Rhonda Garrow says she saw a Facebook photo of her autistic and non-verbal 8-year-old son. In the post, she saw him allegedly being placed inside a wooden “timeout” box at his elementary school in upstate New York. She was never called in for any meeting or asked for permission to do that to her child.
Now Garrow wants to sue the Salmon River Central School District in Fort Covington for what the school described as a “behavioral intervention plan.” The mother told The New York Post, “I feel betrayed.”
She believes her son was targeted because he can’t speak up. “The only thing he can do is yell or cry or try to run away,” she said. Garrow also shared that when her son had an outburst, he was placed inside the box for so long that he had to have his meals there.
Photos on social media showed that the box in question is a wooden structure placed in the corner of a classroom, with padding and a door. It is around five feet tall and about three feet wide. And no, it barely looks anything like a calming space.
Mom to sue NY school for allegedly putting 8-year-old autistic son in ‘box-shaped wooden dog cage’ https://t.co/18Rk7OeJ3U pic.twitter.com/nv0uOJW8Ou
— New York Post Metro (@nypmetro) January 15, 2026
This week, parents assembled at the school gymnasium to demand answers. Several believed that their children (many of whom are autistic or minimally verbal) had also been put in boxes.
One family said they were told the structure had been built for their 8-year-old. Another said that her son told her that no matter if you were happy or sad, that’s where you “went to calm down.”
The district, as a result, has placed Superintendent Stanley Harper on “home duties.” At the same time, the director of special education, an elementary school principal, and a teacher were put on administrative leave.
According to attorneys representing Garrow, the district has now removed and disassembled the boxes. Authorities, including tribal police, are investigating the case, since one of the schools is located on the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Reservation.
About 60% of the district’s students are Native American, so these boxes represent generational wounds from residential schools. Gov. Kathy Hochul called the allegations “highly disturbing.”
Then again, one may note that New York does allow “timeout” in certain circumstances, but that can only be used in unlocked spaces where students can move freely and be observed. The state bans seclusion, like isolating a child in a locked room, and worse yet, in a wooden box.
Mom claims the 8-year-old was forced to spend significant time in the box, including eating meals. The district is now being sued.
MORE: https://t.co/zxYL6UOCEm pic.twitter.com/PCcVqz7oKt
— CBS 6 Albany – WRGB (@CBS6Albany) January 16, 2026
“The claims made against the district are (…) a direct violation of Ms. Garrow’s child’s rights,” said attorney Stephen Marricco of Tully Rinckey PLLC.
Some parents also described behavioral changes in children who had never shown distress before. Others said they were pressured to agree to the box to keep their kids in school.
Does “safe at school” mean anything anymore?
