By Canadian Press

Education minister calls out Montreal school for putting autistic kids in closet

May 28, 2019 | 4:32 PM

Quebec’s education minister called out a Montreal school Tuesday for its reported practice of locking panicking autistic children into a small and unsafe closet to calm them down.

Jean-Francois Roberge was reacting to a news report from Radio-Canada that revealed a school for autistic children used an ill-suited closet as an isolation room for agitated children.

Roberge said the francophone school, Ecole de l’Etincelle, “tolerated the intolerable.”

Quebec “isn’t in a underdeveloped country that tolerates putting the health of children in danger,” he told reporters.

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Premier Francois Legault said the government never received a request from the school for more space. He said he appreciates that schools across Quebec are in need of renovations.

“But there is nothing that justifies putting autistic kids in a closet,” he told reporters. “It’s shocking. It’s unacceptable.”

Roberge, a former teacher, said the needs of autistic children who are panicking or agitated need to be taken seriously. They need a spot to calm down that is safe and secure, he said, not a “badly adapted” closet.

The minister said he spoke with the chairwoman of the school board, who told him the situation would be handled within a few days. He said the “error” occurred after the school received more students this school year compared with the last one.

Roberge said the school board has enough resources to properly renovate the isolation room. And he delivered a message to the heads of school boards across the province.

“If there is a dangerous area, don’t call the minister to come visit the school in a month. Fix it. OK?” he said. “Find a solution.”

The Canadian Press