EDMONTON—Alberta’s Education Minister David Eggen said he will issue a ministerial order to ban seclusion rooms in the province as of September.

The decision was outlined in a letter sent Friday morning to members of a working group appointed by the province to review the use of seclusion rooms in Alberta, following criticism of the controversial practice from advocates, and a lawsuit filed against the province by parents of a child with autism who say he was locked naked in a seclusion room at a school east of Edmonton in 2015.

Seclusion rooms — also known as time-out rooms — are used in schools to physically restrain students with disabilities. But parents and advocates argue the practice causes emotional and physical trauma to children.

In his letter, Eggen said his ministerial order will decommission the use of all seclusion rooms in the province by the 2019-20 school year. “I will also ensure mechanisms are in place that hold school authorities accountable to government for decommissioning seclusion rooms,” Eggen added.

In an emailed statement, Eggen confirmed his plans to issue the ministerial order, and said he is doing so in response to concerns raised by parents, teachers, and advocates.

“I have been deeply concerned by some of the things that parents and students are sharing about their family’s experiences with seclusion rooms,” Eggen said. “Student safety is our top priority and this ban will ensure that all students learn in a welcoming, caring, respectful and safe environment.”

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At a Calgary press conference Friday afternoon, Premier Rachel Notley said she is pleased with Eggen’s decision to move forward on banning seclusion rooms in the province. “Our understanding was that seclusion rooms needed to be banned all along,” Notley said. “It’s not my view that that is an appropriate way to deal with any special-needs child.”

Notley added the province will now work “with school boards to ensure that they have what they need” to maintain the safety of students and staff.

Eggen’s decision comes shortly after disability advocates slammed the government’s draft guidelines on seclusion rooms at press conference on Feb. 15. They said the proposed guidelines — which still allowed the use of seclusion rooms with parental permission — maintain the status quo on the practice, and that the advice of parents and others in the working group have been ignored.

Inclusion Alberta, a non-profit that advocates for the rights of people with disabilities in the province, said they sent a letter to Eggen on Jan. 9 outlining their concerns, but the government never responded, Trish Bowman, the group’s CEO, said. In an emailed statement responding to the advocates’ concerns on Feb. 15, Eggen said he agrees seclusion rooms should be banned, but that the working group needs to continue working on solutions.

In response to Eggen’s latest decision to ban seclusion rooms, Bowman and Inclusion Alberta president Barb McIntyre both applauded the minister for listening to the concerns of parents and students, “and showing leadership when required,” McIntyre said. Bowman added focus should now be placed on how to move forward with enforcing the ministerial order.

“We recognize the importance of carefully crafting the order to ensure it is the practice of seclusion that ends, not solely the closure of rooms,” Bowman said.

The issue of seclusion rooms was pushed into the spotlight after Marcy Oakes and Warren Henschel launched a lawsuit last September against Elk Island Public Schools and the provincial government, after they said that in 2015, their then 12-year-old son — who has autism and is non-verbal — was locked naked in a seclusion room at a school in Sherwood Park, east of Edmonton, and ended up covered in his own feces.

An Inclusion Alberta survey that was launched last September found that 80 per cent of parents reported signs of emotional trauma or stress in their child who was subjected to seclusion, and more than three-quarters said they never gave consent for their child to be restrained or secluded. Around 400 parents responded to the survey, the group said.

The report included quotes from parents who call the practice “medieval” and say their children developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychological issues as a result of repeated seclusion.

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Oakes said she is thankful Eggen has moved forward to ban the practice of seclusion rooms, which she called “archaic.” She added she hopes the province will put resources toward training teachers and staff on how to be better equipped with handling instances involving children with disabilities.

“It’s been a very long, painful road to recover from my own PTSD from this incident, and help my son heal,” Oakes said. “It feels relieving that some positive change has come from it.”

With files from Kevin Maimann

Nadine Yousif is a reporter/photographer for Star Edmonton. Follow her on twitter: @nadineyousif_

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