From NewsChannel 9: UPDATED: A lawsuit claiming Bradley County Schools denied the ADA rights of a child with cancer has been dismissed,
From NewsChannel 9: UPDATED: A lawsuit claiming Bradley County Schools denied the ADA rights of a child with cancer has been dismissed, court documents show.
The documents show it was dismissed due to a mutual agreement between both parties.
Court documents show BCS says they denied that they breached any duty owed or violated any rights protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act or Section 504.
Court documents says “The Defendant offered the Plaintiffs the option of enrolling the minor in a program of virtual instruction until such time as her physician determined that she could return to the school environment. This virtual program would have consisted of fifteen (15) hours of instruction per week, five times what the minor would receive via continued homebound. Plaintiffs refused this option and, instead of continuing to engage in the interactive process, opted to file this Verified Complaint. Having abandoned the interactive process, the Plaintiffs are estopped from asserting these claim.”
Court documents say BCS ended up approving an extension of the minor’s homebound services, “as a result of which this case is now moot.”
EARLIER:
A lawsuit against Bradley County Schools claims they denied a child with cancer an extension for homebound instruction.
The lawsuit say 7-year-old Caroline is a student at Waterville Elementary.
Caroline is battling kidney cancer, as her physicians treat her with radiation and chemotherapy, the lawsuit says.
It says cancer and the treatments are hard on Caroline’s already-fragile immune system.
The lawsuit says the treatments are working, but that physicians have advised that she will not be able to return to school until January.
The lawsuit says Caroline was already receiving instruction provided by a BCS teacher at her home.
But, the lawsuit says that when her parents requested an extension of her medical homebound instruction per doctors orders, Bradley County Schools denied it.
In spite of the risk of serious illness or even death, the lawsuit says BCS has ordered her to return to school and has discontinued the medical homebound instruction.
The lawsuit says this is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and its counterpart, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
We reached out to Bradley County Schools about the lawsuit.
They tell us in a statement…
“We are aware of the recently filed lawsuit. We are committed to providing all students, including students with disabilities, illnesses, or other challenges, with the best possible education. We did that in this case, and we stand ready to continue to do so for this student and for everyone else. Since this matter is in litigation, we have no further comment at this time.”
