NEW REPORT DETAILS DISTURBING TREATMENT IN ONTARIO SCHOOLS
Crisis in the Classroom: Children with Disabilities Isolated, Held Down & Sent Home

A new report published by Community Living Ontario is shedding new light on the exclusion, seclusion, and restraint of students with disabilities in Ontario schools. Numerous authorities are calling on the Premier and the Minister of Education to act to address these issues immediately.

Crisis in the Classroom: Exclusion, Seclusion, and Restraint of Students with Disabilities presents information from 541 caregivers of students with disabilities. Among the findings from children and youth represented in the survey:

• 29% had been isolated while in school, i.e., placed in a separate space away from their peers, often behind locked or blocked doors.
• 14% had been restrained while in school, including being held down on the ground, held while standing, and held while being forced to walk.
• 31% had been sent home or instructed to stay home because the school was unable to meet their needs.

"Schools should be a place of inclusion, belonging, and safety," said Shawn Pegg, Director of Social Policy and Strategic Initiatives at Community Living Ontario, the organization that published the study. "It is incomprehensible that students with disabilities, some as young as five and six years old, are being physically restrained and separated from their peers. The fact that this is happening across the province shows an urgent need for action from the Premier and Minister of Education."

This situation is not new and has been happening in schools for years. Crisis in the Classroom updates the data and paints a worrying picture of what students with disabilities are experiencing. For example, nearly half of students who were isolated experienced this more than ten times, i.e., on a regular basis. In more than a quarter of cases, caregivers first learned of the isolation from their child, and not from school staff.

"All children and youth have the right to be in school, and to be treated with dignity and respect," said Elizabeth Garkowski of Ontario Parents for Education Support. "The fact that students are being forced to stay home because schools can't meet their needs is unacceptable and shows a clear need for increased support in our classrooms."

Crisis in the Classroom provides detailed recommendations and calls on the Ontario Ministry of Education to implement changes that will make schools safe and healthy places for students with disabilities. To read the full report, visit https://communitylivingontario.ca/resources/crisis-in-the-classroom/.