Mom Says 17 Special Needs Students Were Excluded From Yearbook

A high school in Utah has excluded several special needs students from their yearbook, according to one young woman’s mom.

Amber Bailey, 21, has Down syndrome and attends a transition program in Tooele County’s Community Learning Center, which shares a building with Blue Peak High School, according to Fox 8 News. Although they’re not Blue Peak students, Bailey and her classmates have been included in the school’s yearbook for the last two years.

This year, Amber Bailey’s mother, Leslee Bailey, says she was surprised to find that her daughter, as well as 16 classmates, were excluded from the yearbook.

Mat Jackson, director of special education for Tooele County, told Fox the change was made because this year special needs students didn’t participate in classes with Blue Peak students as much as they have in the past. Bailey is unhappy with that reasoning.

“They’ve been to school with these kids. They’ve walked the halls with them. How would you feel if it was your child?” she tells Fox News. “It bothers me because it seems they’ve gone back in time to where we’re not including them, and we are going to tuck them away and say, ‘No, they don’t exist.’”

The Mighty reached out to Blue Peak High School for comment but has not heard back yet.

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