Oswego Dad Concerned About Disabled Son Having to Attend Less Equipped School

OSWEGO, IL — A father is worried about his disabled son’s well being after he was told his son would have to move schools.

Doug Hagerty’s son, Levi, has cerebral palsy and other severe disabilities. He currently is in kindergarten at Fox Chase Elementary, but will have to go to Churchill next year. According to Hagerty, Churchill is not as well equipped to handle disabled students, specifically those who are in wheelchairs, like Levi is.

Hagerty said he’s been part of a couple of meetings and said his concerns were shot down and was told to put them on index cards. That was last week and so far he hasn’t heard anything back.

As far as he knows, there’s no option for him to not move. The Life Skills program that Levi is in is getting transferred to Churchill.

“There’s nothing that can be done about it as of right now, that I know of,” Hagerty said.

An email seeking comment from District 308 was not returned.

The biggest issue for Hagerty is that the overall setup at Churchill is not the same as it is at Fox Chase. For example, the bathrooms.

“Due to his condition, he can’t use a bathroom like me or you can. He’s still in diapers,” Hagerty said. The classroom Levi would be in doesn’t have a bathroom inside it, Hagerty said.

The elevators are another issue for him.

“They’ve got to be accessible on a straight shot,” Hagerty said. “The elevator at Churchill isn’t. There are turns to get into the elevator and the opening is small, too. It’s a narrow opening.”

Hagerty said he understands there’s a certain burden on Fox Chase due to the number of special education programs.

“But you’re taking the most disabled kids who are wheelchair-dependent and co-dependent and you’re taking them from an environment that suits them to an environment that doesn’t suit them. That just doesn’t make sense to me,” he said.