See How Often Your School Secludes Students With Interactive Map
The topic of schools using restraints against students as well as placing them in a seclusion room has been a hot topic in the state of Maine.
There have been accusations of the seclusion room being used without parental consent and unacceptable conditions. "As soon as I opened up the school doors, I could hear my son screaming and crying: 'Let me out of here, it's too hot. I can't breathe.'" said Kendele Ouellette parent of Harpswell Community School students as reported by the Times Record. She criticized the use of the ill-ventilated room and how it impacted her son who has asthma.
Another parent at the same school, Rebecca Ross, told the Times Record, "My kid has probably used that room more than anybody," she went on to advocate for the use of the room by stating, "He's also learned that when he's frustrated, to take a moment and go in there when it's bad."
These discussions have opened up a dialogue between parents and their schools. Some just finding out that these rooms exist in their schools.
Wherever you stand on the issue, WGME has released an interactive map outlining the number of incidents of restraint and seclusion used in each school in Maine and breaks down the average number of incidents per student. Unfortunately, the map is missing some of the larger districts such as Portland and Lewiston as they did not report their restraint and seclusion numbers for the 2017-2018 school year which the map is based on. Still, most schools are listed.
Schools labeled with yellow had at 1 incident for every 10 students.
Schools labeled with orange had 1-9 incident per student.
Schools labeled with dark red had 10 or more incidents per student.
See how your school ranks below: