City schools avoid suit, hand over ‘seclusion room’
files
By Jennifer
Smith Richards
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A federal lawsuit to force Columbus schools to hand over records about its
use of seclusion rooms has been dismissed because the district provided
them.
The Ohio Legal Rights Service, a state agency that works to protect people
with disabilities, sued Columbus City Schools in March. The agency said the
district was blocking its attempt to investigate whether children had been
abused in the closetlike rooms. The agency sought the names and contact
information of students who had been placed in seclusion rooms and records
related to incidents that occurred in the rooms dating back to Jan. 1, 2011.
The district handed over the records throughout May and June, and the agency
asked U.S. District Judge Gregory L. Frost to dismiss the case. He did on
Wednesday.
The investigation continues, said Kim McConnell, spokeswoman for the Legal
Rights Service.