Hillsborough students in the limo before arriving to their senior prom. Photo / Katherine Armstrong Trusky
Hillsborough students in the limo before arriving to their senior prom. Photo / Katherine Armstrong Trusky
The mother of a recently graduated special needs student is suing the Hillsborough Board of Education after her daughter and friends were allegedly kicked out of their school prom.
The New Jersey mum, Katherine Trusky, has filed a discrimination lawsuit in the United States against the board months after herdaughter, Lily Doyle, and her friends were "humiliated" when they were forced to leave their senior prom early, according to court documents.
According to Trusky's suit, the group were left in tears as their "memories were forever tarnished" when they were forced to leave during the middle of a song while other "neurotypical" students were allowed to stay.
The school district offered a "sincerest apology" for an "unfortunate mistake with heartbreaking ramifications" for the incident at the May 17 prom when 11 students, nine of whom had special needs, were forced to leave early.
However, the incident has sparked huge criticism of the school district throughout the state.
What Doyle's mother described as a "nightmare" ordeal that would haunt them, it all unfolded when three special education aides who were assigned to look after the classmates that night escorted the group out early at 10.45pm.
Tickets for the event stipulated all attendees were required to stay at the prom until 11pm and limousines picking up students should arrive no earlier than 11.15pm.
However, Doyle's friends said they overheard the aide call their limo driver at 10.05pm and tell him to get there at 10.35pm to pick up the students.
At the same time, one of the aides told another friend of Doyle to be ready "in half an hour."
When the students asked why they had to leave early, they were "ignored".
One of the students told the aide, "I want to be normal", before she was forced to leave the table, the lawsuit says.
Lily Doyle (pictured) and her friends were forcibly removed from their senior prom. Photo / Katherine Trusky
When another student complained about leaving, the aide reportedly said, "I'm the adult here."
The lawsuit also states that the aide's actions were motivated by her "desire to finish her night of work and go home early rather than by any effort to give".
However, the school has since issued a statement denying the allegations of discrimination.
"The district is proud of its commitment to providing all students with an excellent educational environment that is inclusive and non-discriminatory, and looks forward to presenting its defence to the allegations in court," a spokesperson told USA Today.
Following a "sham" investigation, the school admitted that Doyle and her friends should not have been asked to leave the prom early.
However, a district official claimed one of the students had asked to leave the prom early, which resulted in all of the group to be forced out.
