What the school systems get away with!

[Guest guest]

I read this story this morning and I am completely sick to my stomach! I can not

believe that in 2009, in America, this can still happen. This is something

everyone should be writing letters about and investigating their own schools to

ensure this does not happen to your children.

Story below:

Kristy Colvin

IMDSA President

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

International Mosaic Down Syndrome Association

PH:

Toll Free: 1-888-MDS-LINK

http://www.imdsa.org

http://www.mosaicmoments.today.com

http://www.c-dh.net/articles/2009/09/20/top_stories/01kid.txt

Mom: School officials stripped, locked up son

By CHRIS GRAHAM

A

concrete-floored room at ph Brown Elementary School is shown. A

mother of a developmentally disabled student at the school alleges her

son was stripped down to his underwear and ordered to stand in this

room as punishment. Courtesy photo

A

Maury County judge has issued an emergency injunction against educators

at ph Brown Elementary School after a developmentally disabled

student was allegedly stripped down to his underwear and locked in a

seclusion room.

“I don’t want this ever to happen to another

child,†said Spring Hill resident Parks, mother of the

9-year-old boy. “My child’s rights have been stripped from him.â€

Parks

alleges she was called to the school Tuesday to pick up her son after

he had acted out in his special education class taught by Tasha .

After

the mother got to the school, Parks said she was led to a door with a

small window. When the door was opened she saw her son standing and

crying in the middle of the room wearing only his underwear.

She said the first image that came to her mind was a jail cell.

“It’s

just nothing that you should be put in,†she said, while fighting back

tears. “I guess if he had committed a crime or if he had been locked up

in jail, but emotionally it’s not good for a 9-year-old child.â€

Pictures

provided by Latta, Parks’ attorney, show the interior of a small

cinderblock room with a concrete floor, no chairs and a door with no

handle. A black “X†is etched on the floor where students are told to

stand, Latta said.

Parks said the door window was covered by a small cloth from the outside.

“Anyone could go into that room and get the feeling I got,†Parks said.

“It’s not good.â€

According

to a petition filed in Maury County Chancery Court Friday, the boy “was

stripped to his underwear†and “placed in a bare concrete room … as

punishment for acting out in his special education class.â€

“A

hearing must be held to determine the efficacy and/or legality of the

decision made by Respondents to conduct the herein described

‘discipline,’†the petition reads.

The injunction signed by

Judge Jim Hamilton prohibits the school from utilizing the seclusion

room until a court proceeding is held. The order also bans educators

from removing clothing from the boy.

According to a suspension

notice given to Parks by Brown Elementary Principal Dr. Tina

Weatherford, the boy had been verbally abusive to students and

teachers. The document also notes the student “kicked the teacher.â€

“After 1 hr (sic) and multiple seclusion room visits, he is not able to

participate in class,†the notice reads.

Parks said this isn’t the first time her son has been sent to the seclusion

room, though she had never seen it until Tuesday.

Parks

said she doesn’t know if it is the first time her son was stripped of

his clothing, which was piled on his teacher’s desk. When Parks asked

officials why her son's clothes were taken off, she said she was told

it was for his own protection.

The boy was suspended for two

days and eligible to go back to class Friday, but Parks thought it was

better for him to stay home.

“He’s terrified to step foot back over there,†she said.

Latta

said a meeting was held with the Maury County Board of Education

Thursday, though he said officials refused to proceed without an

attorney present.

“After requesting the meeting the members

present … informed us because she (Parks) retained counsel, they

refused to go forward,†he said.

Maury County Schools

spokeswoman Sharon Kinnard declined comment Friday and referred all

questions to Director of Schools Eddie Hickman.

A message left on Hickman’s cell phone was not returned.

Parks

said her son suffers from Attention Deficient Hyperactive Disorder and

Oppositional Defiant Disorder, a mental condition typically defined by

symptoms of defiant, hostile and annoying behavior toward authority

figures. She said her son has had a hard time the last two years after

her husband, who is in the Army, was called to serve in Iraq.

The mother acknowledged her son may have been acting out but said the school

handled the situation very poorly.

“I think if it had gotten to that level, they should have called (me),†she

said.

Parks

said she’s cried many times since the alleged incident and feels “sickâ€

about putting him in the class in the first place. She said her son

would often tell her that he didn’t want to go to school and now she

sees why.

“I’m beating myself because I feel he was trying to

tell me this,†she said. “He tells me these things, but I really just

blew him off because I didn’t think our educational system was this

way.â€

Story created Sep 20, 2009 - 18:08:46 EDT.