EX-STUDENT WITH AUTISM SUES SIMI DISTRICT.

Byline: Terry Kanakri Daily News Staff Writer

A former Royal High School student with autism filed a lawsuit against the school district, claiming that he was discriminated against because of his handicap when he was passed over as a graduation speaker.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in United States District Court in Los Angeles, Ryan Rose maintains he was discriminated against by students, the school board, and the administration, and is seeking an undetermined amount of damages from the Simi Valley Unified School District.

"I'm continuing to fight so that other special education students won't be denied participation in graduation ceremonies," Rose said in an interview. "We're not second-class citizens. We should be treated the same. We may have our problems, but we're not second-class citizens and this is what it comes down to."

District officials declined to comment on the lawsuit citing pending litigation. But they stressed they do not believe discrimination played a factor in Rose not being chosen to deliver a commencement speech.

"I'm really sad that there were hurt feelings and the Roses felt very disappointed," school board member Debbie Sandland said. "But I really feel strongly that discrimination was not the intent of the decision made to not let him speak."

Rose, 18, asked to be allowed to make a commencement speech last year, but was turned down.

Rose, who is currently an animal science major at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, was turned down twice by a committee of student leaders and again by district officials as a Royal commencement speaker. The student committee said Rose's speech, which poignantly chronicled his challenges and saluted peers, parents and teachers for encouraging his participation in school activities, was lengthy and was not consistent with the school's graduation theme.

District officials did not intervene, saying they were protecting the right they've given to Royal students to pick the speaker of their choice. At Simi Valley High, the school subscribes to a policy of having the valedictorian and salutatorian give commencement speeches.

The lawsuit, which seeks general damages, attorney fees, and other relief in amounts to be determined, claims that Rose's speech was equal to or superior than, in both content and theme, the two selected speeches. It also states the school district refused to act on behalf of Rose, or give him a fair and impartial hearing to listen to his case.

"In fact, the student committee's real reason was their discrimination of this special education student in addressing the school about a developmentally handicapped student's experiences," the lawsuit said.

State and federal laws make it unlawful for a school district to sponsor any activity that discriminates upon individuals because of their handicap, said Donald M. Adams Jr., Rose's attorney. The law also mandates that special education students or those suffering from developmental disability are entitled to be mainstreamed to the fullest extent possible, and be given full and meaningful opportunity to participate in every aspect of school affairs, he added.

Adams said he is convinced that Ryan's disability played a major role in the decisions that led to him being denied a chance to give a commencement speech.

"We're trying to get a declaration from the court that the practice of the school district as it relates to special education students is discriminatory," Adams said. "It's not up to a (student) committee of 18-year-olds to determine that anti-discriminatory laws apply or do not apply. It's up to the school board. They should make sure that those laws are applied fairly."

Sandland said she believes no laws were broken. She added that she strongly believes in existing procedures that allow Royal High students to have a say in selecting who among their peers should deliver a graduation speech.

"They can't let everybody speak. They have a process that they go through," she said. "You're going to get some hurt feelings and disappointment, but I just feel strongly that you can't intervene with every decision that is made. I feel very strongly that discrimination was not an issue."

However, Sandland said that since the incident the school board has urged Royal and Simi Valley high schools to recognize a student who may have had a difficult time graduating and may have had more challenges than other students. The recognition may include a graduation speech, she said.

Leslie Crunelle, director of secondary education, said a district committee consisting of parents, students, administrators, and a representative of the Special Education Advisory Committee found the procedures for speech selections at Royal and Simi Valley high schools meet the needs of each campus.

"The recommendation from that committee to the school board was that each school retain the right to use its own process because the process used at each school met the needs of each school and the students," she said.

But Rose says the district has not taken enough steps to prevent the possibility of another special education student going through what he did, and noted he is still suffering from emotional scars.

"The school district doesn't think I have feelings, but you know what, I do," said Rose, who noted he rewrote his speech three times in his fight for a chance to address fellow students. "The reason why they denied it is they didn't think it was happy enough. That's what their attitude was. In my personal opinion, I just didn't think they wanted a disabled person to speak at the graduation."

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Photo (CONEJO only--color) Ryan Rose believes he was discriminated against when passed over as a Royal High commencement speaker. Daily News