2 days ago
‘Calming Box' sparks controversy in Aurora
AURORA, Mo. — Parents in Aurora are outraged after photos of a 'calming box' inside one of the school buildings surfaced online.
'When we were first starting [our child] with getting help in the school and the special needs room for his ADHD, we were told there was a sensory room where there were like weighted blankets and puppets and squished balls and stuff like that, but nothing even remotely close to a calming box,' said parents Mikayla Thomas and Tiya McKinney.
Photos show a box made of wood, with padding on the walls and the door, which does not appear to have any latch of any kind.
For Thomas and McKinney, they weren't aware of the box, and say it's a source of trauma.
'I turned it around to [my son], and he just froze completely and started crying. Whenever I asked him was like, Have you ever seen this? Do you know what this is? He couldn't even talk. He couldn't even talk, and he just started crying,' McKinney said.
'Seeing your nine year old break down like that, it hurts for one, and it makes you feel like crap because you had no idea that this was going on and you couldn't protect your kid,' Thomas said.
Ozarks First reached out to the Aurora School District. Dr. Ben Yocom, the district's superintendent, gave this statement:
'The Aurora R-VIII School District is aware of a recent social media post by an individual using the pseudonym 'Splater Butt' concerning a calming space located within one of the
District's behavioral classrooms. The post includes a photograph of a calming space and refers to it as a 'box.' To clarify, the calming space (sometimes referred to as the calming box) does not include a top (roof) but rather is completely open. Students in the calming space can stand straight up, stretch out their arms completely, safely navigate the padded walls in the calming
space, and are completely visible and accessible while inside the calming space. There is no locking mechanism on the door of the calming space and no student is left alone or unsupervised in the space. The calming space is an established component of the classroom environment designed to support the behavioral and emotional regulation of students.
The District remains committed to ensuring safe, lawful, and developmentally appropriate support for all students. As such, the calming space is utilized in two capacities: (1) voluntarily by students as a self-regulation strategy; and (2) as part of a restrictive behavioral intervention consistent with Missouri Revised Statutes § 160.263 and Board of Education Policy JGGA: Seclusion and Restraint.
As transparency and student safety remain priorities in the District's behavioral support practices, each school year, the District provides parents and guardians with information regarding the calming space, including the opportunity to view the area in person. Parents who have questions, concerns, or complaints regarding the calming space are encouraged to contact Superintendent Dr. Ben Yocom at 417-678-3373.'
Thomas and McKinney say they don't care if the box or space has a roof.
'Regardless of if there's an open top, it really doesn't matter. There are a hundred different ways that I could explain that a child could get hurt in that thing, with or without a top, with or without a door, with or without a teacher present in there. It's just not safe. It's not okay. It's not safe,' Thomas said.
Thomas and McKinney say until changes are made, their kids won't be part of the Aurora School District.
'I feel like the only way that we would feel comfortable putting our kids back in this school district is if we have a 100% certainty that this is being removed,' McKinney said. 'It's not okay. The way they're using it is completely wrong.'
The two say contacting parents is the best way to maintain a level of trust between parents and school staff.
'Call. Let us take care of our child. If you can't ultimately calm them down, give us a chance. We've raised them. We've been with them their whole life. Every single day. We are with them. You're only with them four days out of the week. Don't traumatize them,' Thomas said.
Thomas says she's meeting with an attorney on Wednesday to discuss potential litigation and encourages any parents who have endured a similar situation with the district, specifically regarding the calming box/space, to reach out over social media through her fiancé's Facebook account.
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