Scholar has a medical excuse to be maskless. However Buffalo will not let him come to highschool | Training
Edward Speidel has spoken to everyone he can think of to help get his 10-year-old son back into his Buffalo Public Schools classroom.
It has been 22 months since the boy and other students had to study from home because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Other children have to go back, but because he cannot tolerate wearing a regular face mask, Buffalo Public Schools said he must continue to learn remotely.
This is a difficult task for every child and every family, but even more so for this family. The boy is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, migraines, hypotension, and pica, an eating disorder that involves the consumption of nonfood items.
His mother, Amy Szafranski, homeschools him with assignments his teacher sends him.
“We give our best. But he doesn’t need that,” said Speidel.
“He doesn’t get the social interaction. He has yet to meet the kids in his class in person,” Szafranski said.
Speidel has attended special education board and school board meetings, contacted administrators, board members, officials from the state Department of Education and even the governor’s office.
“It’s like I can never win. No matter what I said or did, no one cared. They kept saying, ‘We’re working on it, we’re working on it.’ But my son deserves to go to school, that’s his right,” said Speidel. “He is no different from other students. They are punishing him for being disabled and it breaks my heart.”
