A mother of an autistic child has won her plea to put her child in a different public school district. She made the case Thursday in front of The State Board of Education.
Both of Kacey Olvey's children attended the Hampton School district. She applied to have them switched to the Harmony Grove School District. While one child was approved for admission the other was denied because the school did not want to hire staff to accommodate his autism. The children's names were not used during the proceedings to protect their privacy.
Olvey became emotionally overwhelmed when she presented her case to The State Board of Education. She said she wanted her children to transfer because Hampton switched to a year round school calendar. Olvey said she liked Hampton but thought the Harmony Grove would suit her family better.
“I thought it would be in my son's best interest to attend Harmony Grove School,” she told the board.
The Arkansas Public School Choice Act of 2013 allows for this transfer. The law also prevents discrimination against students who are making the transfer based on their disability.
“The public school that provides services to students with disabilities shall receive funding as determined by applicable federal and state law,” the current law says.
School program director Sharon Hale and Special Education director Jennifer Chee spoke as representatives from the Harmony Grove school district. They wrote a letter to the family explaining their reasoning for denying the request. It said the student: “would require a one-on-one paraprofessional in order to be successful in the classroom.”
In her statements to the board Thursday, Hale said: “we did not see it as discrimination.”
Olvey said she was frustrated that she needed to take her case to the school board to be heard.
"Special people deserve school choice too,” she said.
Education secretary Jacob Oliva agreed with Olvey.
“This is just discrimination,” he said. “You can not deny a student because of a disability.”
The board voted unanimously to overturn the decision from the district.