Parents were outraged to learn this “timeout” box was in a classroom at the St Regis Mohawk elementary school in Akwesasne.
Chrissy Jacobs
A public school district in northern New York broke state education regulations at least six times when it chose to confine students with disabilities in padded, wooden boxes in the classroom, an investigation by the New York State Education Department found.
The state ordered the Salmon River Central School District to change its policies and special education practices by this fall and submit paperwork to demonstrate its compliance.
Article continues below this ad
State investigators found five students with disabilities were placed in the large boxes “with the door held shut,” an act that constitutes seclusion, a practice banned by education regulations in New York.
The release of the state report is the latest development in a monthslong saga that resulted in criminal investigations, the introduction of new legislation, condemnation from the governor and the departures of multiple school administrators in the district since mid-December, when photos of one of the crates emerged on Facebook.
The state’s conclusions differ from the findings released by an attorney hired by the school district to conduct a review of the use of the boxes. That attorney determined the boxes had been used this school year on two students who usually chose to go into the boxes and stay there. The students “were never locked or confined in the boxes (doors were only closed by the students themselves),” the attorney, Kate Reid, wrote in a report.
Article continues below this ad
Make the Times Union a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.
Add Preferred Source
Assemblyman Michael Cashman, a Democrat who represents the area that includes the school district, pointed to the differences between the state’s report and the one produced by the attorney retained by the district, saying “it raises even more questions as to why such a large gap in findings was released.”
“The NYSED investigation findings tell an absolutely abhorrent story of mistreatment of youth,” he said. “These harms are amplified by the cultural context they unfolded within: many of the families in the school district are Indigenous, a group that has a long history with systemic abuse from schools.”
The attorney hired by the district said the public school used two timeout boxes at Salmon River Elementary School and had a third at the St. Regis Mohawk Elementary School that was never used. The state report did not discuss which schools the five students subjected to timeout boxes attended.
Article continues below this ad
The school district built at least one of the wooden timeout boxes, according to records obtained by the Times Union.
Wooden “timeout” boxes were found at the Salmon River Central School District, located in northern New York. The state ordered the district to change its policies and special education practices by this fall and submit paperwork to demonstrate its compliance.
Emilie Munson/Emilie Munson / Times Union
Both the state report and the private attorney’s report found school staff had also removed students with disabilities to a makeshift cubby area for timeouts. Staff used a “barrier constructed of PVC piping materials and vinyl” to confine children in the cubby area, Reid wrote.
The Education Department also wrote that the district failed to notify parents their students were placed in timeout or issue proper written documentation. The students’ behavioral plans did not always include required information about the potential use of timeout for them. Those documents also included information about the staff planning for the potential to physically restrain students.
Article continues below this ad
But physical restraint — a technique where staff immobilize a student’s body in a hold — is supposed to be an emergency, last-resort measure used only to prevent imminent danger of serious physical harm, according to education regulations.
Records released by the district in late January showed students were physically restrained nine times during the last school year and at least 11 times this school year. Nearly all of those incidents involved elementary school students with disabilities. Most of the incidents resulted in injury to the staff or the student.
The district’s policy on timeout and restraints was also missing required criteria and was not posted online or available for public review, the state found.
The interior of one of three “timeout” boxes allegedly used in the Salmon River Central School District to isolate students this year.
Chrissy Jacobs
The Salmon River Central School District, which includes part of the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation and is along the Canadian border, said it takes the state’s recommendations seriously and will strengthen practices and meet deadlines outlined in the report. The district removed
the timeout boxes after they were the subject of public outcry in December, made staffing changes and implemented additional training and other special education measures. The district said it believed the state report found no evidence of “abuse, corporal punishment or intentional mistreatment of students.”
Article continues below this ad
“We recognize the impact this situation had on students, families, staff and the broader school community,” said interim Superintendent Ben Barkley, the district’s fourth acting superintendent this school year. “Our focus has been on making the necessary changes to strengthen our practices and better support students moving forward.”
State lawmakers indicated this week that they still plan to push for passage of new laws to ban the use of timeout boxes in New York schools and curb similar incidents, although the Legislature is rapidly losing time to act due to a delayed state budget.
Cashman introduced a bill to prohibit schools from using timeout boxes or closets to confine students.
“There should be no dispute about codifying these protections into law,” he said. “The current laws allow for interpretations, leading to abuse being contorted as ‘legal,’ but this legislation would ensure never again such degrading behavior fall in the margins of what someone could consider just.”
Article continues below this ad
Motivated by the events in Salmon River, as well as a case where a Schenectady school employee put her foot on the back of a child on the ground, Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, a Democrat, also proposed legislation that would require independent investigations after cases where students with disabilities are subject to physical force and mandating parental notification within 24 hours.
When asked about bills to prevent future use of timeout boxes, Hochul’s spokeswoman Emma Wallner said, “the governor will review any measures passed by the Legislature to ensure no child in New York state is ever subjected to this cruel practice again.”