Perhaps someone should forward this to the city council.

"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing." -Arundhati Roy

First step:

Write a formal letter to the principal of the school.

Second:

Write a letter to the School Board, follow up verbally, try and work with them.

Third:

Write the Superintendent of the ESD (school district) follow up verbally, be succinct and to the point.

After that I would contact the Office of the Governor's Office of Education Ombudsman. They are a dispute resolution source for k12 education. I have provided you the website below.

http://www.governor.wa.gov/oeo/

I would start at the top and work my way down, rather than in the other direction. If the school and teachers/principals or anyone else involved, is not following proceudre, don't you think that OSPI and Terry Bergeson should know about it? I do. If this had happened to my child back in May I can assure you that before summer began I would have been in their face about it. I would not have just gone to another school. That's often what they are hoping, that you will just go away. Although sometimes is it best to find a new environment. We actually transferred our daughter out of district to escape some horrible treatment by her peers and the blind eye of the school administrators. When someone just tells me to "Buck up" I tell them to shove it. Isn't the school required to set forth a plan of action for each student in IEP? What was their definition of 'bad behavior' or 'risky behavior'? What did they state the consequences would be in such a situation? If you are dealing with a fragile child that needs help, I really don't think you can trust any school 100% to be able to handle them correctly. As a parent you have to be so pro-active and go with your gut. I think we often get dupped into thinking that because these people work in established institutions they actually know what they are doing. Also, I can't understand why attorneys and/or the ACLU is not all over this. What have they said about yours and your child's rights?

What exactly are you asking Centenial and the school district to do?

Is this about reporting the abuse or is it about not getting the help you need now? Exactly what help is needed and from who? Your options depend on what you want to accomplish here.

I appreciate all comments thus far and will take what input I can to help the situation. I would like to make the situation more clear for any doubters of this serious situation. The process of locking a child in a closet or a resolution room is called aversive therapy also known as simply removing the child from the situation. If a child is out of control to a point of making the teacher and children feel threatened it is then time for the "resolution room." State law says that a child may be kept in the "resolution room" for up to an hour and a half a day. Either all at once or in separate intervals. When the school district advised me to put my son in the LEAP(k-3)program at Centennial we had many meetings where I was told of the discipline practices. I am a child care provider myself and thought that I understood what removing a child from the situation meant. In my line of work I never even imagined that it meant they could lock my son in a closet. When I caught them in the act it came as quite a surprise to the teachers, principal and myself. My son however was not surprised and he later told me that it happened to him and his friends everyday. On May 4, 2007 at exactly 12:53pm (half day) I arrived at Centennial to pick my son up from school. As I entered the class I heard my son screaming "mom help, mom get me out." I wasn't sure where the screams were coming from and I thought he needed help in the bathroom. I wasn't even aware this closet existed. As I looked around for the bathroom one of his teachers looked at me with "oh shit" in her eyes. She wasn't in the room at the time that he was put in the closet and had no answers for me. Just then a para educator(no proper legal training for such situations) had all the answers. He had got in a fight with a 3rd grade boy and she felt threatened. The lead teacher walked me over to the closet(resolution room) and proceeded to unlock the door from deadbolts on the top and the bottom. The room was so small I could barely fit inside to hold my son. It had padded wall, was hot and muggy and a small window for teachers to observe. However, not a single teacher of five teachers were anywhere near the window observing him. Three of the five teachers were not even in the room when the incident occurred. Not to mention that I was late to pick my son up from school and the bell had all ready been rung for dismissal. Maybe it's not against the law for them not to fully explain aversive therapy to parents or for them to even have a resolution room but it must be against the law for them to have 3 of 5 teachers gone and for them to hold my son in a closet after school was dismissed. I have called CPS. They don't deal with school districts. I have spoken with a few people at the school district in person including the person who evaluated my son in the first place. They don't care and have moved on. All I want is for the Centennial and the school district to take responsibility for these actions and change the policies and procedures when dealing with violent children on IEP's. This is still happening today to many other children. Violent or not I know from my experience with children and mentally ill that this is not the answer. My son was not very violent or mental when he went into the LEAP program, however he came out violent and traumatized. Since he has been to Lincoln his behavior has improved 70%. He still has trust issues with teachers. After all he was locked in a closet by a teacher everyday for most of his kindergarten experience. I feel that the district owes it to my son to help my family and Lincoln in educating my son. Thank you all for you thoughts and I hope that this will enlighten all of you further.