The mother of a child who was allegedly forcibly confined by a teacher at an area school last year is considering taking legal action against Good Spirit School Division.
The woman declined to discuss details of the case with Yorkton This Week, but confirmed she had retained legal counsel.
Dwayne Reeve, director of education for the school division, said they were expecting a lawsuit and for that reason was also unable to comment. He did, however, confirm that GSSD had formalized its administrative procedure on seclusion and physical restraint because of the alleged incident.
The document, published in April of this year, states seclusion or restraint should be used "only when the physical safety of the student and/or others is in imminent danger" and as a "last resort."
"Last resort" means that all other possible reasonable interventions have been implemented with fidelity and these interventions have failed to prevent or de-escalate a situation and there is significant concern for the personal safety of the student and/or others."
Finally, the policy admonishes, "Neither seclusion nor physical restraint should be used as a punishment to force compliance or as a substitute for appropriate educational support."
Reeve said the division is confident appropriate protocols were observed even though the official procedure was not published at the time of the alleged incident.
Nevertheless, a Facebook post obtained by Yorkton This Week, claims the child suffered trauma and required psychiatric treatment.
The issue is expected to be on the agenda for the September 26 meeting of the School Board.
