“Refocus room” is the CYA word for closet

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An Oklahoma father is furious after his son with ADHD was allegedly locked inside a closet at school. Now he is speaking out as the state investigates.

The family calls it a closet, but Mustang Creek Elementary School refers to it as the “refocus room.”

Nick has ADHD and is waiting on a possible Autism diagnosis. The program he is in is called BRAIN, and the school staff said Nick was a good match for it.

"The student starts the first day of school not allowed to bring their lunch, not allowed to do recess,” Billy said. “If they get in trouble, there's this refocus room that is legitimately the storage closet for the classroom that they put them in and lock them in until they consider them under control."

they're like 'Don’t worry. It rarely ever happens. We'll call, and let you know if something does happen and they have to go in there.’ No. Never," Billy said. "The first time it happened was the second week of school."

And, they said they have recently learned it has happened multiple times since without their knowledge.

The superintendent of the school tells KFOR they will do anything they can to work with parents and the refocus room is only used when parents consent. They also admit communication is something they need to improve.

State school board officials said they are investigating and working with the school and parents to ensure an appropriate resolution.