Connecticut School Ends Use of 'Scream Rooms'

(NewsCore) - A Connecticut elementary school that put students in so-called "scream rooms" for timeouts will no longer use the rooms for some students following outcry from parents.

Special needs students who were disruptive in class at Farm Hill Elementary School in Middletown, Conn., were isolated in the six-foot-by-four-foot concrete-walled rooms.

Tricia Belin, whose two children attend the school, told FOXNews.com that her children were disturbed by the sounds of screaming coming from the rooms. When she complained to the school's principal, she said she was told they were an "alternative learning environment."

Shawn Archer, whose 10-year-old daughter also attends the school, said parents were never notified about the rooms and claimed his child and others were fearful of them.

Following the complaints, officials have changed the school's policy so that the rooms will only be used for children in Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) designed by special needs education professionals alongside the students' parents, The Hartford Courant reported Saturday.

"I wanted to make clear that I have directed all administrative staff in the district to cease, immediately, using timeout rooms for students who do not have specialized, legally created IEPs," Superintendent Michael Frechette said Friday at a press conference.

"I want to emphasize that timeout rooms are used with a very small, specialized population with behavioral, emotional or other support needs," he added.

Disruptive students in IEPs will be placed into a new suite area in the school building for timeouts, Frechette said.

In the new rooms, "the walls will be padded and they'll have paned glass as well, so you'll be able to watch what's going on in there," Farm Hill PTA President Apryl Dudley said after the press conference.

School custodians reported having to clean up blood and urine from the floors and walls of the concrete timeout rooms, FOXNews.com reported.

"I think it's going to take a lot of time for these students to feel a little more comfortable," Dudley said, according to The Hartford Courant. "Unfortunately, if you're in crisis, they needed to have a room [where students were able] to release that stress or anger, but I don't think that room was proper."

Read more: The Hartford Courant