FORT COVINGTON, N.Y. (Times Union) — The St. Regis Mohawk Police Department is examining the use of another device possibly used to block or confine students in the Salmon River Central School District, where multiple “timeout boxes” were located, according to a mother who was shown a photo of the object.
Rhonda Garrow described the device as a vertical structure on wheels, approximately four feet tall, comprised of mesh or fabric stretched across PVC piping. She said police showed her an image of the device when she was being interviewed by them last month. Police indicated they’d heard the device may have been used on her 8-year-old autistic, non-verbal son.
“They asked me if I knew about this shield,” Garrow told the Times Union Thursday. “Somebody told the police that (the staff) were using that to squish him and walk him and move it so he was only allowed to go where they wanted him to go.”
Two other sources, who requested not to be identified, shared correspondence with the Times Union that confirmed there were internal concerns about the use of a “homemade wall” made of mesh and PVC pipes to separate staff from students during behavioral incidents.
On Thursday, Garrow filed a notice of claim against the Salmon River School District, located near the Canadian border in Franklin County. Garrow has also made a criminal complaint regarding the alleged use of a “timeout box” on her son, who is Native American, in his elementary school classroom.
In December, news broke that the school district had multiple wooden timeout boxes in elementary school classrooms, apparently for the purpose of confining students with disabilities. The revelations have prompted regulatory and criminal investigations, brought condemnation from Gov. Kathy Hochul and led to multiple leadership shake-ups in the public school district. The state Education Department ordered the boxes to be immediately removed. The department said their use constituted seclusion, which is banned by state regulations.
In the wake of the timeout box controversy, the district selected a new full-time acting superintendent on Wednesday. Terrance P. Dougherty said late Thursday evening, “As acting superintendent, I and the District are committed to supporting the outside law firm who is thoroughly investigating all allegations and will make recommendations that ensure a safe, inclusive learning environment and help bring this school community back together.”
The district did not respond to other questions from the Times Union about the mesh wall and its alleged use.
St. Regis Mohawk Police Chief Matthew Rourke confirmed his department’s investigation into events at the St. Regis Mohawk School, where Garrow’s son attended, but declined further comment. The school is located on a tribal reservation. About 60% of the Salmon River Central School District’s students are Native American.
Guy Stephens, founder of the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint, a national organization that advocates against these techniques, said while some schools use blocking pads as alternatives to restraining or secluding students, the described device did not sound like a product manufactured by the companies he is familiar with.
“It sounds like they manufactured something else on their own,” Stephens said.
The wooden timeout boxes were discovered after someone sent a photo of one to a former School Board member, who posted the image on Facebook. That prompted a maelstrom of outcry by local parents who days later flooded a School Board meeting and demanded the resignation of the superintendent.
