An additional four staff members at Columbia Training School have been suspended with pay, bringing the total to six, according to Department of Human Services Director Don Taylor. DHS is currently investigating staff at the school for shackling at least five students for more than a week because another student said the girls planned to escape.
Juvenile Justice Committee Chairman Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, called a June 12 hearing where mothers and students said that staff abuse at the school goes well beyond the shackling incident. They described inadequate health care and widespread staff misconduct, including sexual assaults on students. Since 2005, the training schools have operated under a federal consent decree to address student abuse.
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