12-year-old leukemia survivor Rose McGrath was dismissed from St. Joseph Middle School over attendance and academic performance.
Rose McGrath(via WWMT)
Rose McGrath is a 12-year-old girl from Battle Creek, Michigan. In 2012, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. After nearly three years of intense chemotherapy, she is now in remission. But just when Rose thought she could get her life back on track, her school dropped a bombshell on her.
Last week, her family received a letter from St. Joseph Middle School, saying she had been dismissed for failing to meet the school's attendance and academic requirements. She was devastated, having been with Battle Creek Area Catholic Schools her whole life. She told WWMT, "I didn't do anything wrong, but they still got rid of me."
They never saw this coming.(via WWMT)
The letter claimed that the school had worked with Rose and her family to reduce her workload and help her cope, but she had just missed too many days. That is, missed too many days vomiting in bed from the chemo. Father John Fleckenstein from Battle Creek Area Schools had this to say:
"These were extraordinary circumstances, but so many accommodations were made we felt eventually it became a point where we really had to help Rose, by being able to make sure that she was getting the assistance that she needed and to learn (sic)."
So the assistance she needed was getting thrown out on the street? Sure, she had only attended 32 full days in the last school year, and her grades suffered accordingly, but there must be a more compassionate solution than making her someone else's problem. You'd think one of these priests or nuns would have thought of that.
Slimy priest.(via WWMT)
Rose's parents are outraged. They say she was on track to pass her core classes, and her father told reporters that the accommodations made for her were "woefully inadequate." They've filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights, but there's no telling if any action will be taken. As for Rose, she feels she's been robbed of the last place she felt like herself:
"When I'm at home, I'm sick, I don't feel well; no one else does that. But when I'm at school I'm like everyone else."