http://www.wkyc.com/news/national/news_ ... ryid=78869Parents outraged over discovery of 'padded room' for special needs students
Created: 11/28/2007 4:08:23 PM
Updated:11/28/2007 4:09:28 PM
CHERRY HILL, N.J. -- A group of New Jersey parents are outraged after discovering a padded room used to hold special needs students at their children's school.
Angry parents confronted members of the Cherry Hill School Board on Tuesday night.
They are concerned about the treatment of their special needs children.
"Instead of educating them, they're going to throw them in to bash their heads against a padded wall somewhere," said one parent. "Disgusting."
"It is absolutely wrong that each and every one of you can go to bed at night thinking that this is OK to do to children," said another.
Lisa Grams said she wants people to see the images of the room with its walls padded inside A. Russell Knight Elementary.
She fears the room has been used for students who act out.
"The room smells. There's no ventilation. There's fluorescent lighting," Grams said.
According to the district, the room was used last year for small group instruction, or as a place kids could go for quiet time.
The padding was added this year, according to district officials, who said in a statement:
"The gym mats were placed in the room following an IEP (individualized education plan) meeting, as part of a crisis plan. The room was used once in a crisis situation with prior parental consent."
"Putting a child in a padded room because they don't know how to deal with their disability is not an option in my book," said Grams, whose son is autistic and is a student at the school.
Gram believes the room, no matter how many times used, is unacceptable.
"I think it's frightening. It makes me sick to my stomach," said another parent, Lisa Scuoppo.
Most parents said they just learned of the room's existence.
"I have enough confidence in the district to believe that, if there is a padded room, there's a legitimate reason," said parent Christine Pawliczek.
Some parents agree that specially-designed rooms are sometimes needed to provide a safe place for students whose actions put them at risk for self-injury.
Their complaint is that this specific room was poorly designed, and they're questioning its use.
The district said the room has been dismantled.
It's now a book storage room, and they pointed to a newer, bigger room also photographed by Grams as its new place for small group instruction.
The district said the room was only used once, but to Grams that's not the point.
"I would rather have education and training for the staff than to just shuffle the kids into a room and let them handle it all on their own," she said.
A school district spokeswoman said students were at no time locked in the room or left in there unsupervised, reiterating that it has been dismantled and replaced with a new quiet instruction room.
