A Nevada mom is blasting a Las Vegas tech school after she says her child – and several of his classmates with special needs – were left out of the school’s yearbook.
Mariela Azarpira said her son Samir Azarpira did not appear in Northwest Career and Technical Academy’s most recent yearbook, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. According to the outlet, he is enrolled in the school’s Program Approach to Career Employment, a transition program for young adults with special needs who have already earned a high school diploma.
“I went page-by-page,” Azarpira told the newspaper. “Not even one picture. Not even one acknowledgement … Honestly, it really broke my heart.”
She told the newspaper her son, who is 22, was born with a neurological disorder called hydrocephalus and is autistic. She also said no one in his class, which has about 10 students, was included in the yearbook.
Her son started attending the school in 2021 after the family moved from Southern California, according to CBS affiliate KLAS-TV, and is slated to complete the program when summer ends.
‘We failed’
Neither the Clark County School District nor in Northwest Career and Technical Academy could immediately be reached by USA TODAY Monday.
But the district told the Review-Journal the yearbook “has historically featured students in ninth through 12th grades.”
“The school is reviewing the yearbook layout for future years to consider the addition of members of the school community enrolled in pre or post-graduation programs on campus,” the district wrote in an email to the newspaper.
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In addition, the school’s principal, Laura Willis, told the outlet she apologized to Mariela Azrpira and for excluding her son and the other students from the yearbook.
“It is unfortunate that we failed to represent all that they do and bring to our campus,” Willis said in an email to Mariela Azrpira, per the outlet.
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
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