June 30, 2023, WFSB, Hartford, CT: Shifting protocol on school seclusion rooms in Waterbury https://www.wfsb.com/2023/06/29/waterbury-school-district-shifting-protocol-seclusion-rooms/?outputType=amp
VIDEO: Waterbury, the district is shifting their protocol for how they deal with students experiencing physical, behavioral outbursts.
Now in the past, partially padded seclusion rooms were used, and each instance had to be documented. …
Parent: I know there are a lot of issues. Kids have mental health issues.
WFSB: Parent Joe Thompson says he knows this because his daughter has witnessed and experienced emotional problems as a student in the Waterbury School District, problems that have devolved into physical violence.
But to hear that NINE ROOMS, some partially padded, are used for students—
Parent: I’m appalled by that.
School superintendent: They’re called seclusion rooms, and seclusion rooms may or may not be padded.
WFSB: Waterbury superintendent, Dr. Verna Ruffin explaining the seclusion part of the restraint and seclusion protocol. Each instance of which needs to be documented and reported to the state.
Dr. Ruffin: It is a very structured process, so a student is not placed in a room and left unattended.
WFSB: According to state law, the seclusion part of restraint and seclusion, i.e. a student being held in a room, is not allowed to be used unless it’s an emergency situation where the student could hurt themselves or someone else.
Ruffin: It’s not a place where you put children just because they’re misbehaving.
WFSB: According to the Department of Education, 2021—2022 school year, 256 emergencies were logged in Waterbury. The use of 144 seclusions outweighing the 112 instances of restraint.
But Dr. Ruffin says the district won’t be putting any student in a seclusion room for any reason, anymore.
Ruffin: I sent a memo out to my staff saying that the schools would no longer be using seclusion rooms, effective immediately. And that for the fall of 2023, we would be looking in and placing sensory rooms.
WFSB: Sensory rooms that will still help separate children in need of a cool down or reset, but would involve different training for staff members assisting kids.
Ruffin: It offers a different type of stimulation that would be essential, perhaps—
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