Fw: Columbia,TN - Mom: School officials stripped, locked up son

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Subject: Columbia,TN - Mom: School officials stripped, locked up sonTo: "Undisclosed List" Date: Sunday, September 20, 2009, 7:20 PM

When will someone stand up for our children and put a STOP to this abusive treatment our children with special needs are subjected to in many public schools??

Mom: School officials stripped, locked up son

Story created Sep 20, 2009 By CHRIS GRAHAM

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

Columbia,TN - 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€â€œA 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€â€œAfter 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 “sick†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€

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.

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