Fall River School Committee approves payments to controversial Judge Rotenberg Center
FALL RIVER — The School Committee narrowly voted to approve payments to a controversial facility that uses shock treatment on some disabled residents.
“We have to pay the bill. The advocating can continue,” committee member Shelli Pereira said during an at times heated discussion during their Monday night meeting.
The committee held its third discussion on Monday, after tabling the topic at two earlier meetings, about whether to make good on a contract the district signed earlier this year with the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton. The center, a day and residential facility and school for severely disabled children and adults, is controversial for its use of electric shocks to control some clients’ behavior.
Rotenberg Center: 'Culture of abuse' or miracle worker?
This spring, the Department of Children and Families opted to send a severely disabled Fall River Public Schools student who is in its custody to live and go to school at the facility. The district signed a contract to pay for the student’s education there.
Last month, the committee tabled discussion on whether they would pay for the contract, with members citing their opposition to the use of electric shocks. They requested that representatives of Fall River Public Schools visit the center to learn more about it and to determine whether the student would ever potentially receive electric shocks while staying there.
What Fall River administrators learned when they visited the center
On Monday, the district’s Interim Administrator of Special Education Kristen Farias and Assistant Superintendent for Special Education Lori Obenchain reported to the committee what they saw when they visited the facility.
Obenchain said representatives from the center informed them that they do not currently use shock treatment on anyone under the age of 22. For them to utilize shock devices on a school-aged client, their home school would have to include permission for it in the student’s IEP, a formal education plan for special education students.
“It would have to start with us, and I don’t think we would ever want to move forward with that type of treatment with our students,” Obenchain said.
The center takes other steps before potentially using shock devices on clients, including bringing the issue in front of its own human rights committee and before probate court, she said.
Beyond that, the facility's school portion seemed largely like a regular school, she said.
“It was clean. The students were happy, by the expressions on their face. They were engaged in learning opportunities," she said.
Some school committee members remained unconvinced that they should pay for the district’s end of the contract and wanted assurances that the district would never agree to pay for any other students' placement there. Committee member Sara Rodrigues said they should seek a second legal opinion about whether they are obligated to pay for the current placement, which was chosen by DCF.
“I don’t believe that we can in good conscience fund a placement like that regardless of what DCF proposed,” she said. “Our student is still witnessing the torture of other students in this placement.”
The committee voted four to three to pay for the contract, with Kevin Aguiar, Bobby Bailey and Sara Rodrigues voting no and Mayor Paul Coogan, Kevin Hart, Mimi Larrivee, and Shelli Pereira voting yes.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Fall River School Committee approves Judge Rotenberg Center payments
