A Barrie mother says log books from her son’s school show he was disciplined by being sent to an empty, four-by-four foot room with grey padded walls and flooring three times without her knowledge or permission — something that would violate school board policy.

Hayley McBride’s 4-year-old son, Casper, showed her the room — officially called a “calming room” — on Tuesday at Portage View Public School in Barrie, where he attends junior kindergarten.

Casper took her to an unmarked door in a corner of the school during an impromptu tour. Inside was a small padded room about the size of a custodial closet, with yellow stains on the padding. She said it was completely silent inside, with only two balls — a red one and an orange one — as toys.

“They throw me in here,” Casper told his mother.

The only window is on the door and Casper isn’t tall enough to see out of it.

“I was absolutely appalled. I felt like we were in some sociology experiment,” McBride said.

Neither Peter Gumbrell, Simcoe County District School Board principal of special education, nor Portage View principal Peter McKenna would comment on why Casper may have been sent to the room without his mother’s knowledge or permission, citing privacy issues.

Gumbrell said calming rooms are part of a well-accepted and successful strategy to help students de-escalate themselves before they pose a risk to themselves and others, and they can be found in about half of the board’s schools.

“(The calming room is) not something we hide. It’s not a big secret,” McKenna said.

“I’m sure not every parent would maybe necessarily know that it exists. But the parents whose children would be accessing it would definitely know through the safety plan and through the (individual education plan).”

But McBride said that didn’t happen in her family’s case.

She obtained logs showing details of Casper’s three trips to the room at a Thursday evening meeting with school board officials and school faculty. She said they show Casper visited the room on Sept. 18, Oct. 2 and Oct. 11 and on two of those occasions, the logs don’t indicate how long he was in the room.

According to school board policy, calming rooms are voluntary and not supposed to “be used as a disciplinary measure or as punishment for inappropriate behaviour.” And parents are supposed to “be informed and agree to the use of the calming room for the student,” through a student’s individual education plan.

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McBride said she finalized an individual education plan for Casper, who can be more active than other students but has never been diagnosed with a behavioural disorder, with school officials on Oct. 15. The logs show he had already been to the room three times by then, she said.

When coming up with the education plan, McBride heard about a calming room, but says she was told it was a room with bikes and toys for students – a much different room than the one she found Tuesday.

“I never agreed to a padded cell.”

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Are there calming rooms at your child’s school?

The Toronto District School Board uses “calming spaces” in classrooms or adjacent rooms and they’re usually outfitted with comfortable furniture. “Students would choose to go into a calming space, however an adult may verbally suggest it or use a visual prompt,” TDSB spokesman Ryan Bird wrote in an email.

In Peel District School Board, rooms called “alternate learning environments” are available for students who need to regroup away from the classroom, but not every school has one. They aren’t padded, though some have gym mats, puzzle floors or beanbag chairs. Use of a room is usually written into a child’s individual education plan that’s agreed upon with parents. “I would assume that parents knew that their children were accessing an alternate learning environment,” said Therese Fitzpatrick, co-ordinating principal of special programs for Peel District School Board.