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* UPDATED x1 - Rep. Carroll: “Isolation was my personal Hell”* Schools aren’t reporting some instances of forced student isolation

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* ProPublica Illinois and the Tribune…

In fall 2015, Glacier Ridge Elementary School in Crystal Lake first used its Blue Room, a padded space that allows school workers to place students in “isolated timeout” for safety reasons.

Students were secluded in that room more than 120 times during the 2015-16 school year, according to records obtained by ProPublica Illinois and the Chicago Tribune. Yet the district, in its required reporting to the federal government, said it hadn’t used seclusion at all that school year.

Crystal Lake District 47 is an example of how even with federal reporting requirements, it’s nearly impossible to know how often some Illinois schools seclude children. An investigation by the Tribune and ProPublica Illinois found widespread use of seclusion but little transparency.

All public school districts are required to report their use of seclusion and physical restraint to the U.S. Department of Education as part of its Civil Rights Data Collection, which the department uses to help investigate discrimination complaints and to ensure districts follow federal policies. The data is collected every other school year and published online.

Because the Illinois State Board of Education does not monitor the use of seclusion or restraint in public schools, the federal data is the only systematic way for communities to determine whether and how frequently those practices are being used in their schools.

Some public schools, however, either reported incorrect data or failed to submit any information — making it difficult for parents to know with certainty whether their children’s school secludes or restrains students. A spokeswoman for Crystal Lake District 47 said its failure to report accurate data was a mistake.

To determine whether Illinois districts complied with reporting requirements, the Tribune and ProPublica Illinois filed requests under the state’s Freedom of Information Act with 75 randomly selected districts where the federal data showed no instances of seclusion for the 2015-16 school year. Those requests asked for records documenting the use of seclusion or restraint from 2015 through the end of 2018 — records that Illinois law requires districts to keep.

In addition to Crystal Lake, five districts provided records showing they had used seclusion or restraint in 2015-16 despite indicating to the Department of Education they had not.

Unreal.

* I told you yesterday that Rep. Jonathan Carroll (D-Northbrook) is filing a bill to end these seclusions. He also texted me this…

I was so upset when I read this I filed something immediately. This practice has to stop.

You’re isolating children who on top of everything else feel isolated. Imagine being different from your peers and the response to your challenges is being isolated. Just terrible.

He expanded on his thoughts with Politico…

As a former special education teacher, I can tell you that these children already feel isolated. We need to focus on teaching coping strategies and make sure these kids do not feel alone. By putting them in isolation, it’s reinforcing that they’re different and that his/her challenges are his/her fault. It is not and we need to make sure our children are safe and protected.

*** UPDATE *** Rep. Carroll wrote about his own personal experiences today…

Isolation rooms are, in theory, used to help calm an individual down through separation and reflection. Except these rooms can often act as a form of torture to an individual in crisis. Trust me, I know first-hand how painful being isolated can be. My childhood was very difficult. I was diagnosed with ADHD at a time where people still didn’t quite understand the disorder. There were many interventions used including isolation timeouts in a locked closed space. I am 45-years old and still have nightmares because of this treatment.

Due to my challenges, I was already ostracized by my peers. Getting invited to birthday parties and playdates was a rare occurrence. My life was isolation. In response to my challenges, I would be locked into a small room. I can recall every detail from the smell, lighting and texture of the carpeted walls. There was a small window on the door. One constituent who contacted us through social media shared that he still has scars on his knuckles from punching the carpeted walls because panic had set in. This treatment was, and continues to be, beyond cruel. We isolate criminals instead of using the death penalty. Think about that for a second; we use the same intervention on children that’s used on our worst criminals.

I very rarely talk about my past because it is very painful for me to do so. Simply writing this blog post, and recollecting my past experiences is giving me anxiety. Isolation was my personal Hell. I begged my parents to take me out of that school and when they did, it changed my life. My struggles didn’t go away, but I learned better coping strategies without having to be isolated. Thank goodness I was one of the lucky ones. Others are not so fortunate. It was my experience with this that helped shape my decision to become a Special Education teacher, and make sure that future students are not subjected to this kind of treatment. Now, as a legislator, I am working on a bill to ensure this practice stops entirely in our state.

I am drafting legislation to stop this practice in Illinois. It is a battle I must and will fight. No child should ever be isolated when he or she is in crisis. When around 40% of states already recognize how this treatment is wrong, hearing that Illinois uses this more than any other state is horrific. There will be opposition to my efforts, but I’ll be ready. To the 12-year old boy who’s still inside of me dealing with this pain, I will do everything in my power to not have others feel the same way.

* Related…

* The Quiet Rooms: How children are being locked away in schools across Illinois: Lakeidra Chavis, reporting fellow for ProPublica Illinois, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune data reporter joins The Roe Conn Show with Anna Davlantes to discuss how children are being locked away in so-called “quiet rooms” in schools across the state.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 9:56 am

Comments

Time-out rooms were already outlawed and anyone with sense can see that these are just time-out rooms with a new name. They should not exist.

Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 10:06 am
If Catholic schools did this there would be calls to shut them down. The standards of government schooling…

Comment by Steve Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 10:12 am
I just want to point out that according to the Twitters, Lakeidra Chavis‘s internship is up now and she is looking for a job, with references from Jodi Cohen.

Comment by Thomas Paine Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 10:17 am
Forced isolation is child abuse. There can be no other possible view of this practice. If this was ever done to my kid I’d sue the district for every single penny they had.

Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 10:42 am
I did not know about these solitary confinement programs in schools, but I’ve seen similarly punitive setups. The rooms must be shut down as fast as we can do it, but that’s not all. This is about resources, too. We must train staff to work with kids appropriately, with emphasis on the special needs of kids with autism, trauma, and other conditions and circumstances not easily understood for what they are. We need to correct under-staffed and under-supervised situations. We need to systematically identify and remove the lazy, the power-tripping, and others who exploit loopholes and other “work-arounds” in our laws that tend to ignore needs and create victims.

Comment by yinn Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 10:49 am
==They should not exist.==

Anyone who’s ever dealt with a tantrumming child sees the benefit of a safe space to deal with the problem. My issue is the lack of a trained adult not staying in the room (if safety permits) to help them deal with whatever is bothering the child.

Comment by Jocko Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 11:14 am
That is really moving. Must be difficult to write and share so publicly. Thank you.

Comment by Dan Johnson Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 11:20 am
Wow. Rep. Carroll.

Thank you for putting your face and hard work to this.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 11:20 am
==sees the benefit of a safe space to deal with the problem. My issue is the lack of a trained adult not staying in the room==

Agreed and agreed.

Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 11:26 am
Rep Carroll demonstrates the sense of urgency and purpose that Superintendent Ayala and her staff should have had.

Comment by Juvenal Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 11:29 am
School social workers should replace isolation cells.

Comment by NoGifts Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 11:53 am
=Anyone who’s ever dealt with a tantrumming child sees the benefit of a safe space to deal with the problem. =

That is different than lockiing them in a room alone.

Deescalation involves active adult intervention.

Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 12:14 pm
Applaud Rep. Carroll’s courage for sharing what happened to him and again reliving his trauma to help others understand.

Comment by Moe Berg Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 12:22 pm
===If Catholic schools did this there would be calls to shut them down.===

Are you really trying to play the victim in a story about the systematic torture of children?

Comment by Nick Name Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 12:25 pm
I wonder if school administrators have considered the studies that have shown the correlation between childhood trauma, and substance abuse/addiction and suicide?

They should; it’s easily googled.

Comment by Maryjane Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 12:37 pm
Every School Board President should be in contact with their school district Superintendent about this issue. The School Board can stop this type of practice much sooner than any law. - Let’s use local control to the children’s advantage here!

Comment by Former Candidate on the Ballot Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 1:07 pm
Thanks for putting this in your spotlight.

Capitol Fax is heavy…Respect.

Comment by Dotnonymous Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 1:56 pm
One more voice here for adequate training and staffing for schools to educate children in ways that help them. The horror of this makes the relative indifference to caging brown children along the border more understandable. We treat our own children like this, why not others? There are apparently no moral guardrails when it come to dealing with children and powerless adults. It looks like good people (God Bless Rep. Carroll) are moving to help stop future a use. What will we do about helping the past victims?

Comment by Froganon Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 3:48 pm
My Grandson struggles in many of the same ways, I applaud Representative Carroll for sharing his personal story as this is never easy. Rep. Carroll is my new hero and I can’t wait for my Grandson to meet him!

Comment by Just Peachy Wednesday, Nov 20, 19 @ 4:31 pm