Education Minister Adriana LaGrange

By rdnewsNOW staff

Effective Sept. 1

Province lifts ban on school seclusion rooms

Aug 30, 2019 | 6:45 AM

Alberta’s United Conservatives have repealed a ban on seclusion rooms in schools.

The ban was brought in by the previous NDP government over concerns the rooms were traumatizing students with developmental disabilities.

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange says she heard from school boards, teachers, administrators and parents that a full ban limits a school’s ability to protect everyone’s safety.

“Everyone involved in a school shares the same priority: to have a safe, caring and inclusive environment for everyone,” she said Thursday. Since becoming minister, I have received numerous letters from our partners in the school system – including the Alberta Teachers’ Association – asking me to rethink the former government’s short-sighted approach to seclusion rooms and student safety.”

Last week, the public and Catholic school boards in Edmonton and Calgary urged the province to bring back seclusion rooms.

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“The Alberta School Boards Association appreciates being heard. We look forward to working with the government to update the guidelines pertaining to seclusion rooms to ensure the well-being of all students,” said Lorrie Jess, president, Alberta School Boards Association.

A survey of 400 families by Inclusion Alberta showed that 80 per cent of parents said the rooms left their children in emotional distress and that more than half of children put in isolation were on the autism spectrum.

However, the advocacy group says a total ban goes too far.

“The previous ban on seclusion rooms allowed for exemptions to be approved for entire school districts, when exemptions should only be granted for specific and time-limited individual circumstances under provincial standards and enforceable measures of accountability,” said Barb MacIntyre, president, Inclusion Alberta.

“Standards must prohibit the use of locked or forced confinement and, as such, we welcome the opportunity to collaborate with Minister LaGrange in the development of new standards that will ensure Alberta students with disabilities are always positively supported and safe at school.”

(With file from The Canadian Press, Government of Alberta media release)