(NewsNation) — After wooden boxes allegedly used to punish special needs students sparked outrage in upstate New York last year, the school district has implemented some changes, but the community says concerns remain.
The boxes, lined with a padded mat, were allegedly used as a behavioral calming measure at St. Regis Mohawk School, a primary school in Akwesasne, New York.
Chrissy Onientatahse Jacobs, a parent and former Salmon River School District board member, said the superintendent acknowledged the boxes were used and later removed, and staffing changes were made. However, she says staff members involved in the incident are still working at the school, prompting safety concerns.
“We’ve really realized that the responsibility really falls to a number of people, not just a few,” Jacobs said. “One thing we are not comfortable with is that there are still two staff members not on leave; they are actively working at the school. So, some families have kept their children home due to safety concerns.”
Community activist Sarah Konwahahawi Herne said allowing staff linked to the practice to remain employed continues to create an unsafe environment for students.
“It’s absolute negligence,” she said. “The fact that it happened and the people who implemented these boxes are still in the schools perpetrating this trauma and unsafe care, and the aides that supported them, those that were complacent to it, also are still in the school system, perpetuating this unsafe environment for our children.”
Herne said the community will attend a school board meeting Wednesday to continue to advocate for the students and their families.
The school’s board of directors closed the campus after launching an investigation. The superintendent of schools was placed on at-home duties, and other staff have been placed on administrative leave pending further notice.
The allegations made national headlines and drew attention from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who called the incident “alarming and entirely unacceptable.”
The school district is predominantly Native American, and Jacobs said the investigation is “a direct relation to what happens when you dehumanize any population or demographic of people. Eventually, we just become statistics on a paper for funding.”
NewsNation’s Nick Smith and Ashley N. Soriano contributed to this report.