COLUMBIA − Parents and advocates are reacting to what they call a brave move from a former employee of Columbia Public Schools.
Angela Jolley, the former CPS employee, filed a lawsuit against the district, claiming CPS retaliated against her after she shared photos and concerns about the treatment of students with disabilities.
Jolley worked at the Center of Responsive Education (CORE). Court documents say Jolley took photos of “time out” boxes that the district had built and used for “seclusion and isolation of disabled students.”
Court documents refer to these as “rough wooden boxes that were approximately 4 feet by 6 feet and 8 feet high.”
Court documents also say children could be heard crying and screaming to be let out of the boxes. The boxes had no water, no bathroom facilities, no appropriate ventilation and no lighting.
Court documents say students were also sometimes locked in a storage closet and a file cabinet room -- rooms that Jolley said students urinated in while locked inside.
Jolley sent pictures of the wooden boxes to “people she believed needed to know” about their use. The photos were then also shared with the media.
After CPS learned Jolley was the one who had sent the photos, court documents say the district “began a crusade against [Jolley] to punish and eventually run her out of CPS.”
The lawsuit claims Jolley “lost income and benefits, future wages and earnings, and suffered emotional and mental distress, reputational damage, embarrassment, humiliation and loss of enjoyment of life” due to the district.
Jolley's attorney, Doug Mann, says an independent contractor was hired by the district and brought the wooden boxes to classrooms.
"A few years back, Ms. Jolley as well as her co-workers were saying that they needed help because they were understaffed. And the district, instead of hiring more teachers, their solution was to bring in an independent contractor," he said.
This all hits close to home for CPS parent Melissa Little, who is a parent to children with disabilities.
“Our educators are supposed to be teaching these children how to cope through different experiences throughout their day, and here they were being placed in wooden boxes,” Little said.
Little said it was hard for her to look at the photos of the boxes and imagine a child in distress being locked inside of it.
“I'm appalled that I'm almost speechless,” Little said. “I don't know at what point anybody thinks that a child should be placed in a box that's 4 feet by 6 feet. We treat our criminals in prison better than we're doing our children in public schools.”
She said she hopes more people will come forward to share their stories, saying this is part of a larger community issue.
“We can't make the big changes that need to happen without people coming forward like Angela Jolley,” Little said. “We need people to have the courage and the strength to say 'Enough is enough, our children deserve more.'”
Jolley's attorney is also representing some CPS parents of students that were put in the boxes. He said the reaction from parents he represents is similar to Little's.
"Definitely a sense of anger toward the district for what happened to their children and a desire for justice," he said.
Robyn Schelp is the president of Missouri Disability Empowerment, the group that pushed to create a law that set strict definitions for using seclusion and restraint in schools.
“It says what seclusion is, what restraint is. It can only be done in emergency situations,” Schelp said. “Kids can only be in a restraint or in seclusion spaces until they calm down, and they have to be removed immediately, and parents have to be notified, and it just lays it all out how it needs to be handled.”
The law also protects teachers if they report something that is being done wrong. Schelp said the law will officially go into effect in July of this year.
The Columbia Missourian reports that in May, the Columbia School Board will vote on a new seclusion and restraint policy. It implements a reporting process and doesn't allow for a lock to be used.
KOMU 8 reached out to the district for a statement but has not heard back. District spokesperson Michelle Baumstark told the Columbia Missourian on Monday it had not been formally served.
"We cannot comment specifically on pending or ongoing litigation," Baumstark said. "However, the district is confident in its employment decisions and intends to vigorously defend itself."
