NEWS | EDUCATION
John and Kara Allen’s son was routinely placed in isolation despite having separation anxiety.
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14 INLANDER JULY 15, 2021
Ending Isolation
Spokane Public Schools agrees to changes in settlement over kindergartner illegally placed in isolation BY WILSON CRISCIONE
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ohn and Kara Allen’s son didn’t want to be in school. In the mornings when he’d get to his kindergarten class, he’d yell, knock things off the desk and curse to express his displeasure. Their son, who the parents asked to remain unnamed in this article, had separation anxiety, according to a later diagnosis. Despite that, Spokane’s Arlington Elementary School decided during the 2016-17 school year to put him in an isolation room for hours at a time. Eventually, until the end of second grade, it became a ritual: Each morning at school was spent in isolation, the Allens say, with only a teddy bear there to comfort him as administrators stood outside until he was able to come out again. At times, he’d come home with bumps and bruises from harming himself inside the room. At least once, he vomited on himself, and another time he soiled himself, says Kara Allen. “He did not like it at all. But the administrators and the counselor told us that this is the right way to handle it, that once he understands that we mean business, he’ll turn it around,” John Allen says.
YOUNG KWAK PHOTO
In fact, it was a violation of state law, according to an investigation conducted by the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. It was also part of a pattern in Spokane Public Schools. In 2019, the state said Spokane schools were “overusing” restraint and isolation against students by doing so when they shouldn’t or by keeping them confined longer than necessary. Earlier this month, Spokane Public Schools settled a lawsuit with the Allen family for $135,000. As part of the settlement, the family cannot discuss individuals or administrators at the school. But the school district agreed to a consent decree outlining a series of measures meant to ensure it is following the proper procedures for restraint and isolation and to comply with obligations to provide functional behavioral assessments of students. Separately, the school district has gone a step further in reforming its use of isolation: Starting this fall, there will be no more isolation rooms at all in Spokane Public Schools, says Becky Ramsey, director of special education. “We’ve already been reducing the number of isolation rooms over the last couple of years,” Ramsey says. “And we’ve found that through other de-escalation techniques, we’re able to keep the students safe.”
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solation or restraint of students is prohibited under Washington state law, unless the student is posing an imminent likelihood of serious harm. At that point, staff must closely monitor the student to prevent self-harm and end the isolation or restraint as soon as the threat has ended. Then schools must also notify parents of the incident in writing. But those laws were not followed for the Allens’ son, says their attorney Marcus Sweetser. “In this case, you have a child with separation anxiety who was isolated and separated for up to four hours at a time,” Sweetser said at a court hearing earlier this month. “And to no
