking lot filling up with more than a dozen cars at night.
In August 2004, an editorial under the headline "Sex In the City" opined that if the swingers left quietly, "we'll try and forget they've infiltrated our town with their set of moral standards."
"It's not that we're trying to look the other way," Newman said. "But there's a lot more to Mineola than that."
According to a Mineola police report, the department first investigated a complaint in June 2005 in which the siblings' foster mother said one of the girls described dancing toward men and another child saying that "everybody does nasty stuff in there."
In the second trial, Child Protective Services caseworker Kristi Hachtel testified, "I've seen a lot and I never in my wildest dreams imagined this. They were preyed upon in probably one of the most heinous ways possible."
The children are now doing better, the welfare agency said.
"Through counseling and therapy sessions, these children are now finally feeling secure and safe," agency spokeswoman Shari Pulliam wrote in an e-mail.
Permanent custody of the three siblings was given to John and Margie Cantrell. This week, prosecutors in California charged John Cantrell with sexually assaulting a child in the state 18 years ago. Margie Cantrell said her husband is innocent.
Kelly's attorney moved Friday asking to postpone the trial in light of the allegations against Cantrell, a state witness. Texas Child Protective Services said it would be "common" for the agency to investigate.
The Rev. Tim Letsch is opening a church in the yellow-plastered building where the children were abused. He acknowledges that building a congregation might be difficult because of the stigma attached to the property.
"You got to decide whether you're willing to forgive those kind of things," Letsch said. "It's a hard deal. Especially for a spiritual person to walk in and say, 'This happened here.'"
Sun Jun 22, 5:44 PM ET
MINEOLA, Texas - In the windowless front rooms of a former day care center in a tiny Texas community, children as young as 5 were fed powerful painkillers they knew as "silly pills" and forced to perform sex shows for a crowd of adults.
Two people have already been convicted in the case. Now a third person with ties to the club, previously known in town only as a swingers group, is set to go on trial Monday not far from Mineola, population 5,100.
"This really shook this town," said Shirley Chadwick, a longtime resident of Mineola. "This was horrible."
Patrick Kelly, 41, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, tampering with physical evidence and engaging in organized criminal activity.
In all, six adults have been charged in connection with the case, including a parent of the three siblings involved.
Jurors this year deliberated less than five minutes before returning guilty verdicts against the first two defendants, who were accused of grooming the kids for sex shows in "kindergarten" classes and passing off Vicodin as "silly pills" to help the children perform.
Jamie Pittman and Shauntel Mayo were sentenced to life in prison. Kelly also faces a life sentence if convicted, and Smith County prosecutors hope for another swift verdict.
Thad Davidson, Kelly's attorney, said his client passed a lie-detector test proving his innocence and worries about getting a fair trial in Tyler, 25 miles southeast of Mineola, which is in Wood County.
"I think it's impossible to get a fair trial within 80 miles of Smith County," Davidson said.
Mineola, about 80 miles east of Dallas, is a close-knit, conservative bean-processing town of with more than 30 churches. Residents there want to put the scandal behind them as quickly as possible.
The one-story building where prosecutors say four children — the three siblings, now ages 12, 10 and 7, and their 10-year-old aunt — were trained to perform in front of an audience of 50 to 100 once a week has been vacant since the landlord ousted the alleged organizers in 2004.
Down a slight hill is a retirement home, and even closer is the office of the local newspaper. Doris Newman, editor of The Mineola Monitor, said rumors of swinger parties spread around town but that no one mentioned children being involved.
Newman, who can see the building from her office window, said she remembers the parking lot filling up with more than a dozen cars at night.
In August 2004, an editorial under the headline "Sex In the City" opined that if the swingers left quietly, "we'll try and forget they've infiltrated our town with their set of moral standards."
"It's not that we're trying to look the other way," Newman said. "But there's a lot more to Mineola than that."
According to a Mineola police report, the department first investigated a complaint in June 2005 in which the siblings' foster mother said one of the girls described dancing toward men and another child saying that "everybody does nasty stuff in there."
In the second trial, Child Protective Services caseworker Kristi Hachtel testified, "I've seen a lot and I never in my wildest dreams imagined this. They were preyed upon in probably one of the most heinous ways possible."
The children are now doing better, the welfare agency said.
"Through counseling and therapy sessions, these children are now finally feeling secure and safe," agency spokeswoman Shari Pulliam wrote in an e-mail.
Permanent custody of the three siblings was given to John and Margie Cantrell. This week, prosecutors in California charged John Cantrell with sexually assaulting a child in the state 18 years ago. Margie Cantrell said her husband is innocent.
Kelly's attorney moved Friday asking to postpone the trial in light of the allegations against Cantrell, a state witness. Texas Child Protective Services said it would be "common" for the agency to investigate.
The Rev. Tim Letsch is opening a church in the yellow-plastered building where the children were abused. He acknowledges that building a congregation might be difficult because of the stigma attached to the property.
"You got to decide whether you're willing to forgive those kind of things," Letsch said. "It's a hard deal. Especially for a spiritual person to walk in and say, 'This happened here.'"
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Boy suffocated during school punishment - UPDATE
Coroner's Report
Graeme Hamilton, National Post, With Files From Canwest News Service
Published: Friday, June 20, 2008
MONTREAL - After nine-year-old Gabriel Poirier was discovered lifeless in his classroom last April 17, his parents were told their autistic son had stopped breathing after hiding under a heavy therapeutic blanket.
Now a coroner has revealed that Gabriel's teachers had tightly wrapped him in the buckwheat-stuffed blanket, leaving only the tips of his ears sticking out, as punishment when he became disruptive. They left him unsupervised in a corner for 20 minutes, returning when a timer sounded.
Gabriel was unconscious and blue in the face. He was rushed to hospital, where he died the following night surrounded by his family.
In a report published yesterday, Coroner Catherine Rudel-Tessier concluded the child suffocated. She said the teachers at the special-needs school in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., failed to follow guidelines for the blankets, which are used commonly to calm autistic children.
"He was only 53 pounds, he was so small," Gilles Poirier, the boy's father said at a news conference yesterday. "How can they wrap him up like that in a 40-pound blanket? How can this treatment be tolerated?"
Ms. Rudel-Tessier said proper use of the blanket called for a child to be rolled at most once and for his head to be left uncovered. The blanket was to be used as a relaxation therapy, not as a punishment, and teachers were supposed to keep an eye on children using the blankets.
"A child rolled 'at least four times' in such a heavy blanket is under restraint," the coroner wrote.
Jean-Pierre Menard, a lawyer representing Gabriel's parents, is calling for changes to legislation to control the use of restraints in schools. The parents are also planning to sue the Hautes-Rivieres school board.
The coroner said use of the blankets should be ceased until clear guidelines are established. Basic rules would include ensuring the blanket is not too heavy for the child, never covering the child's head, ensuring that vital signs can always be observed, never rolling the child in the blanket and ensuring the child can get out if he wants to.
Kathleen Provost, executive director of the Autism Society of Canada, said weighted blankets can be calming for autistic children when used under the guidance of an occupational therapist. "They have a therapeutic use and can be relaxing," she said.
Mr. Menard said the parents were surprised to learn Gabriel had been placed in the blanket as a punishment. The school board had initially said it was a natural death and that Gabriel had gone under the blanket on his own.
"The principal said they found Gabriel under the blanket and he wasn't breathing. The parents thought that something had happened while he was sleeping and that was how he died," Mr. Menard said. He said the school board later told the media that Gabriel had hidden under the blanket.
Mr. Poirier said he cannot understand why his child was placed in a restraint. "He was a very gentle boy," he said. "Sometimes he was loud, but he was never aggressive or violent. I just don't understand how this happened," he said, tears streaming down his face.
ghamilton@nationalpost.com
Graeme Hamilton, National Post, With Files From Canwest News Service
Published: Friday, June 20, 2008
MONTREAL - After nine-year-old Gabriel Poirier was discovered lifeless in his classroom last April 17, his parents were told their autistic son had stopped breathing after hiding under a heavy therapeutic blanket.
Now a coroner has revealed that Gabriel's teachers had tightly wrapped him in the buckwheat-stuffed blanket, leaving only the tips of his ears sticking out, as punishment when he became disruptive. They left him unsupervised in a corner for 20 minutes, returning when a timer sounded.
Gabriel was unconscious and blue in the face. He was rushed to hospital, where he died the following night surrounded by his family.
In a report published yesterday, Coroner Catherine Rudel-Tessier concluded the child suffocated. She said the teachers at the special-needs school in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., failed to follow guidelines for the blankets, which are used commonly to calm autistic children.
"He was only 53 pounds, he was so small," Gilles Poirier, the boy's father said at a news conference yesterday. "How can they wrap him up like that in a 40-pound blanket? How can this treatment be tolerated?"
Ms. Rudel-Tessier said proper use of the blanket called for a child to be rolled at most once and for his head to be left uncovered. The blanket was to be used as a relaxation therapy, not as a punishment, and teachers were supposed to keep an eye on children using the blankets.
"A child rolled 'at least four times' in such a heavy blanket is under restraint," the coroner wrote.
Jean-Pierre Menard, a lawyer representing Gabriel's parents, is calling for changes to legislation to control the use of restraints in schools. The parents are also planning to sue the Hautes-Rivieres school board.
The coroner said use of the blankets should be ceased until clear guidelines are established. Basic rules would include ensuring the blanket is not too heavy for the child, never covering the child's head, ensuring that vital signs can always be observed, never rolling the child in the blanket and ensuring the child can get out if he wants to.
Kathleen Provost, executive director of the Autism Society of Canada, said weighted blankets can be calming for autistic children when used under the guidance of an occupational therapist. "They have a therapeutic use and can be relaxing," she said.
Mr. Menard said the parents were surprised to learn Gabriel had been placed in the blanket as a punishment. The school board had initially said it was a natural death and that Gabriel had gone under the blanket on his own.
"The principal said they found Gabriel under the blanket and he wasn't breathing. The parents thought that something had happened while he was sleeping and that was how he died," Mr. Menard said. He said the school board later told the media that Gabriel had hidden under the blanket.
Mr. Poirier said he cannot understand why his child was placed in a restraint. "He was a very gentle boy," he said. "Sometimes he was loud, but he was never aggressive or violent. I just don't understand how this happened," he said, tears streaming down his face.
ghamilton@nationalpost.com
Friday, June 20, 2008
Autistic boy likely suffocated: coroner's report
Brett Bundale , The Gazette
June 19, 2008
A coroner's report released today revealed suffocation as the probable cause of the death of a nine-year-old autistic boy.
The boy's parents described the reports findings as a "shock" because the school told them he had passed away "naturally and calmly."
The boy, Gabriel Poirier, attended a specialized school in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, in the Montérégie region of Quebec.
On April 17, Gabriel began to disturb his class with loud sounds. After being told repeatedly to calm down by a teacher, he was rolled in a weighted blanket. With his arms by his side, he was left on his stomach for over 20 minutes with only his toes exposed.
When the teacher went to check on him, he was "listless and blue in the face," the Coroner's report said. The teacher called 911 but the boy was already in a deep coma and passed away the next day in the Sainte-Justine hospital.
"He was a very gentle boy. Sometimes he was loud, but he was never aggressive or violent," Gilles Poirier, the boy's father, said today.
The parents' lawyer, Jean-Pierre Ménard, said vulnerable children like Gabriel need better protection.
"We're asking Minister Courchesne to implement a legal framework to regulate how these children are handled," Ménard said.
Weighted blankets are custom-made blankets filled with a specific material that gives the blanket added weight. They are considered an effective tool for helping calm down high-energy children, especially autistic children who respond well to sensory therapy.
"They have a therapeutic use and can be relaxing," said Kathleen Provost, executive director of the Autism Society of Canada.
But occupational therapists have developed a set of rules and protocols that must be followed when using a weighted blanket, Provost said.
bbundale@thegazette.canwest.com
June 19, 2008
A coroner's report released today revealed suffocation as the probable cause of the death of a nine-year-old autistic boy.
The boy's parents described the reports findings as a "shock" because the school told them he had passed away "naturally and calmly."
The boy, Gabriel Poirier, attended a specialized school in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, in the Montérégie region of Quebec.
On April 17, Gabriel began to disturb his class with loud sounds. After being told repeatedly to calm down by a teacher, he was rolled in a weighted blanket. With his arms by his side, he was left on his stomach for over 20 minutes with only his toes exposed.
When the teacher went to check on him, he was "listless and blue in the face," the Coroner's report said. The teacher called 911 but the boy was already in a deep coma and passed away the next day in the Sainte-Justine hospital.
"He was a very gentle boy. Sometimes he was loud, but he was never aggressive or violent," Gilles Poirier, the boy's father, said today.
The parents' lawyer, Jean-Pierre Ménard, said vulnerable children like Gabriel need better protection.
"We're asking Minister Courchesne to implement a legal framework to regulate how these children are handled," Ménard said.
Weighted blankets are custom-made blankets filled with a specific material that gives the blanket added weight. They are considered an effective tool for helping calm down high-energy children, especially autistic children who respond well to sensory therapy.
"They have a therapeutic use and can be relaxing," said Kathleen Provost, executive director of the Autism Society of Canada.
But occupational therapists have developed a set of rules and protocols that must be followed when using a weighted blanket, Provost said.
bbundale@thegazette.canwest.com
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Zero Tolerance: The School Woodshed
Published Online: June 9, 2008
Published in Print: June 11, 2008
By Rhonda B. Armistead
A 1st grader is disciplined for “sexual harassment” after smacking a classmate’s bottom on the playground and the police are called in; a high school student is expelled after a butter knife brought to school accidentally falls out of her locker; a 17-year-old is arrested and expelled for shooting a paper clip with a rubber band.
Few policies in education have proven to be as universally ineffective—even counterproductive—as “zero tolerance.” Brought to prominence in 1994 when Congress enacted the Gun-Free Schools Act to address weapons-based school violence and drug problems, zero-tolerance edicts have become the virtual woodshed of school discipline: They are solely punitive, and lack any positive connection to schools’ primary purpose—learning and development.
A zero-tolerance program’s goal is to act as a deterrent and provide swift intervention for misconduct, sending a strong, “one strike and you’re out” message to students. It prescribes non-negotiable punishment (typically, suspension or expulsion) for a specified behavior, regardless of the extent or context of the infraction. Possession of a butter knife and possession of a switchblade, for instance, automatically receive the same punishment, even though common sense indicates a different intention and degree of risk...
Published in Print: June 11, 2008
By Rhonda B. Armistead
A 1st grader is disciplined for “sexual harassment” after smacking a classmate’s bottom on the playground and the police are called in; a high school student is expelled after a butter knife brought to school accidentally falls out of her locker; a 17-year-old is arrested and expelled for shooting a paper clip with a rubber band.
Few policies in education have proven to be as universally ineffective—even counterproductive—as “zero tolerance.” Brought to prominence in 1994 when Congress enacted the Gun-Free Schools Act to address weapons-based school violence and drug problems, zero-tolerance edicts have become the virtual woodshed of school discipline: They are solely punitive, and lack any positive connection to schools’ primary purpose—learning and development.
A zero-tolerance program’s goal is to act as a deterrent and provide swift intervention for misconduct, sending a strong, “one strike and you’re out” message to students. It prescribes non-negotiable punishment (typically, suspension or expulsion) for a specified behavior, regardless of the extent or context of the infraction. Possession of a butter knife and possession of a switchblade, for instance, automatically receive the same punishment, even though common sense indicates a different intention and degree of risk...
Father sues over face-down restraint of autistic boy
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Ocean View School District, teachers named in suit claiming boy's broken nose, emotional wounds.
By ANNIE BURRIS
The Orange County Register
HUNTINGTON BEACH The father of an 8-year-old autistic child has filed suit against the Ocean View School District, two teachers and the city, claiming that a restraint technique used on the boy resulted in emotional and physical damage.
Robert Velasquez alleges negligence, civil rights violations and false imprisonment in the suit, filed in Orange County Superior Court. He also claims the teachers did not have the proper training to use the "prone restraint'' on his son in the Sept. 6 incident.
Former Lake View Elementary School teacher Gina Messig and assistant teacher Mai Vo used a prone restraint to control the boy, a special education student, when he started throwing objects in the classroom and hitting teachers, a school report said.
Velasquez said his child had scratches, bruises and a broken nose after the incident.
District officials said all of the special education teachers are trained adequately for their jobs. They declined to comment on the lawsuit. Messig and Vo could not be reached for comment. City officials said they anticipate being dismissed from the case.
Velasquez said his son has been agitated and had trouble sleeping because of nightmares since the incident.
"He is never going to be my baby like he was," he said. "No child deserves prone restraint."
Prone restraint – which means the person is held face down – is rarely used and is usually the last resort to control a child, experts say.
According to a report by Messig, the boy, then 7, was running in his classroom, trying to escape out the door and attempting to knock over a wheelchair. The boy then grabbed a girl by the hair and pulled her to the ground, Messig wrote.
The teachers tried to calm the boy and eventually dismissed the rest of the children from the classroom to play outside, the report said.
Velasquez said his son continues to go to Lake View but works with a new teacher. He said he has been trying to get his son transferred to the Speech and Language Development Center in Buena Park and is waiting to hear back from the school on whether the switch is approved.
He is asking for least $25,000, according to the suit filed last month. Velasquez also told The Register he would like to see cameras put in special education classes to prevent similar situations.
A bill proposed by state Senator Sheila Kuehl from Los Angeles and Ventura counties that limits physical restraint techniques is set to go before a committee on Wednesday. The bill would require teachers to "avoid the deliberate use of prone restraint techniques whenever possible.''
Contact the writer: aburris@ocregister.com or 714-445-6696
Ocean View School District, teachers named in suit claiming boy's broken nose, emotional wounds.
By ANNIE BURRIS
The Orange County Register
HUNTINGTON BEACH The father of an 8-year-old autistic child has filed suit against the Ocean View School District, two teachers and the city, claiming that a restraint technique used on the boy resulted in emotional and physical damage.
Robert Velasquez alleges negligence, civil rights violations and false imprisonment in the suit, filed in Orange County Superior Court. He also claims the teachers did not have the proper training to use the "prone restraint'' on his son in the Sept. 6 incident.
Former Lake View Elementary School teacher Gina Messig and assistant teacher Mai Vo used a prone restraint to control the boy, a special education student, when he started throwing objects in the classroom and hitting teachers, a school report said.
Velasquez said his child had scratches, bruises and a broken nose after the incident.
District officials said all of the special education teachers are trained adequately for their jobs. They declined to comment on the lawsuit. Messig and Vo could not be reached for comment. City officials said they anticipate being dismissed from the case.
Velasquez said his son has been agitated and had trouble sleeping because of nightmares since the incident.
"He is never going to be my baby like he was," he said. "No child deserves prone restraint."
Prone restraint – which means the person is held face down – is rarely used and is usually the last resort to control a child, experts say.
According to a report by Messig, the boy, then 7, was running in his classroom, trying to escape out the door and attempting to knock over a wheelchair. The boy then grabbed a girl by the hair and pulled her to the ground, Messig wrote.
The teachers tried to calm the boy and eventually dismissed the rest of the children from the classroom to play outside, the report said.
Velasquez said his son continues to go to Lake View but works with a new teacher. He said he has been trying to get his son transferred to the Speech and Language Development Center in Buena Park and is waiting to hear back from the school on whether the switch is approved.
He is asking for least $25,000, according to the suit filed last month. Velasquez also told The Register he would like to see cameras put in special education classes to prevent similar situations.
A bill proposed by state Senator Sheila Kuehl from Los Angeles and Ventura counties that limits physical restraint techniques is set to go before a committee on Wednesday. The bill would require teachers to "avoid the deliberate use of prone restraint techniques whenever possible.''
Contact the writer: aburris@ocregister.com or 714-445-6696
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Block Island officials defend room in school basement
10:23 AM EDT on Saturday, June 14, 2008
By Katie MulvaneyJournal Staff Writer
NEW SHOREHAM — Room 20 in the basement of the Block Island School is small and bare. Its concrete floor is painted green, its ceiling sky blue with white clouds, its main window covered with plywood. And, until earlier this week, its knob-less door had double bolts on the outside.
An anonymous letter raising questions about the room and a DVD showing it arrived at The Providence Journal, three television stations, and the attorney general’s office last week. In the brief video, a camera silently pans the room, showing the locks. It also shows pillows and blankets in a jumble on the floor, an open utility outlet, chipped paint and fingerprints smudging the walls. The letter makes no allegations, but raises questions about whether unruly children might have been sent there.
On Tuesday, Davida Irving, principal of the two-story school since last July, acknowledged that there might be such a room, but didn’t know its location. She said she had been told it was developed in consultation with Bradley Hospital as a space for a child “to chill out.” Asked if there were external locks, she went to look, returning perplexed. “I’ve never seen a student locked in there since I’ve been here,” she said.
During the interview, she placed a call to Supt. Leslie A. Ryan, who was off island. Ryan told her not to let a reporter see the room.
When the superintendent, who doubles as special-education director, returned on the 3 p.m. ferry, she said the school lawyer would issue a statement the next day as she stormed to her car.
Calls that evening to all five School Committee members were not returned. Teachers reached for comment said they knew nothing of the room, or were reluctant to talk. One said it was a special-education issue and she didn’t have the authority to discuss it.
Jack Lyle, the school’s previous superintendent, said there was no such room when he led the district from 2004 until Ryan took over in 2006. “That wouldn’t have happened on my watch,” Lyle, now a practicing lawyer, said. “That would go against every fabric of my being.”
An official at Bradley Hospital denied any involvement. “There is not a chance. Nobody would have worked on a room like that,” said Dr. Dale Radka, director of Bradley School who oversees all consultation with school districts. “Bradley doesn’t consult anybody about these kinds of locked facilities.”
It is common, he said, to have focus rooms in which students can quietly calm down, but a locked seclusion room would only be used as a last resort to prevent a very disturbed child from endangering him or herself or others. But, he added, there should be stringent policies and a highly trained staff in place first.
He speculated that more districts would turn to such approaches as budget cutbacks sway them to integrate high-needs children into public schools.
The Journal returned to the Block Island school Wednesday morning, and Ryan again rebuffed attempts to view the room, saying she had to protect students. She handed out a statement that read:
The Block Island School excels in providing support and appropriate education to all of its students. We have never taken punitive action involving locked doors or any other archaic practice. Specifics of behavior plans designed for special-needs students are confidential and, on this island, can prompt immediate identification of the student. We have a team of qualified and caring teachers and therapists who advocate every single day for every single child.”
Ryan refused to answer questions. “I’ve given you a statement and that’s the end.”
She referred the reporter to Vincent Carlone, the island’s chief of police.
In his office looking out on Old Harbor, where the ferries come in, Carlone said that he investigated the room Tuesday after a television reporter asked about it. He concluded there were no safety concerns, adding that the two outside locks had already been removed.
The district created the room, he said, as a way to keep a specific child with violent tendencies on the island, instead of being sent to a residential facility away from family. A difficulty of living on an island is having limited access to services readily available on the mainland, he said.
Asked why a police chief was talking about an education matter, he said school officials were restricted by “confidentiality laws.”
The superintendent told him, he said, that one or two aides always accompanied the child. The room was used “infrequently” and had not been used “recently,” he said. He was unable to be more specific. He said he had heard nothing about any other children being placed in the room.
“I don’t know if they locked that lock,” he said. But, he said, the child enjoys the room.
“No one’s in danger,” the chief said. School officials “go out of their way to help the kids.”
He emphasized that the superintendent told him the room had been set up in consultation with Bradley, an East Providence hospital specializing in children facing emotional, mental and behavioral challenges.
Told that Bradley denied any involvement with the room, the chief said, “They [school officials] wouldn’t lie to me.”
Repeated efforts to get the name of the Bradley contact were denied. School lawyer Denise Myers said, through the chief, that such disclosure would violate a federal law that protects the privacy of personal health information.
After getting clearance from Myers, Carlone took The Journal to see the room. A Journal photographer, however, was barred from taking pictures.
A thin floor mat lay in one corner with a pile of fabric resembling a blanket on top. The plywood on the window is there to prevent a student from striking the glass, Carlone said. The door has a small rectangular window and holes where the locks had been removed.
“If they made a mistake, they made a mistake with the locks,” the chief said. “But they certainly didn’t do it to hurt anyone.”
The wife of a School Committee member reprimanded the reporter, saying it was a private matter.
The state police and a prosecutor from the attorney general’s office visited the school Thursday. They will discuss their evaluation with state education officials, Maj. Steven G. O’Donnell said later.
The investigation is expected to conclude in the next few weeks, according to Michael J. Healey, spokesman for the attorney general.
“It looks like the room was used as some sort of time-out space,” Healey said. “I really doubt we’re talking about anything of a criminal nature.”
After The Journal inquired about regulations involving locked isolation rooms, Marvin Abney, the assistant to the education commissioner for equality and access, called school officials Thursday. He was assured that the locks had been taken off the room, Elliot Krieger, spokesman for the Department of Education, said.
Rhode Island regulations do not allow unobserved time-out rooms or rooms used solely for time-outs. They also do not allow a student to be confined alone in a room without access to school staff.
“Any kid in a locked room would concern the state — period,” Krieger said. “That seems to be a safety problem.”
Yesterday afternoon, the School Committee met in closed session to discuss the issue. Chairman Bill Padien could not be reached for comment.
The individual behind the DVD and the letter sought anonymity yesterday, saying he feared there would be retribution against his family for blowing the whistle on the locked room in the basement.
kmulvane@projo.com
By Katie MulvaneyJournal Staff Writer
NEW SHOREHAM — Room 20 in the basement of the Block Island School is small and bare. Its concrete floor is painted green, its ceiling sky blue with white clouds, its main window covered with plywood. And, until earlier this week, its knob-less door had double bolts on the outside.
An anonymous letter raising questions about the room and a DVD showing it arrived at The Providence Journal, three television stations, and the attorney general’s office last week. In the brief video, a camera silently pans the room, showing the locks. It also shows pillows and blankets in a jumble on the floor, an open utility outlet, chipped paint and fingerprints smudging the walls. The letter makes no allegations, but raises questions about whether unruly children might have been sent there.
On Tuesday, Davida Irving, principal of the two-story school since last July, acknowledged that there might be such a room, but didn’t know its location. She said she had been told it was developed in consultation with Bradley Hospital as a space for a child “to chill out.” Asked if there were external locks, she went to look, returning perplexed. “I’ve never seen a student locked in there since I’ve been here,” she said.
During the interview, she placed a call to Supt. Leslie A. Ryan, who was off island. Ryan told her not to let a reporter see the room.
When the superintendent, who doubles as special-education director, returned on the 3 p.m. ferry, she said the school lawyer would issue a statement the next day as she stormed to her car.
Calls that evening to all five School Committee members were not returned. Teachers reached for comment said they knew nothing of the room, or were reluctant to talk. One said it was a special-education issue and she didn’t have the authority to discuss it.
Jack Lyle, the school’s previous superintendent, said there was no such room when he led the district from 2004 until Ryan took over in 2006. “That wouldn’t have happened on my watch,” Lyle, now a practicing lawyer, said. “That would go against every fabric of my being.”
An official at Bradley Hospital denied any involvement. “There is not a chance. Nobody would have worked on a room like that,” said Dr. Dale Radka, director of Bradley School who oversees all consultation with school districts. “Bradley doesn’t consult anybody about these kinds of locked facilities.”
It is common, he said, to have focus rooms in which students can quietly calm down, but a locked seclusion room would only be used as a last resort to prevent a very disturbed child from endangering him or herself or others. But, he added, there should be stringent policies and a highly trained staff in place first.
He speculated that more districts would turn to such approaches as budget cutbacks sway them to integrate high-needs children into public schools.
The Journal returned to the Block Island school Wednesday morning, and Ryan again rebuffed attempts to view the room, saying she had to protect students. She handed out a statement that read:
The Block Island School excels in providing support and appropriate education to all of its students. We have never taken punitive action involving locked doors or any other archaic practice. Specifics of behavior plans designed for special-needs students are confidential and, on this island, can prompt immediate identification of the student. We have a team of qualified and caring teachers and therapists who advocate every single day for every single child.”
Ryan refused to answer questions. “I’ve given you a statement and that’s the end.”
She referred the reporter to Vincent Carlone, the island’s chief of police.
In his office looking out on Old Harbor, where the ferries come in, Carlone said that he investigated the room Tuesday after a television reporter asked about it. He concluded there were no safety concerns, adding that the two outside locks had already been removed.
The district created the room, he said, as a way to keep a specific child with violent tendencies on the island, instead of being sent to a residential facility away from family. A difficulty of living on an island is having limited access to services readily available on the mainland, he said.
Asked why a police chief was talking about an education matter, he said school officials were restricted by “confidentiality laws.”
The superintendent told him, he said, that one or two aides always accompanied the child. The room was used “infrequently” and had not been used “recently,” he said. He was unable to be more specific. He said he had heard nothing about any other children being placed in the room.
“I don’t know if they locked that lock,” he said. But, he said, the child enjoys the room.
“No one’s in danger,” the chief said. School officials “go out of their way to help the kids.”
He emphasized that the superintendent told him the room had been set up in consultation with Bradley, an East Providence hospital specializing in children facing emotional, mental and behavioral challenges.
Told that Bradley denied any involvement with the room, the chief said, “They [school officials] wouldn’t lie to me.”
Repeated efforts to get the name of the Bradley contact were denied. School lawyer Denise Myers said, through the chief, that such disclosure would violate a federal law that protects the privacy of personal health information.
After getting clearance from Myers, Carlone took The Journal to see the room. A Journal photographer, however, was barred from taking pictures.
A thin floor mat lay in one corner with a pile of fabric resembling a blanket on top. The plywood on the window is there to prevent a student from striking the glass, Carlone said. The door has a small rectangular window and holes where the locks had been removed.
“If they made a mistake, they made a mistake with the locks,” the chief said. “But they certainly didn’t do it to hurt anyone.”
The wife of a School Committee member reprimanded the reporter, saying it was a private matter.
The state police and a prosecutor from the attorney general’s office visited the school Thursday. They will discuss their evaluation with state education officials, Maj. Steven G. O’Donnell said later.
The investigation is expected to conclude in the next few weeks, according to Michael J. Healey, spokesman for the attorney general.
“It looks like the room was used as some sort of time-out space,” Healey said. “I really doubt we’re talking about anything of a criminal nature.”
After The Journal inquired about regulations involving locked isolation rooms, Marvin Abney, the assistant to the education commissioner for equality and access, called school officials Thursday. He was assured that the locks had been taken off the room, Elliot Krieger, spokesman for the Department of Education, said.
Rhode Island regulations do not allow unobserved time-out rooms or rooms used solely for time-outs. They also do not allow a student to be confined alone in a room without access to school staff.
“Any kid in a locked room would concern the state — period,” Krieger said. “That seems to be a safety problem.”
Yesterday afternoon, the School Committee met in closed session to discuss the issue. Chairman Bill Padien could not be reached for comment.
The individual behind the DVD and the letter sought anonymity yesterday, saying he feared there would be retribution against his family for blowing the whistle on the locked room in the basement.
kmulvane@projo.com
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