Second KY school district faces ADHD discrimination lawsuit
The parents of an 8-year-old student are suing Bourbon County school leaders after they say their daughter was discriminated against because of her attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The girl attended elementary school in Bourbon County beginning in 2019, but the district did not allow her to return to school this year, according to the suit filed Aug. 9.
Her parents, identified only by their initials in the lawsuit, claim the girl was subject to isolation and exclusion because of behavior caused by ADHD and other disabilities.
The family claims the district violated the girl’s state and federal constitutional rights, inflicted emotional distress, and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The parents are suing the Bourbon County Board of Education and Superintendent Larry Begley.
Begley said he was aware of the lawsuit but could not comment because of pending litigation.
The lawsuit marks the second in recent weeks by Kentucky families claiming their children were discriminated against by a school district because of ADHD. The first was filed in early August against the St. Thomas School in Northern Kentucky.
Child denied enrollment for disability, prior legal intervention
Because of the girl’s learning disabilities, she was enrolled in an individual learning plan, which the district is required by state law to accommodate.
According to the lawsuit, her ADHD caused “aberrant” in-school behavior. The school then singled her out because of the behavior, the parents say.
The school system changed the girl’s placement from an in-school setting to virtual school, the lawsuit claims.
In November 2024, the girl’s parents filed a complaint against the school district, and they reached an agreement that the child would be able to return to school but not spend the whole day in an isolated setting.
The child was placed in a hybrid learning setting when she returned to school. But after one week, she was again placed in an isolated, segregated setting, according to the lawsuit.
The girl was removed by her parents from the elementary school May 7, and homeschooled through virtual classes.
On June 9, the girl’s mother called Begley to discuss her daughter returning to school this year. But, according to the lawsuit, Begley told the woman her child could not attend the school because she lived outside the district’s boundaries.
The girl remains eligible to attend the school, however, because her mother has been employed by the district since 2019. Begley confirmed it was his decision not to allow her to enroll, according to the suit.
“The decision of the superintendent not to allow M.L. to re-enroll was solely due to her disability and in retaliation for the plaintiff’s parents filing a due process complaint,” the parents claim in the lawsuit.
