More seclusion room complaints

"I have seen inside this room. It is dark and gloomy." From a letter to the Ministry of Education.

More complaints over the use of seclusion rooms in schools have emerged, including one in which a plank of wood was used to keep the door wedged shut.

Information released by the Ministry of Education shows that, between 2013 and 2016, six complaints about the possible use of seclusion rooms were received by the ministry.

The Dominion Post asked for information going back six years, but the ministry refused, saying the lack of a ‘‘central repository’’ of complaints made it too difficult.

Seclusion rooms have been in the spotlight since it was revealed a young boy was repeatedly locked in one at Miramar Central School. An investigation into the use of a seclusion room at Ruru Specialist School in Invercargill is ongoing.

Last month the Government announced seclusion rooms would be made illegal, and asked schools to stop using them.

The ministry was able to release a report into a complaint made at Arahunga School in September 2013.

It included a letter from a concerned parent who said in August their child was put in what staff called a ‘‘timeout’’ room. The parent was told their child had locked themselves in the room, and could not get out for ‘‘quite some time’’.

The parent said they had witnessed this happening to two other students, and heard crying from inside the room, which was locked on the outside by a plank of wood.

‘‘I have seen inside this room. It is dark and gloomy,’’ the letter said.

After an investigation a raft of recommendations were made, including apologising to the family, and reviewing the school’s policies. The school has been approached for comment.

A complaint was also made about Amber Centre in Hamilton in September 2014, over the actions of a staff member, which referred to locking children in a room.

A police investigation cleared the staff member of any charges, and an employment lawyer found there was not enough evidence to uphold the complaint. The school was later closed. Parents at Sarah Cohen School in Dunedin raised concerns in February 2016 and, while the ministry could confirm one staff member had resigned, and the allegations into the school were very concerning, it withheld the report.

The ministry also visited Wellington’s Tawa Intermediate after a parent complained in 2012 his son was left in closed room, that was not locked. The school was asked to transform the room, and make it clear it was an ‘‘individual learning space’’. The block containing the room has since been demolished and rebuilt, without a seclusion room.

It also looked into two further possible incidents of the use of seclusion rooms. In 2014 an Official Information Act request claimed a child had been locked in a room. The school was found to be acting appropriately.

Another complaint lodged in 2015 was withdrawn after the school explained it used a ‘‘calming room’’, not a seclusion room.

Parata said the ministry received many complaints, but not all were brought to her attention.

It was not until July, when the ministry received the complaint about Miramar Central School, that she became aware seclusion was being used frequently, and for punishment, rather than to de-escalate challenging behaviour.

‘‘That’s why I announced my intention to legislate to ban seclusion, required the ministry work urgently with any school that identified as using seclusion, and issued new guidance to schools written by a group of experts.’’