School for autistic kids makes changes

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http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/east-volusia/2011/06/06/school-for-\

autistic-kids-makes-changes.html

School for autistic kids makes changes

Director: Complaints brought media, scared parents

By LINDA TRIMBLE, Education Writer

June 6, 2011 12:05 AM

DAYTONA BEACH -- Officials at a private school for autistic children are making

state-recommended changes to better monitor the way students are treated in the

wake of investigations that cleared them of accusations they used excessive

force in restraining an 11-year-old boy.

The changes include the installation of video cameras throughout the school,

quarterly parent meetings for updates on school procedures, additional teacher

training and a better system for documenting restraint of students considered to

be a danger to themselves or others.

" We clearly will be much more regimented in our response, " said Mimi Lundell,

executive director of Chase Academy at 908 Beville Road.

Lundell and assistant director Amy Filson were the target of complaints made to

Daytona Beach police and the Department of Children & Families over a March 30

incident in which they restrained a boy who had been aggressive in class and

later hit Filson and spit on her.

Both agencies determined the allegations of excessive force were unfounded,

according to a police report and a phone interview with Reggie , local

administrator for the DCF.

" We did reach an agreement with the school to put in certain safety procedures, "

said. " We will go back to ensure those things are done. "

Lundell and Gail Filson, president of the Chase Academy board and Amy Filson's

mother, said they welcome the state recommendations.

" If we had had a camera in the room, none of this would have happened, " Lundell

said of the investigation prompted by a complaint from someone who heard about

the incident but didn't witness it.

Lundell said she and Amy Filson were trying to calm the boy involved in the

March incident enough so he could return to class. He first got aggressive in

the classroom that morning, she said, and was brought to the office where he

went through several cycles of calming down and getting upset again.

He eventually finished out the day in the classroom where his mother, a Chase

Academy teacher, was working.

In the future, Lundell said parents of students who don't settle down enough to

return to class after two attempts at calming them will be notified to pick up

their children. " Whatever is going on with them, they're not going to learn

(that) day, " she said.

The student would be able to return to Chase Academy the next morning.

Lundell said the boy involved in the March 30 incident and his teacher-mother

have since left the school. Lundell declined to identify the mother so she could

be contacted for this story.

Enrollment at the school has dropped from 34 to 15 since the incident, Lundell

said. Some parents withdrew their children because they were uneasy when

television crews showed up at the school after the complaint was filed, she

said.

Still, Lundell said she has applications from several new students for next year

and is planning to open a branch campus in DeLand if there's enough enrollment

to support it.