D-Day :)

I recieved this today through email........just incase anyone wants to understand what I was going through last year and why I was so against the time out room-that was being used 24/7......hmmmm.looks like I can FINALLY quote a case to them now. SOMEONE SOMEWHERE is FINALLY listening......:)YEAH!!!!!!!!!!:) :) :)

Court: Release names in timeout room

Published Wednesday, September 13, 2006 11:19:41 PM Central Time


By Kevin Murphy

Special to the Times

MADISON -- A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the
Department of Public Instruction must release the names of six unruly
special education children disciplined in Abraham Lincoln Elementary
School's controversial seclusion room to a disability rights advocacy
organization.

The Chicago-based Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a
decision by District Judge Barbara Crabb who denied a request by
Disability Rights of Wisconsin, Inc. finding that privacy laws
required the federally-mandated agency to get the children's names
from their parents or guardians.

Instead, the appeals court said that would be an undue burden on DRW,
which was established by federal law to advocate for and protect
individuals with mental illnesses or disabilities. Since both the
Department of Public Instruction and DRW are subject to the same
privacy laws, releasing the names to DRW isn't a concern, according
to the decision.

"To withhold the records in contention here is to give Š (DPI) the
last word over the abuse and neglect of the disabled or mentally ill.
This clearly defeats the purpose of the DRW and the (protect and
advocacy) statutes," according to the 19-page decision.

DRW attorney Jeffrey Spitzer-Resnick said the decision gives Crabb
discretion as to how the names of the children are to be disclosed,
including requiring DRW to keep them confidential, which Spitzer-
Resnick said the agency is required by law to do.

"We represent people with disabilities and advocate claims for people
with disabilities who are being abused. There's no question that
locking children in a room is abusive, and we have a right to that
information," he said.

School District of Monroe Superintendent Craig Jefson declined to
comment at this time, as the district received the court's decision
late last night and is still reading through it. He said the district
should have a response by Friday.

Abe Lincoln had two seclusion rooms, which were used to house
disruptive special education students for "time out" periods if their
Individual Education Programs permitted it. The one seclusion room
subject to DRW's injunction request was a five-by-nine-foot basement
room that was carpeted and locked from the outside without an
interior doorknob.

A parent complained to DRW in October 2004 about their child being
sent to the room without it being in their child's IEP. A Madison
television station then aired a program in March 2005 about the
seclusion room without naming the district.

The broadcast prompted other parents to contact DRW about the
seclusion room and since some of the children had limited verbal
skills it was difficult to determine if their child had been sent to
the room.

Responding to the broadcast and parents' complaint, the DPI
investigated Abe Lincoln and concluded that a seclusion room can be
properly used as a last resort disciplinary measure. However, after
finding that one of Abe Lincoln's rooms was used briefly when the
light was out and it lacked an interior doorknob, the district agreed
to replace the doorknob and add a larger window in the door to permit
outside monitoring of the entire room, according to the DPI's April
7, 2005 report.

With voluntary parental involvement, DRW has already negotiated
settlements with the school district for three of the children sent
to the seclusion room, said Spitzer-Resnick. As a result of the
settlements, one student was transferred to another school within the
district, staff was trained on how to avoid use of the seclusion room
and restraints and another child had their IEP rewritten to prohibit
use of the seclusion room.

A DPI spokesman said the agency hadn't seen Wednesday's appeals
decision and had no comment on it.

Spitzer-Resnick said once the DRW obtains the remaining names of the
students sent to the seclusion room, it's likely that new IEPs will
be written for them to address their education needs and allowable
disciplinary measures.

The decision comes after Monroe has addressed the seclusion room
problems at Abe Lincoln, said Spitzer-Resnick, so the impact of the
case will be felt elsewhere.

"What the decision clearly establishes is that the DPI shouldn't say
no to us anymore, nor should any school district. If they want to
litigate, they will lose," he said. --