Edmonton Public Schools adding 25 seclusion rooms despite promise to phase them out

Advocates for students with disabilities are angry and frustrated by the Edmonton public school board's plan to build 25 more seclusion rooms in the face of a promise to phase out the spaces.

By September, in the city's 214 public schools, there could be 192 of the locking rooms. They are meant to be used only in a crisis when a student's behaviour presents a risk to themselves or others.

The advocates say data released last month showing staff are putting students in seclusion involuntarily more than nine times on average each school day raises pressing questions about why so many crises are arising.

"Every day that this keeps happening, there's kids who are going to be paying for this for the rest of their lives," said Sarah Doll, who has two children on the autism spectrum.

Although neither of her children have been isolated, her eight-year-old son is moving to a specialized class next year in a school where a seclusion room is being constructed.

Use of seclusion and restraint in Alberta schools has been a flashpoint since 2018, when parents suing a school division east of Edmonton made public their son's harrowing experience inside one of the rooms.

The then-NDP government in 2019 decided to ban the rooms. When the United Conservative Party government was elected in 2019, the education minister reversed the ban, instead introducing standards for use of seclusion and restraint in schools.

The province's rules say school staff must only use seclusion and restraint as last resorts when a student's behaviour puts themselves or other people at risk of harm. Staff should not use the practices to prevent property damage or as a punishment, and must monitor the student constantly. School authorities must also report monthly usage data to the government.

In a report published in May, Edmonton Public Schools says it had 167 active seclusion rooms in 80 of its schools. It said 25 of those schools never used the rooms.

In response to a CBC News freedom of information request about seclusion room usage, Alberta Education said schools reported a total of 263 seclusion rooms in April 2024.

It means Edmonton Public Schools has 63 per cent of the province's seclusion rooms while enrolling about 14 per cent of Alberta K-12 students.

In response to a written question about the division's reliance on the rooms, a spokesperson said every Alberta school division operates differently.

At least two staff in each school with a seclusion room must have specialized training, the spokesperson said.

Although students' parents or guardians can opt in or out of staff using a seclusion room when a student is dysregulated, administrators told the board last month there are times when a student goes in without advance permission.