BEDFORD – Parents and community members are voicing strong criticism after Parkview Elementary School acknowledged that special needs students were excluded from their 2024 Christmas program.
In a public statement posted to social media, Parkview Primary Administration called the exclusion an “oversight” and expressed regret, stating they are “dedicated to creating an inclusive, welcoming environment where every student feels valued and respected.” The school affirmed that students had not been excluded from holiday programs in previous years and promised it would not happen again.
However, parents of affected students are challenging the school’s characterization of the incident as an oversight. Parents of those students did receive a call from school officials before the apology was posted on Facebook.
Jennifer Craig, mother of an autistic student at Parkview, shared her son’s experience: “He couldn’t do it last year as he can’t handle big rooms/lots of people… but he didn’t even get to try this year,” Craig said. “I appreciate getting a call personally before I saw this on Facebook. I don’t blame the directors of the kiddos at all. I blame who didn’t even bother to ask for the other students to be in it!”
Other parents and community members expressed similar concerns. McKenzie Beasley questioned how the school could “forget” about children who are “1000% dependent on you while they are there,” while Emilee Rudeen demanded answers about what changed this year to cause this exclusion.
Greg-Ruth Sloan suggested the exclusion appeared intentional rather than accidental, calling it “clear discrimination” and criticizing the school’s statement as insufficient.
