EVANSVILLE — The North Gibson School Corporation has agreed to end the use of seclusion rooms after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice determined the district's practices discriminated against students with disabilities.
The settlement, announced Thursday, followed a DOJ investigation under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The investigation began last August after the agency received a complaint that the district inappropriately restrained students with emotional and behavioral disabilities and placed them into seclusion rooms.
Click here to read the settlement.
Seclusion, as defined by the DOJ, is the involuntary confinement of a student alone in a room or area. The practice is distinct from the tactic of encouraging students to voluntarily isolate themselves to calm down.
As part of the investigation, the agency visited the district in February. The DOJ said it confirmed that children as young as 5 years old were improperly restrained and secluded, resulting in days and sometimes weeks of lost instructional time.
North Gibson cooperated with the investigation, according to a news release from DOJ, and agreed to suspend the use of seclusion rooms while it was underway.
The district agreed to implement a number of steps to end the discriminatory treatment of students with disabilities as part of the settlement, including:
• changing district policies to prohibit use of seclusion rooms
• reporting all instances of restraint and reviewing whether they were justified
• creating and implementing a procedure for handling complaints of disability discrimination
• providing training and resources to help schools implement the terms of the agreement
• appointing an intervention coordinator within 90 days to ensure the district complies with the agreement and Americans with Disabilities Act
"Students with disabilities, like all students, belong in classrooms where they can learn – not locked away or otherwise segregated from their peers. When school districts improperly seclude or restrain students with disabilities, they inflict grievous harm on some of America’s most vulnerable children," Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband said in a statement.
"Students with emotional and behavioral disabilities need additional supports in the classroom, not practices that keep them out or subject them to isolation and trauma. We look forward to working with the North Gibson School Corporation as it implements this settlement agreement to provide students with disabilities equal access to education — a right guaranteed them by the Americans with Disabilities Act."
The North Gibson School Corporation didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The district was the target of a lawsuit last year, claiming a 7-year-old girl with intermittent explosive disorder and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder was placed in a seclusion room 106 times in 117 days.
The suit was dismissed earlier this year after the parties reached an agreement. Plaintiff's attorney Erin Bauer declined to comment on the terms of the settlement, only saying the case has been resolved. A lawyer for the district didn't immediately return a call.
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