Court permits teen to join graduation
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By Louis Porter Vermont Press Bureau - Published: June 19, 2009
It took a court injunction, but Todd Geraci, an 18-year-old student with autism, was able to attend the People's Academy graduation in Morrisville on Thursday night with all his classmates.
The supervisory union that oversees the school had decided that Geraci could not participate in graduation because he had not completed all aspects of his schooling, as required under district rules.
As a student with autism, Geraci is eligible for assistance under state and federal rules until he turns 22, or until he completes high school. Geraci had completed his academic work but had not completed work in the individual education program, which includes social and other goals.
Julie Sullivan, Geraci's mother, felt that was unfair and sought legal help to allow her son to join the ceremony.
"Todd has gone to school with his classmates for nine years," she said. "We were faced with relinquishing his rights and we found that just unacceptable."
With the assistance of Matthew Bryant, an attorney with the disability law project of Vermont Legal Aid, Geraci's parents won a court injunction forcing the school to allow him at the graduation Thursday night. He did not receive a diploma since he has not finished all the requirements.
"We are very excited for him to have this chance," Sullivan said.
But the ruling comes with potential problems, said Tracy Wrend, superintendent of Lamoille South Supervisory Union.
"We want kids to be successful, we want them to meet high standards," Wrend said. The ruling may have "increased the likelihood that high school students will assume they don't have to meet high standards and can participate in the ceremony as well."
Thursday afternoon she talked to the family of another student who was considering filing with the court demanding that their child – who was not disabled – also be allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony despite not completing the academic work, Wrend said. In the end, that injunction was apparently not filed by the time the court closed Thursday afternoon.
"Graduation at People's Academy is not a feel-good exercise," Wrend said. "It is the formal recognition that students have met the high standards set for them. We want our graduation ceremonies ... to have meaning."
But Bryant, the legal aid lawyer who represented Todd Geraci, disagreed.
"Todd has completed all of his general education requirements," Bryant said.
"It created that very difficult excruciating choice," he added. "That choice seemed untenable, it just did not seem right."
Many of his fellow students supported Geraci's case, with a petition and in the courtroom in which he won the right to go to the graduation, Bryant said.
"The courtroom was packed," he said.
Despite the support from his fellow students, the school had a legitimate concern about allowing students to attend graduation who have not completed their courses of study, including those disabled students with individual education plans, said Robert Luce, the attorney for the school district.
"This district is very concerned that high standards and expectations be upheld for both disabled and nondisabled students," Luce said. In fact, school districts that allow students to go to graduation ceremonies before they have completed their courses of study find the students are less likely to return to school, Luce said.
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