‘I really think we would go to jail’: School locks kid in closet 14 times in 18 days, parents say

Oklahoma parents are outraged after they say their 7-year-old son, who has special needs, was locked in a closet by his elementary school for 30 minutes — and that it was far from the first time.

Mustang Creek Elementary School calls it the “refocus room,” according to KFOR, and said it was “false” that they locked little Nick Wynne in a closet.

“At the elementary level, either there is no door on these rooms or only a half door is installed,” wrote Shannon Rigsby, a public information officer for Mustang Public Schools. “If a half door is installed, there is no lock. It’s a safe, quiet place for a student to regain his or her composure.”

But the boy’s father, Billy Wynne, said a chair blocked the half-door of the room — which he described as “legitimately the storage closet for the classroom” — making it impossible for his child to get out.

There are a few reasons why Nick’s parents are so upset: Their son has ADHD, a sensory processing disorder and is awaiting a possible Autism diagnosis, according to KOKH, and they specifically asked the school to not put him in the room.

“That seems crazy to me,” Billy said. “That he's in there number one, and 30 minutes for a 7-year-old?”

Nick’s parents are also mad because they say they learned it happened not once, not twice — but 14 times after going through their son’s folder at a school meeting last week.

“It was 14 times in the previous 18 days he'd been locked in this seclusion room,” Billy said to KOKH. “We never got a phone call.”

Billy wrote a Facebook post about the incident, receiving just under 1,000 shares and hundreds of comments.

Originally, Billy and his wife were excited about sending Nick to Mustang Creek Elementary School. They believed it had a special program that would give their son one-on-one time with teachers.

During a 15-minute tour of the classroom, Billy said, they were introduced to the “refocus room.”

The boy’s parents said they made it clear to the school that they did not want Nick to be put into that re-purposed closet.

They learned that request was ignored at that school meeting last week, according to KOKH.

The superintendent of the school told KFOR that a child should only be put in the “refocus room” with the consent of parents. The state of Oklahoma is currently investigating the matter.

Billy said he plans to start his son at a new elementary school on Monday, according to KOKH.

"What if we were to do that to our own children?” he said. “They were out of control, lock them in a closet for 30 minutes. If somebody reported it, I really think we would go to jail.”

This story was originally published September 22, 2017 at 8:22 AM with the headline "‘I really think we would go to jail’: School locks kid in closet 14 times in 18 days, parents say."