Students with special needs forced to sit in hallway while Cobb classmates had graduation

Ashlynn Rose Rich told Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell that after four years of being an athlete and honor student at Sprayberry High School, she had to sit in a hallway during her graduation.

“I feel depressed and upset for graduation, for the whole ceremony,” Rich said.

The ceremony was held at Kennesaw State University. Rich was allowed to cross the stage when her name was called, but was then escorted back to the hallway, according to her mother.

“When the proceedings started and everyone started to file in and go to their seats, we were continuing looking for Ashlynn and hoping that we would see her,” her mother Linda Ramirez said.

She says she was outraged when she learned where her daughter was.

“Her whole class was in the hallway. There were no special ed kids in with or mixed in with the typical peers,” Ramirez explained.

Ramirez said the only time she saw her daughter during the ceremony was when she walked across the stage.

“She has a lot of typical peers at Sprayberry that she’s friends with. She watched them walking across the stage. She missed the turn of the tassel and then she missed the closing ceremonies and the procession out,” Ramirez said.

Cobb County Schools shared a statement with Channel 2 Action News that read, in part:

“The graduation experience for some of our special needs students did not meet our standard. Our schools are expected to offer customized graduation options for special needs students, which did not happen as fully as we expect.”

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“It is unacceptable and it’s wrong and she should have been and her special needs peer group should have been included in the full ceremony,” Ramirez said.

She says she contacted the school’s principal twice and received an apology, but says that’s not enough.

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