MONROEVILLE, Pa. — A mother and school board member are both upset with the Gateway School District’s decision to force a 6-year-old student to transfer schools -- months after her father died.
[WEB EXTRA: Letter to Gateway Parents]
Katy Biddle said it’s not easy to explain to her daughter, Kamdyn Biddle, why she will no longer be able to see her best friends and teacher at the Cleveland Steward Elementary School, the only school she has ever attended.
“That was the only constant she had since her dad got sick. Her world was turned upside down, but she had that school,” Biddle said.
Kamdyn’s father died of brain cancer in September. Biddle said her daughter’s school gave her a sense of stability.
“Even after he passed, she never missed a day. The day he passed, she wanted to go to school,” Biddle said. "Not only is she losing her stability, she is losing out on education."
Biddle said that stability is now gone for her daughter. After Kamdyn’s father died, Biddle moved in with her mother in Murraysville, so she could have help in raising her daughter, as well as her 9-month-old twins.
Biddle said she told school leaders about the move, but last week, she was informed at a parent-teacher conference that her daughter had to leave because of school district policy.
“I was upset and confused and I just talked to the principal a couple months past and there was no issue,” she said. “They stated that there is a policy where you must reside in the district.”
Gateway School Board member Chad Stubenbort said he didn’t agree with the decision and voted to keep Kamdyn in the school until the end of the year. He was outvoted Tuesday 6-2.
Stubenbort said the decision sends the wrong message to parents and children in the district.
“This isn’t someone that isn’t trying to cheat the system. This isn’t someone lying to the school. This is someone who is paying taxes, and there are students who don’t pay taxes,” he said.
Biddle said while she’s still mourning her husband’s death, she must now find a new sense of stability for her daughter at a new school after learning a “tough lesson.”
“It also shows they don’t really care for the well-being of the children. They teach kids to be compassionate and caring and they aren’t doing that themselves,” she said.
Channel 11 News attempted to speak with school leaders about why an exception couldn't be made in Kamdyn's case. The superintendent's secretary said they would possibly release a statement Thursday, but as of Thursday evening, no response had been received.
Stay with Channel 11 News and WPXI.com for continuing coverage.
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