The mother of a Moore Square Magnet Middle School student said the school denied the accommodations she requested for an eighth-grade graduation ceremony.
Shannon Dingle's daughter Zoe is graduating from the eighth grade alongside her classmates on Friday.
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"It occurred to me this morning that I needed to ask if there was a ramp for the graduation ceremony," Dingle said Thursday. "One of my older children graduated last year, and there was a stage with no ramp that all the students walked across."
Zoe is wheelchair-bound, so her mother asked if a ramp could be provided so that Zoe could cross the stage with her peers during the ceremony. Dingle said the school told her that students would instead cross the floor. She said she and her daughter were made to feel that getting a ramp was a hassle for the school.
"The reality is that during the rehearsal today for the ceremony, they made it very clear to the students that they were on the floor instead of on the stage because of Zoe," Dingle said.
WRAL News asked Wake County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Taylor about this matter on Thursday, and at that time, he said he was not aware of it, but would look into it.
"I want to make sure that in terms of ADA compliance, we are where we need to be and that all students are able to access the stages and be able to participate fully," Taylor said. "I haven't seen that since I've been at a graduation here, and if that's an issue, we will address it immediately."
Dingle worries that there will not be good visibility for parents to see their children cross the floor, which is not the outcome she hoped for.
"I just want to see my little girl graduate from eighth grade tomorrow. And I want for her and her classmates to be able to walk across the stage with a ramp. I don't know that that's going to happen, though," Dingle said.