Discipline procedures questioned at elementary school

[ButterflyLady]

Discipline procedures questioned at elementary school

Parent claims son was forced to sit in cold room for 90 minutes

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas - The New Braunfels Independent School District is currently investigating discipline procedures at one of its elementary schools after a parent claimed her child was confined to a room as punishment.

Friday afternoon, the district sent out a letter by email to parents letting them know about the investigation and the allegations.

KSAT was told this incident happened on Wednesday at Carl Schurz Elementary and that a parent showed up at school after her 9-year-old son got in trouble for throwing food in the cafeteria.

However, according to that parent, when she asked to see her son, she was eventually led to a scene that shocked her.

Her son called it a "focus room" and when the parent saw it, she dropped her belongings on the floor and started taking pictures.

A website was put together by his father, showing the boy in the room and claiming that the 9-year-old boy was forced to sit in the circle on the floor for 90 minutes.

The sites states that the room was cold and the picture of the boy shows him with his arms pulled in his shirt to keep warm.

On Friday, the New Braunfels ISD administration sent the letter to parents about its discipline procedures.

The letter states: "...Due to privacy laws, we are not able to provide any more detail about the student or the situation. You may hear the term 'focus room' or 'safe room.' These are two different environments. A 'focus room' is a classroom environment that allows for behavior intervention such as social skills lessons and counseling. A 'safe room' is used in times when a child is a danger to himself/herself or others."

The Texas Education Agency stated Friday afternoon it has learned about the focus room at this elementary school and have opened a complaint.

It says there are alternative disciplinary options, but rules must be followed. For example, an employee may not place a student in seclusion, which is defined as a room, designed solely to seclude a person and containing less than 50 square feet of space.

SOURCE: www.ksat.com/content/pns/ksat/news/2015/05/15/discipline-procedures-questioned-at-elementary-school.html

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Contact the school:
Carl Schurz Elementary School
Address: 633 W Coll St, New Braunfels, TX 78130
Phone:[phone]
Contact the New Braunfels ISD:
430 W. Mill Street
New Braunfels, TX 78130
Phone: [phone]
Contact the Texas board of education:
William B. Travis Building
1701 N. Congress Avenue
Austin, Texas, 78701
Main Switchboard:
[phone]
Main Fax Number:
[phone]
Know your rights:
Know your rights as well as your childs, there are very clear guidelines and procedures regarding discipline and how "seclusion rooms", "Time out rooms", and other forms of confinement spaces by various names:
Education code Title 2. Public Education Subtitle G. Safe Schools Chapter 37.
Know your inalienable constitutional rights
Contact your local congressman:
New Braunfels, district 73 is Doug Miller
Representative Doug Miller
Capitol Office: CAP GN.10
Capitol Phone: [phone]
Capitol Address: P.O. Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768
District Address: 407 W. Mill Street
New Braunfels TX 78130
Phone: [phone]

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