‘Can’t Be on This Team Anymore, If’: Legal Dispute Arises Over Disabilities as 16-Year-Old Cheerleader Battles Garnet Valley School District for Inclusion

A wave of controversy has hit the Garnet Valley School District, casting a stark light on allegations of discrimination. 16-year-old cheerleader, Kyndal’s passion for cheerleading collided with a web of challenges. A struggle for accommodation in the cheerleading team soon escalated to legal disputes igniting debates about inclusivity and fairness. 

The junior member was reportedly removed from the award-winning varsity cheerleading team owing to her medical conditions. However, Elaina Adams, the cheerleader’s parent asserted that the district did not reveal the reason for their failure to provide appropriate services to her daughter and hence filed a complaint with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.   

Allegations of mistreatment of a cheerleader

The cheerleader has been diagnosed with conditions causing joint pain and stiffness known as juvenile arthritis and polyarthritis. A due process claim was filed by Pennsylvania Special Education Hearing officer, Joy Waters Fleming, who found the district to be at fault for not providing nursing services during a cheer trip. 

Adams filed a detailed complaint highlighting the alleged mistreatment that the cheerleader faced from the coaching staff. Based on the reports of the Daily Times, as per the filings, “When the nurse wouldn’t discuss information due to athletes’ right to privacy, the coaches then turned to the athlete and pressured her into disclosing her confidential information in front of all coaches and teammates.” 

In front of her peers, Kyndal had been belittled by the coaching staff and they even coerced her to be a part of the junior team owing to her medical conditions. This eventually led to her subsequent removal from the varsity team. 

Response from the district and ongoing dispute

The Superintendent of Garnet Valley School District, Dr. Marc Bertrando, acknowledged a lawsuit where on most charges the district continued to prevail except for one instance. During the Florida trip, the mistreatment of the cheerleader resulted in a payment of a fine amounting to approximately $1,900. 

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In his defense, the superintendent Dr. Marc Bertrando said, “She said ‘I can’t be on this team anymore if I can’t have access to my nurse,’ and they took that as her quitting the team.”

As the investigation process by the Department of Justice unfolds, concerns have been raised about alleged discrimination against students having disabilities. In this case, Kyndal stands as an example of the failure of the varsity cheerleading team to handle medical accommodations in extracurricular activities. 

This incident of Kyndal’s removal from the cheer team exposes the gaps in the cheerleading sport, lacking empathy and inclusivity to accommodate students with disabilities. The need to ensure equitable treatment of every student demands a delicate balance between upholding students’ rights and the responsibility of schools to cater to the needs of the students with appropriate support. 

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