Fort Covington, New York - Rumors spread on social media over the winter: School kids with disabilities in the Salmon River Central School District, including Akwesasne Mohawk children, were being confined by special education teachers in wooden boxes. Sarah Konwahahawi Herne was devastated.
"It was so unfathomable that our children were seeing these boxes and hearing children screaming in these boxes," said Herne, a parent and a member of the tribal community. "I cried, I threw up and I immediately grabbed my laptop and said, What are we going to do?"
Local school officials later confirmed that at least two boxes had been built and used by staff in November and December of 2025. That disclosure sent more shockwaves through this region of small Upstate New York towns just south of the U.S.-Canada border, which includes the sprawling St. Regis Mohawk Reservation.
Officials with New York state's education department have now quietly issued an official order requiring sweeping reforms in the district.
According to the report obtained by NPR, the state's investigation found at least five elementary-age students with disabilities were confined in a "wooden box for a timeout."
"They were subjected to seclusion when they were placed in 'stations' with the door held shut," states the May 8 order. The report, which offers no details about the children's ages or ethnicity, found that "station" was the district's euphemism for "a wooden box." It also concludes that parents of children held in the boxes weren't notified, a violation of state regulations.
According to the education department, teachers and other school personnel should have been "prohibited from using corporal punishment, aversive interventions, and seclusion against a student."
That order, known as a compliance order plan hasn't been released publicly and doesn't recommend dismissal of staff who created and carried out the policy.
In a statement sent to NPR, the New York education department said "by law, personnel decisions are a matter of local control."
Many parents say the controversy echoes a troubling school history
When existence of the boxes was first revealed in a social media post in December, the school district responded by placing staff members on administrative leave and removing the wooden crates, while initially describing them as "calming stations."
New York Governor Kathy Hochul called the district's behavior "highly disturbing" and ordered an investigation by the state education department. Parents and community leaders also organized protests at local board of education meetings, which have continued over the last five months.
According to local school officials, roughly two-thirds of students enrolled in the Salmon River district are Mohawk. Parents interviewed by NPR said they believe one of the boxes was installed in a classroom at the St. Regis Mohawk Elementary School, operated by the district.
The small school is located on tribal land in nearby Akwesasne, NY. They described the practice as an echo of past abuses in government schools that ravaged Native communities.
"For our children to be placed in boxes just as they would have been in residential schools, it was so heartbreaking and disgusting to me," said Herne
Native children across the U.S. were forced into federally-funded boarding and residential schools for more than a century, practice that ended in 1969. The U.S. government has acknowledged the system was repressive and violent, leading to the deaths of at least a thousand children.
Herne provided NPR with a video recording of a Salmon River board of education meeting held December 22, 2025, where parents repeatedly referenced the history of residential schools. During the gathering, St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Chief Michael Conners described the forced restraint of children as "incomprehensible."
"None of us could believe initially that was true," Conners said. "It was verified that it was and it was defended as legal. Nobody could believe it was legal to have that in our schools, with the intent of using that box on our children."
In that same meeting, T.J. Hathaway, the parent of a child with disabilities, testified that he asked his 8-year-old son about the boxes.
"He explained to us that if you are angry or if you are sad, this is where you go," Hathaway said, noting that the child's grandmother had been sent to a residential school.
Parents say the controversy and pain caused by use of confinement boxes in the district's elementary schools has been heightened and complicated by the fact that some school employees involved in the practice are members of the Akwesasne Mohawk tribal community.
A majority of Salmon River board of education members are also members of the tribal community.
"The fact that these were our own people working in these schools, hurting our children, allowing this to happen, it was so frustrating, so angering," said Chrystalynn Jock, a parent and tribal member whose child attends the St. Regis Mohawk School.
Since use of the boxes was made public, the school district has faced months of upheaval. Two interim superintendents were hired but quickly resigned. A third interim leader was appointed in March.
The local board also released findings from its own investigation, while promising changes. "This report gives us a clearer understanding of what happened and where our systems fell short," said Salmon River board of education president Jason Brockway, in a March statement.
Six days after that report was issued, one of the Salmon River special education elementary teachers who had been placed on leave by the district, was arrested by New York state police for allegedly endangering the welfare of a student in May 2025. It's unclear whether that case involves improper confinement.
New leadership and questions about healing
During a Salmon River board of education meeting on Wednesday, board members approved the permanent hiring of Rebecca Stanley as the district's new head of special education. Stanley told board members she has already begun implementing reforms, some with deadlines as early as next month, mandated for by both the local and state education department investigations.
"This will be quite the undertaking with the timeline that state education has given us," Stanley said.
While the state report has not yet been made public, Stanley confirmed that it includes a long list of violations that require correction, including "the use of seclusion" and "improper physical restraints."
Following Stanley's presentation, local board members asked no questions and made no statements about the report. Speaking after the session, interim superintendent Ben Barkley said the district is committed to change.
"Nothing like this will happen in Salmon River again," Barkley said. "We will be in full compliance with the state education department."
Some parents told NPR they don't believe these reforms go far enough. Herne noted the district has yet to issue a formal apology. She also said the state education department isn't requiring dismissal of "ten to twelve" staff and faculty members involved in approving, constructing and using the wooden boxes.
"I'm not trying to be on a witch hunt, I'm just trying to hold people accountable and make a safer place," Herne said. "If they have to stand up and admit they were wrong, that's what they need to do. That helps us all heal."
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