Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) begins school Tuesday, August 11,2026
And before another Black child walks through those public Southern School doors, I need us to talk about something that can hide behind words:
SECLUSION.
Last legislative session 2026, Shanikka and I went before the Tennessee Senate to explain why cameras in special education classrooms are needed. Why? When a child cannot fully communicate what happened behind a closed door a 3rd eye needs to be watching.
The legislation was passed in the Education Senate. However, Representative Raper sponsored the House bill, but dropped the ball in presenting it to the House. There were, however, legislators who supported our efforts, including State Representative Harold M. Love, Jr.
I remember who stood with us. And I remember who didn’t. When politicians show you who they are, believe them.
Why am I writing about this now? Because over a year ago, I started researching seclusion and restraint across the Dirty South. For Tennessee, the data is now hidden. But I found a heinous discovery, less than 3 years ago, about Black children and particularly Black disabled children when the classroom door closes.
The federal government defines seclusion as the involuntary confinement of a student alone in a room or area from which the student is physically prevented from leaving.
Let’s Be Clear, it doesn’t say the room has to be called a seclusion room. Why, because The Tennessee Department of Education allows public schools to use comforting labels for spaces:
BeWell Room.
RESET Room.
Quiet Space.
Calm Room.
Regulation Room.
Wellness Room.
But the question all parents want to know, Can my child leave this space or did my non-verbal or verbal child request this space That is the question!
If a child is involuntarily confined alone and physically prevented from leaving, changing the name on the door does not change the abuse behind closed doors.
Did you know it's not a fictitious number of the many Black children who are ‘secluded.’ Black Parents, you are not speculating the disparities.
According to the U.S. Department of Education’s 2021–22 Civil Rights Data Collection, Black students represented approximately 15% of public-school enrollment but 19% of students subjected to seclusion nationally. Black Students with disabilities face an even more staggering disparity.
Students served under IDEA represented approximately 14% of enrollment but 68% of students subjected to seclusion.
That intersection should stop us in our tracks: Black. Disabled. A child.
Those identities can place a student at the intersection of racial bias, disability discrimination and exclusionary school discipline. And the Government Accountability Office has repeatedly documented racial disparities in school discipline. Black students have been disciplined disproportionately compared with their representation in the student population.
So when somebody tells me not to make this about race, my response is simple: The data already did. This is why words matters. How Public school rooms are labeled, matters.
A sensory room is not automatically a seclusion room. A calm-down space is not automatically abusive. A child voluntarily choosing a quiet space to regulate is fundamentally different from an adult directing that child into a room, blocking the exit, preventing the child from leaving or using isolation as punishment.
Stop blurring the lines between regulation with discipline. If the child chooses the room and can freely leave, we’re talking about something very different. But if an adult manipulates the child or decides when the child enters, determines when the child leaves, stands in the doorway, blocks the exit, or tells the child she must remain there?
The questions below I ask because my Black granddaughter is a part of that Administrative Complaint, OCR, and Civil Suit statistic:
How long was she there? Who authorized it?Was the parent notified? Was it documented? Was it behavioral support—or punishment? Was the child actually free to leave?
And perhaps the most important question:
Would you accept this happening to your child?
Black parents, ask about the rooms. When you walk into your child’s school this year, don’t just ask who the teacher is.
ASK:
What is your seclusion policy? Do you have a RESET room? A BeWell room? A quiet room? A calm-down room? A sensory room? Who sends children there? Can children leave whenever they want? Are staff ever positioned at the doorway? Is the room ever used because of behavior? Is it ever used instead of suspension? Does the school document every use? When are parents notified?
Tell them to put their answers in writing. Because cute names don’t create accountability. Documentation does.
This is bigger than Nashville.
I am researching the use of restraint, seclusion and renamed isolation spaces throughout Southern schools. I’m especially interested in what happens to Black disabled children. Unfortunately, Tennessee's public records request makes it hard to get the numbers. But seclusion exists in the following states:
Tennessee.
Georgia.
Alabama.
Mississippi.
Louisiana.
The Carolinas.
Florida.
If you’re a Black Southern parent whose child has been placed in a BeWell Room, RESET Room, Quiet Room, Calm Room, or another space where your child says they were not permitted to leave, I want you to start asking questions. Don’t tell me what the school called it. Tell me what happened inside it. Could your child leave? Was the doorway blocked? Was the door closed? How long were they there?Were you notified? Was it documented?
Was the room used because of behavior?
Those answers matter.
Let's be clear, I am not against teachers. I am not against special education. I am against egregious systems that can disproportionately punish Black children and then hide destructive practices behind healing terminology.
Our Black children deserve regulation without isolation. So yes, I’m writing. I’m always researching.
I’m going to keep asking them.
Why? Because for Black children— I will never shut up.
#EndSeclusion
#BlackDisabledChildrenMatter
#BlackKidsAreNotTheProblem
#MNPS
#SpecialEducation
#DisabilityRights
#BlackWomenAreNotSupported
#DirtySouth
#ToTheHag