A mistake at a high school in Oklahoma left a special needs student out of her graduation.
According to Norman North High School parent Martha Aycox, her daughter Chloe wasn't allowed to graduate with her class after a mistake left the student out of the program.
Aycox said Chloe's graduation ceremony was important for her and her special needs student — who has Down Syndrome — and that missing out was incredibly disappointing.
According to the mother, Chloe loves basketball and is normally a happy kid. However, not being able to walk across the stage in a cap and gown brought Chloe to tears.
Chloe doesn't quite understand the reason why she's not able to graduate, so that's the hardest thing as her mother because she's not able... to understand. So, she believes she's still graduating. You know, so... we are going to hold some kind of ceremony for her," Aycox explained.
She added that family flew in from out of town for the event, that they paid for catering and they were excited to celebrate Chloe's accomplishment.
"We already struggle every day with, you know, the looks, and bullies, and people who just [don't] accept her. And, so this was, you know, just like, a real, you know, kind of a slap in the face," she explained.
According to Norman Public Schools, a mistake led to Chloe not being included. The district shared that a plan was presented to allow her to walk during graduation, but that Chloe wasn't in attendance at the Friday evening ceremony.
Aycox asserted that she tried to work with the school after learning that Chloe was left out during graduation rehearsal on Friday morning, but said that those managing the ceremony at the Lloyd Noble Center told her the situation couldn't be resolved.
It wasn't right. She should never have been forgotten in the first place," Aycox noted.
She further explained that district systems currently list Chloe as having dropped out of school but her daughter completed the necessary credits to graduate and that she is working to correct the error.
In response to a request for comment on the matter, Norman Public Schools provided the following statement:
Due to FERPA, we are limited on what we can say when it comes to student information. However, we can share that in this situation, a mistake led to the student not being included on the graduation list. After the mistake was reported, a plan was presented to allow the student to walk during graduation and to print additional copies of the program with the student’s name included. However, the student was not in attendance at the graduation ceremony. The student will be given the opportunity to go through the ceremony next year.