It gets better and better...
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/5811678.htm
'Other' Moorestown valedictorian files suit
By JIM NOLAN
[email protected]
IN A school district where "Most Likely to Succeed" has become "Most Likely to Sue," it was only a matter of time.
Now Moorestown High's "other" valedictorian has filed legal papers, asserting his right to the disputed title currently claimed by Blair Hornstine - the uberachieving, special education student who sued last week to prevent the school from forcing her to share the valedictory honor, alleging discrimination.
Making matters more complicated, Moorestown School Superintendent Paul Kadri also filed papers yesterday alleging that if class schedules and course requirements had been equal, the academic challenger, identified in papers only as "K.M.", would actually have a higher grade point average than Hornstine.
Meanwhile, attorneys for Hornstine filed papers pointedly refuting defense claims made by the school district that Hornstine benefited unfairly from the specialized schooling she received as a result of her disability - an immune-system disorder similar to chronic fatigue syndrome.
"Defendant seeks to turn the protections afforded students with disabilities against them under the guise of 'leveling the playing field' for nondisabled students," Hornstine's team said.
So begins the second act of "As the Mortar Board Turns" this afternoon in Judge Freda Wolfson's federal courtroom in Camden.
Flanked by high-powered criminal defense attorney Edwin Jacobs Jr., Hornstine, 18 - the daughter of Camden County Judge Louis Hornstine - wants Wolfson to restrain the Moorestown Board from passing a proposed change in its academic policy that would enable officials to confer top academic awards to more than one student.
The policy change was prompted by Kadri, who said he received complaints from fellow students, parents and community members challenging the academic fairness of Hornstine's credentials as the only valedictorian.
Kadri claims that a review of Hornstine's home-tutored Independent Education Program revealed that "the accommodation of home instruction" gave her advantages over able-bodied students required to attend school.
They allege she was exempted from certain courses, was able to take Advanced Placement courses with conflicting schedules, and not subject to grading by the same teachers, but by her home instructors.
"...No MHS student, during the past three years, has been, or would have been able to take the program of studies taken by Plaintiff, unless classified and afforded the same accommodations," Kadri alleges.
The result was Hornstine's stunning GPA of 4.689, highest in the class. Kadri argued that if subjected to the same academic and schedule requirements, her GPA would have actually been 4.629 - some .005 below that of "K.M." at 4.634.
Jacobs argued that Hornstine's academic program was formulated on "the advice and approval" of school adminsitrators, who also had sole discretion in hiring and supervising the instructors who taught Hornstine.
He also argued that Hornstine's IEP stipulates that she should be graded in exactly the same fashion as her nondisabled classmates.
"Unsatisfied with the outcome that this produced, the Defendant now seeks post hoc to depreciate plaintiff's grades by claiming that she was graded more leniently than her classmates.
"This leaves only one conclusion - that defendant's efforts to depreciate plaintiff's grades is motivated by her special-education status. This is the essence of discrimination."
Yesterday, Moorestown attorney Frances Hartman filed papers that essentially align her client's interests with the school board's intent to dismiss the suit.
"We do not suggest that she should be penalized for the districts failure to properly monitor her IEP," said Hartman. "However, my client should not be penalized either.
"The real bottom line is, there is no harm to this young woman. She should be commended and applauded and the school board intends to do that. He deserves, as well, to be commended and applauded. I do not understand how that in any way dimishes the accomplishment."