Parents and advocates in Chapel Hill are blasting a recent high school yearbook after discovering that several students who receive special-education services were left out, turning what should have been a feel-good end-of-year ritual into a painful controversy.
Relatives told local media the omission felt like their students’ place in the graduating class had been erased. A video report from CBS17 shows families explaining how they realized portraits and group photos for students in the school’s special-education programs were nowhere to be found once yearbooks were handed out.
District Policy and Section 504
School guidance notes that Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act bars disability discrimination and requires schools to provide accommodations so qualified students have equal access to school programs and activities. According to Chapel Hill High School, the district outlines how families can request evaluations or accommodations and where to direct Section 504 or special-education questions.
Federal Civil-Rights Standards
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights states that students with disabilities must be given an equal opportunity to participate in nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities. Federal guidance warns schools not to rely on stereotypes and instead to make individualized decisions and reasonable modifications where appropriate. For more detail, see the U.S. Department of Education 2013 guidance.
Yearbooks, Privacy and What Schools Can Publish
Under federal privacy rules, schools generally may include “directory information” such as photographs in yearbooks unless a parent or eligible student has opted out. Many districts spell out that process in annual notices under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA. The Lake Washington School District, for example, lists yearbooks as a standard use of directory information and explains how families can refuse disclosure.
What Families Can Do Next
Families seeking answers about who did and did not appear in the yearbook can start by contacting the school and the district’s Section 504 or special-education office to ask for a clear explanation of the yearbook process and why any students were left out. If they are not satisfied with the response, parents may file a disability discrimination complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The department provides an online complaint form and regional contact information for review. See the U.S. Department of Education guidance on filing a complaint and the Section 504 information at Chapel Hill High School for local contacts.
