Military families take on Washington school district for ‘dehumanizing’ medically fragile children

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. — The school district that serves military families based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) has been under fire for allegedly denying medically fragile children the education they are entitled to under federal and state law. 

Since 2022, the Clover Park School District has been served with legal action four times, by three families, for allegations of refusing to serve extremely medically fragile children in their homes, as recommended by medical professionals.

“Our experience with the Clover Park School District has been dehumanizing,” said Ceasarae Galvan of Lakewood whose special needs child, Awty, is enrolled in the school district. “They don’t treat her like a child entitled to an education.”

At the center of this story are Bella Pastore, a 13-year-old girl, and Awty Galvan, a 6-year-old. Both families live on the JBLM base Southwest of Tacoma. Bella’s father, Anthony, is a staff sergeant in the Army; Awty’s father, Austin, serves as an Air Force tech sergeant. 

Both girls were born with life-threatening conditions that require 24-hour care with a nurse. Both are non-ambulatory, nonverbal, are fed through a gastrostomy tube, have severe seizure disorders, and require total assistance for all activities of daily living.

The families relocated to JBLM to access medical care at Madigan Army Medical Center, a facility equipped to handle the girls’ complex needs. Their parents assumed that the local school district, Clover Park, would provide a similar level of care and support for their children’s education.

“We were really hopeful that it would be the right place for her,” Ceasarae said. “But I was absolutely enraged by the way they were treating us and ignoring her.”

Despite federal and state laws that require school districts to provide children with disabilities a “free and appropriate education,” the families allege that Clover Park School District has not only failed to meet this requirement, but also actively obstructed their children’s education.

“We have the most beautiful soul sitting at home waiting to go to school who is happy and sassy and kind and loving. And she is being denied her rights, she is being denied her education and she is being treated like she is not valuable,” said Ceasarae. 

“She deserves to not be a number. She is a person. She has thoughts, she has feelings. She’s a 13-year-old girl. She deserves just as much as every other kid out there,” said Bella’s dad, Anthony.

Bella and Awty’s medical conditions are so severe that 22 medical professionals recommend both girls receive their education at home. 

This option is called “homebound” in the state of Washington and is a recognized delivery of education for those who can’t come to school in person. The professionals recommending a homebound option include specialists in neuromuscular medicine, pediatrics, neurology, genetics, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, vision therapy, pharmacology, pulmonology, psychology, primary care, palliative care, and home health nursing.

“Participation in a public-school setting is anticipated to increase (Bella’s) risk for potentially life-threatening infections. Transport to and from school adds to this risk,” wrote Madigan Army Medical Center pediatrician Dr. Daniel Roy. “Provision of home-bound student educational support has the greatest potential to reduce these risks. I recommend this as it appears to be the single best alternative education support for (Bella).”

“(Awty) is at high risk for hospitalization due to common illnesses of childhood. These illnesses may quickly become life threatening,” wrote Jennifer Sweet, a Madigan Army Medical Center pediatric behavioral health specialist. “I support the home bound school option for (Awty) in hopes of mitigating infectious exposure concerns.”

Despite the input from medical professionals, Clover Park administrators insisted on the offer of in-person schooling, not services in the home.

“The (district) is continuing to recommend that our offer of Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) be onsite at the students (sic) assigned school,” wrote Clover Park Supervisor of Special Education Sarah Larson to Bella’s parents on August 29, 2022.

When the parents provided additional information showing the need for in-home schooling, the district wrote back with the same message.

“Our offer continue (sic) to be the options that have been previously outlined to you,” wrote Larson on Sept. 2, 2022. “The Clover Park School District is continuing to recommend that our offer of Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) be onsite at your students (sic) assigned school.”

Seven days later, after the parents reiterated the need for in-home schooling, the administrator repeated her stance.

“We continue to believe that the best location of delivery for (Bella) is at Thomas Middle School where she will have full access to her education with face to face instruction, assistive tech, well qualified staff, access to peers, 1:1 nursing support, and more,” wrote supervisor Larson.

According to court records, at a team educational planning meeting for Bella on Sept. 20, 2022 supervisor Larson explained to the professionals that the family had “chosen virtual learning” because they “refused the District’s proposal of in-person learning.” The family denies they ever chose online learning.

“The district gave us an ultimatum,” said Bella’s father, Anthony. “If she didn’t attend school, they would enroll her in online learning, knowing full well that Bella is legally blind. They knew this was not a solution.”

Clover Park School District officials declined to be interviewed, but in court documents, they defended their actions. 

They wrote they had “complied with all (federal) requirements” and said they were “ready, willing, and able” to provide services to the students at their schools. They placed the blame on the parents, claiming that they had interfered with the district’s efforts to educate their children.

“The parents (of Bella) have materially interfered with the District’s delivery of instruction by withholding the student from educational services and not making her available,” wrote the District’s attorney Erin Sullivan-Byorick on Sept. 21, 2023.

The attorney representing both families said in more than 20 years of practicing education law, she has never seen a district reject medical recommendations so fiercely.

“I think the most surprising thing was the lengths that they went to fight,” said special education attorney Kerri Feeney of Richland. “I haven’t experienced a school district that simply said, ‘We will decide what is best for your child regardless of whether the medical community agrees with us. We know best.’”

Clover Park sent a statement to KING 5 that said they do listen to the advice of experts as well as parents in crafting special education plans.

“The District works with the parents of our students, who are important members of every Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team,” wrote Leanna Albrecht, executive director of marketing and community relations for Clover Park School District. “The District considers all available information provided by families, including medical information, that impacts a child’s access to education. Then together we develop the programs and services individualized for their child’s unique needs, accessing the broad continuum of programs and services available within the District.”  

While the district wasn’t spending money on services for the girls, they were writing checks to attorneys.

District legal bills show to fight Bella’s family Clover Park spent $185,000 on a portion of the legal fees in that case alone. District legal records were not readily available for the first round of legal proceedings with Bella’s parents, nor for the legal case with the Galvan family.

“It’s sad,” Anthony said. “Instead of choosing to spend all that money, time, and resources on giving these children the services they need, they wasted it. They wasted it to deny children their rights.”

“We will never know how (Bella) could have benefited had (the District) used some of that money to actually deliver those services in the home,” Feeney said.

Both Bella and Awty have attended school in the past, during periods when their health was more stable. In that time they made progress. 

For example, Bella learned to use a communication device by using her head to tap a switch. Awty learned to use a communication button she pressed with her hands. But without educational services both girls have regressed. 

Neither one is able to use her communication device.

“(Bella) is showing decline of communication skills and is at risk of worsening physical immobility/limitations. She will benefit by in-person therapy services provided by the school district (preferably at home because it is not reasonable for Bella to go to the school)” wrote Madigan’s neuromuscular clinic team members.

“We’re starting all over again. Bella’s never going to get the last four years of her life back,” said her dad Anthony. “It feels like Bella was treated as less deserving; that because she has special education needs and disabilities that she has less value. That’s how I feel,” her dad Anthony said. 

Bella’s family just won their case against Clover Park. An administrative law judge found the district violated state and federal laws and must serve her inside their home. Therapists and teachers started delivering in-home services earlier this month. It’s been four years since Bella has received educational services from the district.

Three days after KING 5 called the school district to request an interview for the story, Clover Park agreed to a settlement offer with Awty Galvan’s family that puts an end to their legal challenge. 

The family has accepted the offer, which includes in-home services and $17,975  to make up for lost educational services. It’s been more than a year-and-a-half since Awty has received any education from the district.

With her medical state so fragile, Awty’s parents hope she can benefit from her right to an education.

“The hardest part of this journey is knowing that our time with her is limited and that she could die before she accesses the education that she is entitled to,” said Ceasarae Galvan. “It is morally wrong. It is ethically wrong. It is legally wrong and worst part is that they know it is wrong and they don’t care.”