NBC4 Investigates Alleged Misuse Of School Seclusion Rooms | NBC 4i

NBC4 Investigates Alleged Misuse Of School Seclusion Rooms | NBC 4i
By: NBC4

NBC4
Published: May 17, 2012
Updated: May 17, 2012 - 6:15 PM


COLUMBUS, Ohio --


The use of seclusion rooms is making headlines around the country from scream rooms in Connecticut, kids being repeatedly secluded in Idaho to rooms being used as punishment in Kansas. Maine officials are talking about what are being called dangerous seclusion rooms.



Seclusion rooms, also known as respite or processing rooms, are private rooms with doors where students who are a threat to themselves or others can go to calm down.



Some parents in Ohio are also questioning the use of seclusion rooms locally.



NBC4's Steve Wainfor has been investigating the use of the seclusion rooms and found that Ohio doesn't have guidelines in place.



Some of the rooms are as small as a closet and can be a frightening place for children. So why isn't anyone regulating the use of seclusion rooms?



A Southern Ohio family says their son was placed in a seclusion room every day for several months because he could not read.



The family's attorney said it's an example of how some school staff in Ohio are not properly trained to help children with disabilities, and how the seclusion rooms can be misused.



Myra, a Columbus mother said her 18-year-old son, who has autism, was placed in a seclusion room inside a Central Ohio classroom.



"He was traumatized and he was describing the room as being scary, and putting him on fire," Myra said.



The seclusion room involved is at Eastmoor Academy in Columbus City Schools, which uses the term processing room.



"There was a little old area over there with a door and that's what they led me to and it was locked and I heard him screaming. So I was shocked. I was just totally shocked," Myra said.



The district has refused NBC4's repeated requests to see the seclusion rooms.



NBC4 obtained video from a Vermont TV station with a room that appears to be similar to the seclusion rooms, based on Myra's description.



It's a small room with padded walls. The only difference is that in Vermont, the district has removed the door. In Columbus, Myra said, the door was still in place.



Myra said she knows her son can become aggressive.



According to forms filled out by the school staff on Oct. 26, 2011, Myra's son "punched" a staff member, and that's when he was placed in the processing room.



Myra said she agreed to have her son placed in a large sensory room, but that she never signed off on a small seclusion room.



"The door was metal and I don't remember seeing a window on the door and it had like a latch on it. It was pretty narrow…it certainly wasn't a room," Myra said.



She said she told the district several times not to put her son in the room, but said she discovered on Nov. 7, 2011, her son was placed in the room four times in one day.







She said the room scared him so much that he urinated in the room and, as a result, contracted a staph infection. She says he was so traumatized that he can no longer go to school.



NBC4 contacted the district to speak about the case, but the district's spokesman said he cannot speak to Myra's story because it has sparked a lawsuit by the Ohio Legal Rights Service.



However, district officials said they, "deny that parents were unaware that their students were being placed in processing rooms."



They also deny that they, "did not monitor the use of processing rooms."



But it's not just Central Ohio parents who are concerned. The questions are being raised statewide.



"The State of Ohio has done nothing, absolutely nothing to create any kind of policies, rules, legislation, that would govern the use of restraint and seclusion in the State of Ohio," said attorney Aimee Gilman.



Ohio is not alone in its lax regulation.



According to a report by Jessica Butler and the Autism National Committee, only 30 states have laws regarding the use of seclusion rooms.



Gilman works with families of special needs children and said a lot of children can't tell their parents what is happening to them. She claims that school districts are using seclusion rooms as an easy solution.



"There is no literature that supports the use of those techniques as an effective way [of] managing behavior, and districts aren't using it really to try and enable the child to manage the behavior on their own. They are simply using it to get the kid out of the way," Gilman said.



So what is being done to protect children in Ohio? In 2009, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) formed a group to develop policies on the use of seclusion rooms. But because of administration changes, the work was put on hold. Three years later, Ohio still has nothing.



"It's been over two years. What is taking so long for this to be looked at?" Wainfor asked Patrick Galloway, of the Ohio Department of Education.



"It's understandable that you would have that question. I do understand we were involved in the multi-state agency group from the beginning back in 2009. The challenge was educational institutions are a little bit different than a lot of those organizations and agencies that were involved, and so I think some unique challenges were noted, that this may work differently in a school environment with children," Galloway said.



"With people just leaving, why was it just dropped?" Wainfor asked.



"Well, I won't say that it was absolutely dropped. I would say that with folks moving and transitioning into possibly different positions, the work was there. It's just that sometimes, things do get sidelined," Galloway said.



"Why, after two years, the urgency to look at this now?" Wainfor asked.



"There have been recent reports of issues in some school districts. That's one thing that we definitely take note of. These are serious issues, serious concerns and the other point is we know that school districts really do need some more tools and some resources," Galloway said.



The board of education said it's now a priority. Two groups are listening to educators, advocates and other states about the use of seclusion rooms.



The department of education said it will give a policy to the state board sometime this summer. It will take the board five to six months to make the new policies, and in the meantime, ODE will provide regional training statewide by the 2013-2014 school year, with policies in place by 2014-2015.



Gilman said that having policies in place is a start, but it's nothing without making sure staff members are properly trained.



"Now if your district is going to admit and accept students like that, you need to be trained. It was obvious that they wasn't prepared," Myra said.



"The training is a major, major piece of this. Without that, this isn't going to go away. Because we have policies for lots of things; we have bullying policies, but that doesn't mean that bullying doesn't happen every day in the state of Ohio either," Gilman said.



"My son has socially regressed. He doesn't want to be around nobody but me. He is traumatized. He still has flashbacks," Myra said.



Columbus City Schools repeatedly denied requests from NBC4 to see the seclusion rooms because of pending legal action.

Treatment of special needs students stirs controversy

Treatment of special needs students stirs controversy | kens5.com San Antonio


by Phil Anaya / KENS 5

Follow: @twitter@phil_anaya
kens5.com
Posted on May 12, 2012 at 10:05 PM
Updated Saturday, May 12 at 10:22 PM



There appears to be a growing concern among parents with special needs children about their child's well being while in school. And it’s no different here in San Antonio.



“The safety of our child was number one,” said Mike Borgelt via a Skype interview with KENS 5. “He (Borgelt’s son) was being physically abused at the school because of all the restraining, which is illegal by the way, and we just had to move we had to make a big change.”



Mike and his family moved to Michigan because he believes his autistic son, Noah, was being abused while attending Barbara Bush Middle School. Borgelt said many times when Noah would have an outburst at school, faculty and staff would restrain him excessively.



“My son literally had finger marks, bruising finger marks on his back. You can literally see this guy’s fingers on his back,” said Noah’s mother Dawne Borgelt.



The Borgelt’s even provided KENS 5 with a video that apparently shows an administrator being too rough with Noah after he had an outburst in the cafeteria. The family took that complaint, among many other complaints to court. The family eventually won in litigation against the North East Independent School District. However, the Borgelts said so much damage had already been done, they felt it was in the best interest of their son that the family move out of the state of Texas to prevent future damage.



“We've moved to Michigan,” said Mike. “It’s not perfect but at least my son is not being abused and they're willing to work with us.”



However, the Borgelts aren’t alone. KENS 5 has investigated numerous claims of excessive restraint on special needs children. One family said their son was handcuffed at both the wrists and ankles. And most recently another family claims their autistic son suffered a broken arm after a scuffle with a teacher.



Dr. Steven Pliszka is head of the child and adolescent psychiatric division at the UT Health Science Center. He said the controversy is nothing new and only growing.



“Concerns with kids being put in handcuffs and kids being injured during restraints is definitely occurring on a nation-wide basis,” said Pliszka.



When it comes to restraining a special needs child during an outburst, Pliszka can't comment on specific San Antonio cases, but did admit it's a very difficult situation that not everyone can handle.



“It really is one situation where you really have to keep your cool,” said Pliszka. “So you almost have be Zen like in the way you approach it. The more upset they get, the more you want to keep yourself calm.”



While many parents say it starts with school training, Pliszka said the answer is beyond that.



“We also in San Antonio have a really serious problem. We don't have a good system for dealing with kids in crisis,” said Pliszka. “If there's an emergency then usually the only options are going to a local emergency room, calling police, or calling EMS. There's nothing in between.”



So while some professionals believe it’s a larger community issue and some parents say it starts with school training, the one thing everyone seems to agree on is that San Antonio and the state of Texas can certainly improve when it comes to bettering treatment of the special needs community.



“I think it’s nationally an issue. I think there's worse states than others and I think Texas is one of the worst,” said Dawne.



“We could do a lot more in this community, I think, to prevent these things from happening,” said Pliszka. “I see that as the long-term solution beyond just having better training for teachers and folks who deal with this.”



An NEISD spokesman responded to this story, and specifically about the Borgelts' concerns.



"There are times when parents claim too little effort is used to restrain a child from hurting himself or others. Then there are times when claims are made that too much effort is used. Every student outburst is different – the goal is to keep that child from injuring himself or others," said NEISD spokesman, Vic Garcia.

KABB Fox San Antonio :: Top Stories - 11-year-old Special Needs Student Arrested -- Grace White

KABB Fox San Antonio :: Top Stories - 11-year-old Special Needs Student Arrested -- Grace White


11-year-old Special Needs Student Arrested -- Grace White




An 11-year-old special needs student is arrested, accused of assaulting teachers. Buffie Veselka says her son, Manny Hutchinson sat in the Juvenile Detention Center downtown for three hours before she was even contacted.



"He can't say his a-b-c's, he can't tie his shoes," said Veselka. "Never ever in my wildest dreams did I imagine that the administrators for his school would press felony charges against him." Hutchinson is a special needs student, charged with assaulting his teachers. "My son is legally mentally handicapped. He has epilepsy."



This all happened here at Wetmore Elementary. District officials say the student hit two teachers. After the first time he was sent home and when it happened again he was arrested. "When you are a teacher you answer the call to teach, not to serve as an emotional punching bag or a physical punching bag," said Vic Garcia, North East I.S.D. spokesman. North East I.S.D. leaders say they do not tolerate violence from students, even if they are special needs. "Hopefully that may have impressed on the child that kicking a teacher anywhere on the body is not acceptable," said Garcia.



"It was a field trip to him. He didn't want to leave, he was very interested, he had no idea he was in trouble," said Veselka. She knows her son has behavioral problems, but she says criminal charges are not the answer. "There need to be safeguards, there need to be precautions, there needs to be training, there needs to be public awareness. They are a part of the community." And a part of a public school system, she worries does not understand her son.



Right now, no court date has been set. Veselka says her son was back at school today, but is moving to an alternative campus tomorrow.



Posted by: Grace White

Follow Grace on Twitter @Grace__White11-year-old Special Needs Student Arrested -- Grace White

Monday, May 14 2012, 09:30 PM CDT

Harper: Restraint Guidelines Endanger Children : Roll Call Opinion

Harper: Restraint Guidelines Endanger Children : Roll Call Opinion

Harper: Restraint Guidelines Endanger Children
By Rep. Gregg Harper
Special to Roll Call
May 14, 2012, Midnight




Every day in schools across the United States, students are being subjected to barbaric and potentially deadly treatment in the form of seclusion and restraint.




According to leading education researchers and child trauma experts, as well as the Government Accountability Office, the use of these practices — which include forcibly pinning students to the ground, strapping them to chairs or locking them in closets — is dangerous and traumatic for everyone involved, including teachers, other school personnel and students. Their use has been linked to physical and emotional harm and even death. It is a practice that amounts to institutionalized child abuse, and it has no place in our schools.



That is why the American Association of School Administrators’ recent endorsement of the use of seclusion and restraint in our schools is so disheartening. In promoting the use of these harmful practices, the organization is recommending a policy that could make our schools significantly more dangerous for students and educators alike.



Sadly, seclusion and restraint is primarily inflicted on young children with disabilities. Seventy percent of children who suffer this treatment have significant disabilities. Most are between the ages of 6 and 10.



Think about it: The most vulnerable of our children, the ones we should be nurturing and protecting, are the most likely to endure this violent, degrading and sometimes deadly practice. Imagine the lifelong damage young children can suffer when they are handled this way by teachers or others who have been entrusted with their care.



Experience and research show that seclusion and restraint are actually counterproductive and increase the likelihood of violence in classrooms. Across the United States, school districts that have renounced their use experience significantly less problematic behavior from students. Tellingly, they also report substantial reductions in workers compensation claims by teachers and staff as a result of altercations with students.



Ultimately, the AASA’s position on seclusion and restraint is really a reflection of the group’s disregard for children with disabilities.



The implication is that these vulnerable children are a burden to schools, rather than an equally important part of the student population. The underlying attitude is that these children are disrupting their efforts to educate the “good” students and that something must be done to keep disruptions to a minimum. What better way to accomplish this than by locking the disruptive child in a closet for the day?



Fortunately, most of the educators I’ve met and come to know, both as a parent and as an elected official, don’t share this attitude. They recognize that each child is precious and presents unique challenges and opportunities, and they are committed to educating everyone. The question is: How can we provide educators the support and guidance they need to educate every child in the classroom, even those who present behavioral challenges?



For school administrators, the answer can be found in providing teachers with evidence-based behavior management training to give them the skills they need to avoid dangerous situations and neutralize threatening behavior. Rather than encouraging potentially dangerous responses to challenging behaviors, administrators should provide teachers the necessary tools to avoid them.



Of course, the responsibility doesn’t lie solely with school administrators, or teachers for that matter. Parents of children with behavioral issues must be willing to work closely with school staff to help them better understand their children and the types of situations and stimuli that can lead to outbursts. The better teachers know the student, the more likely they’ll be able to create a safe and supportive environment.



Finally, policymakers and legislators can play an important role by creating sensible and realistic standards and regulations to assure that every school is safe for students and teachers alike. Some states are already doing a good job of dealing with this issue and can offer valuable lessons to officials and lawmakers in other states.



Ideally, legislators should be working with experienced behaviorists to create uniform guidelines that could be adopted by each state.



Everyone wants safe schools. However, any approach that legitimizes seclusion and restraint undermines safety while marginalizing our society’s most vulnerable children. We can — and must — do better for our children.



Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.) is a member of the Energy and Commerce, House Administration and Ethics committees.

Parents Of Special Needs Child Say Their Boy Was Restrained

Parents Of Special Needs Child Say Their Boy Was Restrained
April 24, 2012 9:58 PM
CBS Dallas/Fort Worth

 
 
 
LEWISVILLE (CBSDFW.COM) – The parents of a special needs child say their 10-year-old was restrained on the school bus on the way home.




They say they want to know why a supervisor put their son Lukas Hines in a choke hold and wouldn’t let him go to his mother. For four minutes the struggle continued between the Durham School Services supervisor and Lukas and his mother.



Anna Hines recorded what happened on her iPhone. *Disturbing Video*
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/video/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=7032694




In the video she is heard repeatedly asking,“Let him go!” says Anna Hines “Are you keeping my child from me?”




“As soon as police get here,” replies the supervisor holding onto Lukas.



The Hines family wants to know what led to the confrontation last Wednesday.



“The more you’re going to fight him the more he’s going to do that,” says Anna Hines.



The supervisor replies, “Ma’am I wasn’t holding him the whole time. He kicked. He bit. He head-butted. He spit on us.”



Durham School Services runs the buses for Lewisville ISD. The Hines family says they were told their son, a 4th grade special needs student, was out of his seat and distracting the bus driver.



“He was man-handled like a rag doll. The guy had him a choke hold,” says Lukas’s father Andy Hines “He was up in the air and swinging him around.”




Police eventually arrived and Lukas was released to his mother. Lukas suffers from seizures, dyslexia, ADHD and he’s being tested for autism.




His mother even took pictures later that day showing scratches and bruises on his body.



“He wanted me it broke my heart that I couldn’t reach him I couldn’t get him,” says Anna Hines. “I didn’t know what to do. I felt helpless kept asking why I couldn’t have him give me my child back he just refused.”



The family identifies the supervisor seen in the video as Richard Blatchley. Durham services says Blatchley is a bus barn supervisor.



Company representatives sent CBS 11 a statement saying, “As this recording only captured a limited portion of the entire interaction, we are currently in the process of reviewing the whole series of events. We take our job of transporting students safely very seriously and are working diligently to determine all the facts.”



The Hines say they’ve talked to Lewisville ISD and a trained teacher and aide have been riding with Lukas since the incident.



There was an aide on the bus the day of the incident, but the family was told that she couldn’t handle Lukas.



Lewisville ISD says they can’t comment on the specific case.



However, a spokesperson says the district’s restraint policy is used when a student causes danger to him or herself, other students and staff and if the situation escalates police may be notified.



Update:


The district says there was not a camera on the bus at the time of the incident. Durham School Services sent an updated statement on the incident Wednesday:


Durham School Services has a comprehensive student management training program which includes specific components for students with special needs; all employees who interact with special needs students receive this training. A component of our approach to student management when encountering a student who is causing harm to other students, our employees, or him/herself, is to intervene as necessary to prevent harm. If intervention does not successfully resolve the situation, authorities may be called. A review of the incident on April 18 found our Manager, Mr. Blatchley had encountered such a situation thus the use of restraint and the contacting of local authorities was warranted. Our manager’s responsibility was to protect all of the students on the bus, including the student involved in the incident, and his employees while he waited for the authorities. We regret that the wait for the authorities delayed resolution of the situation, but once the authorities were contacted, the authorities are responsible for releasing the student to his mother.



The supervisor, Richard Blatchley, has not commented on the case. No action has been taken against him.

School district says privacy cloaks seclusion-room data | The Columbus Dispatch

School district says privacy cloaks seclusion-room data | The Columbus Dispatch

School district says privacy cloaks seclusion-room data

By Jennifer Smith Richards
The Columbus Dispatch
Wednesday April 25, 2012 6:49 AM


The Columbus school district denied yesterday that it is blocking a state agency’s attempts to investigate the district’s use of seclusion rooms for special-needs students.




In an answer to a federal lawsuit filed in early March, the district said it turned over documents that were pertinent to a mother’s allegation that her autistic son was so terrified when placed in a cell-like room that he stripped naked and urinated.



But the district denies that the Ohio Legal Rights Service, a state agency that works to protect people with disabilities, has the broad authority to review the records of all district students who have been placed in seclusion rooms. (The district calls them “processing” or “respite” rooms.) The agency is seeking students’ names and contact information.



In the response filed yesterday, the district said it must keep student information confidential unless parents consent to the release of records or unless the agency determines that there is “probable cause to believe that incidents of abuse or neglect occurred.”



The agency began asking in December for information about how often and why Columbus’ employees put students in seclusion rooms. The district said logs of individual students’ behavior, including whether they were secluded, are student-level records and should remain confidential.



Larry Braverman, the district’s chief legal counsel, declined to comment on the lawsuit. Tim Tobin, disability policy director for the legal-rights service, said the agency is reviewing the response and wouldn’t comment further.



In the lawsuit against Columbus, the agency said it appears the district has no oversight over school workers’ use of the rooms and can’t determine whether they’re appropriately used.



Columbus denied that in its answer yesterday, saying that a report “must be completed each time a student is placed in a seclusion room and provided to the school principal by the end of the day.” Parents then are notified, the district said. Eleven of Columbus’ 118 school buildings have seclusion rooms.

Video released of assault on special needs child

http://www.carolinalive.com/news/story.aspx?id=748629

Video shows school employees hitting special needs student
by Tonya Brown
Posted: 05.01.2012 at 4:59 PM
Updated: 05.01.2012 at 5:40 PM

SC-
Tuesday, Darlington police released a video showing a teacher's aid and a behavioral manager at St. John's Elementary hitting a 10-year-old special needs student on a bus.



The women were yelling at him to hush as they tried to put a safety harness on the child.


In the video, you can clearly see the boy being slapped in his face and pushed.


At one point, you can hear the 10-year-old crying.


The images of the other students are blurred, but the 10-year-old's mother signed a release saying her son's face could be shown in the video.


Tomeka Self and Rosanna Dudley were arrested last Friday on charges of simple assault and battery.


The boy is not able to communicate verbally, and police say he was not aggressive at all toward the women.


Officers say they've pulled all available video from that school bus and found no other such incidents.




The employees are on administrative leave without pay pending the outcome of the investigation.


They are set to appear in court May 9th.