City Paper article on seclusion and restraint in D.C. Schools

[Anonymous]

This isn't just a problem in DC. I am not excusing it -- it's horrific wherever it happens. Mistreatment of students with disabilities should be severely punished and adults held accountable.

https://twitter.com/jjouvenal/status/1206645334501462022?s=20

-Parent of child who was non-verbal from age 3-6 or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This isn't just a problem in DC. I am not excusing it -- it's horrific wherever it happens. Mistreatment of students with disabilities should be severely punished and adults held accountable.

https://twitter.com/jjouvenal/status/1206645334501462022?s=20

-Parent of child who was non-verbal from age 3-6 or so.

I am in education and I have been for a very long time. There is no excuse for this. There should be criminal charges and punishment at the highest levels.

[Anonymous]

I used to work at Bridges.

The 13 times a year figure is completely false. I know that multiple students were in the blue rooms every day. I'd say 13 times a week is more accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to work at Bridges.

The 13 times a year figure is completely false. I know that multiple students were in the blue rooms every day. I'd say 13 times a week is more accurate.

Did you report it or tell their parents?

[Anonymous]

Related: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/charter-board-auditing-special-ed-services-at-southeast-washington-school/2019/12/08/660db7a0-0d81-11ea-bd9d-c628fd48b3a0_story.html

Re: Ingenuity Prep which also apparently used seclusionary practices

[Anonymous]

I don’t know what the answer is but schools and parents push so hard for inclusion and many of these kids have very very serious mental, physical and behavioral issues. Has your kid been in a class that had to be cleared because a second grader was standing on a table and throwing stuff that the entire class was at risk? Most teachers Do not have the skills to handle high needs kids in mixed classrooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know what the answer is but schools and parents push so hard for inclusion and many of these kids have very very serious mental, physical and behavioral issues. Has your kid been in a class that had to be cleared because a second grader was standing on a table and throwing stuff that the entire class was at risk? Most teachers Do not have the skills to handle high needs kids in mixed classrooms.

I think the answer is to increase the skills of the teachers. Inclusion is not inherently problematic. Asking teachers and aides without the skills/training/time/interest/compensation to handle kids with behavioral problems is the problem.

[Anonymous]

I work on this topic and while I’m a students first, equity focused person, school discipline is a tough nut to crack. It’s an issue of safety for the student who is being disciplined (and is often a victim of multiple trauma in their home lives), as well as teachers and aides, who sometimes suffer injuries dealing with these students (with or without training). It’s also bad for the rest of the class to witness. The teachers and the whole class can be traumatized. But yes, the gravest cases concern student welfare and their rights and policies and training need to focus on that, while also dealing with school safety.

[Anonymous]

Here's a link to the FCPS lawsuit on the same topic. Note that the private contract schools FCPS sends kids to almost always also have DCPS students being treated similarly.

https://www.copaa.org/news/473153/Lawsuit-Alleges-Fairfax-County-VA-Unjustly-Discriminated-Against-Traumatized-and-Harmed-Students.htm

[Anonymous]

I hope some lawyer reads this article and helps out that poor mom with the two boys pro bono.

[Anonymous]

My child was in a class with a completely out of control child. It was a mess and it very much negatively impacted the learning opportunities for the entire class. The child was frequently removed and taken to a calming down room. We definitely felt like the rest of the class was sacrificed for the sake of inclusion and nobody was happy about it and it was really too much for the school to handle, although they tried mightily. I am a supporter of inclusion but inclusion for inclusion’s sake is not helpful for anyone, nor is it the intent of the IDEA law.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to work at Bridges.

The 13 times a year figure is completely false. I know that multiple students were in the blue rooms every day. I'd say 13 times a week is more accurate.

Did you report it or tell their parents?

Admin doesn't want you asking questions about it. So if you don't know which student it is, it's hard to report to parents.

On a similar note, when I spoke out about other things I wasn't offered a contract for the following year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child was in a class with a completely out of control child. It was a mess and it very much negatively impacted the learning opportunities for the entire class. The child was frequently removed and taken to a calming down room. We definitely felt like the rest of the class was sacrificed for the sake of inclusion and nobody was happy about it and it was really too much for the school to handle, although they tried mightily. I am a supporter of inclusion but inclusion for inclusion’s sake is not helpful for anyone, nor is it the intent of the IDEA law.

Yeah, well neither is locking SN kids in padded rooms. I don’t know why some posters are making connections between inclusion and seclusion. All the SN schools that DC sends kids with behavior problems to (so non-inclusive, segregated facilities who take kids with severe behavior problems) have seclusion rooms. Inclusion is not causing the behavior problems and seclusion is not solving them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you think bridges is the only school that uses seclusion you are wrong.
DC sped is a disaster. I’m hoping for a few good parent law suits so someone else takes us over.
Love,
Dcps sped teacher

Going after one school changes nothing, maybe just that one school.
Change only happens if you start where policy, funding, and oversight happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I work on this topic and while I’m a students first, equity focused person, school discipline is a tough nut to crack. It’s an issue of safety for the student who is being disciplined (and is often a victim of multiple trauma in their home lives), as well as teachers and aides, who sometimes suffer injuries dealing with these students (with or without training). It’s also bad for the rest of the class to witness. The teachers and the whole class can be traumatized. But yes, the gravest cases concern student welfare and their rights and policies and training need to focus on that, while also dealing with school safety.

I agree. Is this a problem with the push to inclusion? Our society is so loathe to separate and properly educate/treat people with special needs or emotional disturbances.