School seclusion rooms a ‘failure,’ as use drops

EDMONTON There were fewer seclusion rooms across the province in December than when the school year began, but many divisions reported a spike in the number of times those rooms were used in October.

The Calgary Board of Education reported 26 seclusion rooms in schools throughout the fourmonth period, and they were used 343 times in October. This shows an increase from the public division’s 292 uses in September.

There was a 43 per cent increase at Edmonton Public Schools in October. Seclusion rooms were used 354 times in October by 137 students in the division, indicating that some students would have been placed in a seclusion room multiple times in one month.

That’s up from 248 times they were used by 88 students in September, the first month in which data was available and reported to the school board, according to a provincial report obtained by Postmedia through an access to information request.

“I think that’s a real failure for our children,” said Trish Bowman, CEO of Inclusion Alberta, an organization that advocates on behalf of children and adults with developmental disabilities.

“We now are starting to have some data over a period of months; what are we going to do with it? If it sits in a spreadsheet and we don’t respond to it, then we are all responsible.”

“Our hope would be that this would be a call to look closely at what is going on in these situations,” said Bowman.

The data offers an extensive provincewide look at how often and in which school divisions school staff are placing students in seclusion rooms as a response to a crisis of unsafe behaviour.

The rooms are meant to be a last resort, and a person cannot get out voluntarily.

“Seclusion is only to be used in the event of a crisis or emergency, and so if there’s an increase in crisis and emergency, there needs to be a real hard look at why that is and what needs to be done differently,” Bowman said.

In November, however, usage fell to 250 times, and in December, when there were only 15 school days, the rooms were used 232 times.

Even with that overall decrease, the numbers are evidence that there are still too many kids being placed in seclusion rooms as a response to challenging behaviour, Bowman said.

Edmonton Catholic Schools reported having recently added one seclusion room, at St. Gabriel’s Centre for Diverse Learning, but it was never used in 2019.

Edmonton Public Schools has a wide range of programming for students with specialized needs and typically places seclusion rooms in schools offering behavioural and learning assistance, and interactions programs.

The apparent fluctuation in seclusion room usage from September to October is due in part to regular ebbs and flows in behaviour and hiccups in a new reporting process, said Leona Morrison, assistant superintendent at Edmonton Public Schools.

Staff were collecting data at the classroom level with paper and pencil, and those numbers were added to the system-wide tally in some cases behind schedule. This meant that not all numbers were recorded for September, and some were grouped together with October’s tallies, Morrison said.

The report reflects tracking over 19 school days in September but 22 in October, skewing the numbers, she said.

“We’re now confident that staff are reporting accurately.”

It’s normal to see behavioural changes as students adjust to the school year, Morrison added.

“It would depend on the function of the child in the moment and the staff making the decision that the seclusion room was the safest way to manage a significant crisis level behaviour,” said Morrison.

The district works to ensure the success of every student regardless of how complex and challenging their behaviours are, said Morrison. Parents are aware of and support the use of seclusion rooms if necessary, which is laid out in individual behaviour plans for students.

“We’re in it to support every child. We’re not in it to do anything harmful to them. Our mandate as a district is to do what’s best,” said Morrison.

As of December, Edmonton Public Schools had decommissioned 27 seclusion rooms — some of which were just being used for storage — reporting 62 in December, down from 89 in September.

It is better to have the option of a seclusion room and not use it than the reverse, said Morrison.

“Without historical data from 2018, we don’t really have a yearover-year comparison, so we also don’t know what statistical ‘normal’ is,” said Morrison.

An October report to the Edmonton Public Schools board included an additional 468 “self-selected” uses as of Sept. 27, for a total of 716 uses.

The most recent provincewide numbers do not include self-selected use, in which a student might choose to retreat into a seclusion room for their own well-being.

The total number of times seclusion rooms were used in the province went to 794 in November from 945 in October, but some totals, including provincewide totals for September, were redacted from the report because of privacy concerns.

Some divisions, including St. Albert Public Schools, reported a drop in October and a levelling off of use since September.

Provincewide numbers were down in virtually every category in December, when there were only 15 school days, but total usage information from some divisions, such as High Prairie and Pembina Hills Regional, was withheld by the province for privacy reasons.