Left inset: Security footage that allegedly shows a Milwaukee Public Schools employee grabbing a student and placing him in a boiler room as punishment (Drew DeVinney). Right inset: The boiler room aka “dungeon” where Milwaukee Public Schools students were allegedly placed as punishment (Drew DeVinney). Background The Thurston Woods Campus in Milwaukee, Wis., where staffers allegedly locked children in the school’s boiler room (WITI/YouTube).
Parents in Wisconsin are suing the Milwaukee Public Schools district after staffers were allegedly caught placing students in a boiler room known as “the dungeon” to punish and frighten them, a lawsuit says.
“When asked about ‘the dungeon’ by their parents, some students would become so scared, stressed and upset that they would begin to cry,” the parents’ legal complaint charges, accusing staffers at Thurston Woods School of carrying out the cruel punishment during the 2022-’23 and 2023-’24 school years.
“Students experienced sleep issues, nightmares and waking up crying during the night because of fear of ‘the dungeon,'” the complaint adds.
Multiple parents, who are being represented by Milwaukee attorney Drew DeVinney, have identified staff members at the pre-K-8 school who allegedly sent kids to the boiler room if they misbehaved. At least one of the staffers, a former male paraprofessional, was caught locking three different students in the “dungeon” numerous times, according to the parents’ complaint.
The students were allegedly locked inside “with the lights turned off so that it would be pitch black,” the complaint says. “The students would be left inside with no ability to leave as a form of punishment,” the document explains.
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The door to “the dungeon” leads to a basement-level boiler room, which the school allegedly used for storage, including storage of chemicals and cleaning agents. The room is said to be “very loud” due to the boiler running and “hazardous” because of the chemicals and cleaning agents, which were accompanied by buckets, boxes, furnace filters, ladders, boilers and other machinery.
“[Staffers] would require the students … to remove their shoes once locked inside ‘the dungeon,'” the complaint says. “Locked in the dark, [the students] were subjected to the harsh smells of the chemicals and cleaning products that were stored in the boiler room. Sometimes [the paraprofessional] would use his body as a barricade to the door to ensure the confined student was not able to leave the boiler room.”
After “numerous instances” of confining students to “the dungeon,” Milwaukee Public Schools allegedly undertook an investigation of the incidents and the paraprofessional resigned, according to DeVinney and the parents. He allegedly admitted to placing the children in the boiler room to “punish and frighten them,” per the complaint.
“Thurston Woods School staff failed to intervene [and] prevent children from being confined to the boiler room for punishment, despite having [an] opportunity to do so,” the complaint concludes. “Due to being confined in ‘the dungeon,’ the children … sustained mental and psychological harm, including but not limited to fright, grief, anger, fear, worry, emotional distress and trauma.”
Milwaukee Public Schools could not be reached for comment Sunday by Law&Crime, but the district did offer a statement to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last week, saying: “Milwaukee Public Schools is committed to maintaining safe and welcoming learning environments for all students and staff. While we cannot comment on ongoing litigation, the district thoroughly investigated this matter in 2023 and took appropriate disciplinary action which included termination of employment.”
