The mother of a recent Sprayberry High School graduate who was excluded from the school’s ceremony because of her disability is pushing for a policy change to ensure her daughter’s experience is never repeated.
Ashlynn Rich was one of six Sprayberry graduates with special needs who was seated behind the graduation stage, received her diploma separate from her general education peers and was escorted out of the graduation facility before the turning of the tassel at the May ceremony.
News of the exclusion sparked outrage in Cobb and beyond, garnering national media coverage and a statement from the Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta condemning the action.
Apology and promises
It also led to a lengthy apology from Superintendent Chris Ragsdale at the June meeting of the school board.
“What happened should not have happened,” Ragsdale said. “... On behalf of the district, I apologize to Ashlynn and her family.”
Ragsdale’s apology was met with cheers and applause from the audience, many of whom came to the meeting to show support for Rich.
It also came with a promise, that the district’s process for planning special needs students’ graduations would become more formalized and that parents would be the primary decision makers in how their students’ achievements are celebrated.
“While we cannot go back in time, I can give you this ... the understanding and agreement between the school and the parents or guardians of the individual student will be put in writing in advance of the ceremony and everyone will have a copy of it, ensuring there are no (misunderstandings),” Ragsdale said.
But according to Linda Ramirez, mother of Rich, Ragsdale made another vow when he stepped off the dais after the meeting to shake her and her daughter’s hands, telling her he’d soon be in touch to discuss findings of the investigation into Sprayberry’s graduation.
“It happened when he shook my hand. He said that we’ll talk soon, but because of his investigation, he could not talk to me,” Ramirez said.
When asked about Ramirez’s claim that Ragsdale promised to reach out and that a new policy would be put in place, the district sent the following response.
“Our current policy encourages inclusion to the fullest extent, as desired by the student’s family, and to the fullest extent possible in light of the student’s exceptionality. There is no need to alter the policy.
“As stated at that time, the issue in this case was not a policy issue, but an employee seemingly misunderstanding what was desired and substituting their judgment for that of a student and her family.
As Superintendent Ragsdale stated in June, our amended process ensures participation discussions with parents in advance of the ceremony and ensures their desires and decisions are in writing, which should eliminate any future misunderstandings.
Superintendent Ragsdale had a chance to say the same, personally, to Ms. Rich and all of our special needs students and parents in June,” a Tuesday night email to the MDJ states.
Board Chairman Randy Scamihorn, who was next to Ragsdale for much of the post-meeting conversation in question, said he could not recall any such pledge being made.
“I thought we had appropriately apologized and brought it to a satisfactory conclusion for all parties,” Scamihorn said.
Proposed policy change
But Ramirez said she’s still pushing for an update to district policy that would guarantee no other student’s graduation is marred like her daughter’s was.
The mother said she supports a policy amendment proposed by Cobb school board member Becky Sayler, which would add the line “No student shall be excluded from school ceremonies solely because of their status as a student with a disability” to the board policy that guides school ceremonies.
According to Sayler, that policy hasn’t been updated since 2016, and does not have a clear path to be amended soon.
Items can only be added to the school board’s agenda by the superintendent, board chair, or at the request of at least four board members.
Sayler, who sits in the Democratic minority of the board, has struggled to garner support for her proposal across party lines.
“I’m not sure why it doesn’t have support from the board chair at this time ... I know Tre’ (Hutchins) and Nichelle (Davis) said they would give support. It’s Mr. (David) Chastain’s post, perhaps he would be receptive,” Sayler said.
Scamihorn told the MDJ he did not support the proposed amendment because he read it as restricting parents’ choice in their student’s graduation experience.
“Her suggestion is no student shall be excluded from ceremonies. I don’t know how else to read that but to mean it takes away all options except what everybody’s going to do, no exceptions,” Scamihorn said. “... I’m not opposing continuous improvement, no matter what the issue is. But we have to also ensure that we don’t make it worse in the future.”
Sayler said she hopes any discussion about her proposal can happen at a meeting, so that the public can understand why board members do or don’t support her suggestion.
“I think a meeting would be a great place to talk about it, and find out if there’s a different way to address it that (Scamihorn) thinks would be better. But this is why I think really having things on the meeting (agenda) is a great idea, to have those conversations out in the public so the public can see why or why not something is not getting the traction that they want,” she said.
Sayler told the MDJ Tuesday she had not yet received the board’s August meeting agenda. She said that when she does receive it, if it does not include her suggestion, she would ask the public to weigh in and try to sway their board member to support the amendment.
According to Scamihorn, Sayler’s proposal will not be on the August agenda.
The Cobb County School Board will meet Aug. 15, at 514 Glover Street. The board’s work session is scheduled for 2 p.m., and its voting session set for 7 p.m.
