The only explanation Holland says she got from the district for punishing her son was "breaking pencils and crayons." ![]() As soon as he saw me, he literally laid on my chest and said, 'Mom, I feel trapped.'" "He was completely in distress when I saw him. "You cannot convince me that he was acting that bad where you had to put him in a closet. "When I got to the room, the behavior liasion was just blocking the door and (my son) was sitting on the floor, crying and pushing himself back," she said. When Holland arrived at the school and didn't find her son in the auditorium, she asked his teacher where he was. that day to attend a special event she was invited to the day before, she said. The 22-year-old mom was scheduled to return to the school around 9:30 a.m. 30, Holland dropped off her son to school. She graduated from Austin-East Magnet High School in 2018.Īt 7:15 on the morning of Oct. Holland herself is a product of Knox County Schools. An emergency situation, the state says, is when a student's behavior poses a safety threat to them or other students. Isolation for students in special education can be used in an "emergency situation only," according to guidance from the state. She said she has provided documentation to his teacher to help the school help her son in stressful situations. It includes deep breathing and deep pressure. At home, when he gets stimulated, Holland has a plan to calm him down. Holland's son was diagnosed with sensory processing disorder, a condition that makes people sensitive to lights, touch and sounds. She discovered the punishment only because she arrived at the school to see her boy receive an award for perfect attendance. Jhaniyah Holland's 4-year-old son was put in an isolation room at West Haven Elementary School, she said, for breaking pencils and crayons. The school won't tell her when, if at all, her son has been put in an isolation room before, but her son tells her he's been put there before. "Nothing he did can justify putting him in there," Holland said. Chief among her concerns: how long was her son put in isolation, what was done to de-escalate the situation before school authorities decided to isolate him and had this happened before? It's only big enough to fit a twin-sized bed, she said.Īfter two meetings with the school principal, Carl Whipple, her son's teacher and a behavior therapist at the school, Holland is still seeking answers to why the boy was punished with isolation. The room, with a small, high window that can be closed off, looks like a prison cell, Holland told Knox News. The offense that landed him in isolation? He broke pencils and crayons. He was distraught, sitting on the floor in tears and pressing his back to the wall. Her happiness turned to horror, however, when she arrived at the school and found the little boy isolated in a small room. 30 to see her 4-year-old son presented with an award for perfect attendance. Jhaniyah Holland was excited to visit West Haven Elementary School on Oct.
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