Limit use of seclusion in schools

The U.S. Green Party has four pillars of belief, which are peace, ecology, social justice and democracy. Under the pillar of social justice, the Iowa Green Party of Johnson County has grave concerns regarding the use of seclusion rooms in Iowa public schools. In particular, the alleged abuse of seclusion with special education and minority children within the Iowa City Community School District forces the Green Party to consider this a human rights issue.

No child who is in distress should be locked in a small, dark enclosure in public schools. We understand the Iowa Department of Education state statute Chapter 103 regulating seclusion rooms was born out of the abuse of an autistic child named Isabel in the Waukee School District in 2006. Isabel was a second-grader locked in an unsafe storage closet for up to five hours at a time. As a result of her parents' lawsuit against the Waukee school district and the Heartland Area Education Agency, the Iowa State legislature created Chapter 103 in 2008 to protect all children from the same harm.

Unfortunately, we now know Chapter 103 is not enough. It does not strictly limit the use of seclusion. It does not specifically describe what an appropriate seclusion room looks like nor does it even define what to call it. As a result, school districts like Iowa City have been able to lock children into plywood boxes lined with stinky black padding manufactured for use in horse stalls, and call it 'time out.” We find that unacceptable.

The Green Party of Johnson County calls on current Iowa state legislators in the House and Senate to take up this issue in a bipartisan effort to strengthen previous Chapter 103 legislation that did not go far enough to restrict this egregious practice. We recommend the Iowa Legislature limit seclusion in public schools to the level that the US Department of Education and other professional associations recommend, which is it should be used as a brief intervention only when a child's behavior causes threat of physical injury to the child or others. Iowa City Schools' record of locking children in seclusion for pouting, stepping out of line or tracing outside of lines on paper, is not in keeping with the intent of the current state statutes, nor is it positive action in regard to Iowa's goal of providing a 21st century learning environment for all children.

Our own former Iowa Senator Tom Harkin worked very hard on this issue in Washington on behalf of all children in the U.S. His work would be an excellent resource for policy makers who need guidance regarding seclusion in Iowa public schools.

The Iowa Green Party stands for all persons (including children attending public schools) to have the opportunity to benefit equally from the resources afforded us by society and the environment. We must consciously confront in ourselves, our organizations and society at large, any discrimination by race, class, gender, sexual orientation, age, nationality, religion or physical or mental ability that denies fair treatment and equal justice under the law. We consider the current misuse of seclusion rooms within Iowa public schools to be a form of discrimination and call on our fellow citizens and legislators to end this practice against our children.

' Heather Young is a member of the Johnson County Green Party. Comments: rhyoung05@earthlink.net