School put autistic boy in time-out 'closet,' mom says

Deborah Yetter / Courier-Journal.com | April 14, 2008

An Oldham County mother has filed a complaint with the state after learning that Crestwood Elementary officials put her 8-year-old autistic son in a small, empty room nearly 80 times last fall because of his behavior -- sometimes locking him in.

"They keep calling it a time-out room," said Jeanie Montgomery of Centerfield, who has pulled her son from Crestwood. "It is a closet."

Montgomery has filed a sworn complaint with the state Department of Education, alleging the school has violated her son's rights when it locked him in the 32-square-foot room built specifically to deal with disruptive behavior.

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Her complaint cites school records showing that Matthew was placed in the room 78 times during an 11-week period last year.

Montgomery said she also has filed several complaints with state child-protective-service officials over the school's use of the time-out room, as well as recent instances in which she says Matthew came home with cuts and scrapes that she believes happened at school.

"I am afraid for his safety," said Montgomery, adding that her son has limited speech because of his autism and can't describe what happened.

Oldham school officials deny any abuse and are cooperating fully with child-protective services, spokeswoman Rebecca DeSensi said

DeSensi and Anne Coorssen, general counsel for the Oldham school system, said they couldn't comment on details of Matthew's case because of federal laws that govern student confidentiality.

The school follows state Department of Education guidelines for using time-out rooms, which are part of most of the district's classrooms for special-needs students, DeSensi said.

"Our policy in this district is to ensure student safety," she said.

Should be last defense
Department of Education guidelines, issued in 2000, state that placing a student in seclusion is a "drastic measure that should only be used as a last defense measure" and that schools should "never lock a student in a closed setting."

Montgomery said the school removed a lock from the time-out room's door in December after she complained.

Coorssen said the lock on the outside of the door was placed there to keep students from entering the room -- not to lock people in. She said school officials ordered it removed as soon as they learned of it and are investigating to determine who placed it there.

"There was a lock placed on the door," she said. "If they were using that to lock a student in, that would be a problem."

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