Special Needs Student Left Out Of Watchung Hills HS Yearbook

WARREN, NJ — A community is outraged after a special needs student was left out of the Watchung Hills Regional High School yearbook.

Amanda Occhipinti, sister to Glenda, took to Facebook on Thursday night to share her dismay and questioned whether the school district "intentionally" left her out.

"She was not given the same thought and respect that other students immediately received. There wasn't even the mention of her name in the Index," Occhipinti said in her public Facebook post. "Imagine the heartbreak my mother felt having to explain to my sister why she wasn't in the yearbook. And Glenda not being able to understand how she was seen as different than her general education classmates." (See Occhipinti's full Facebook post below)

Occhipinti says her mom did not sign anything refusing for Glenda to be represented in the yearbook. And in fact her mom signed a media release for the school to share photos of her as a student.

Occhipinti's post immediately went viral and within three hours the district reached out to Glenda's parents.

While the district acknowledged Glenda's picture was left out of the yearbook, School Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Jewett said it wasn't intentional.

"The district learned today that one or more of our students was left out of our high school yearbook. This is troubling and, certainly, was not intentional," Jewett said. "The social media post alleging that the student at issue and special needs students, in general, were excluded from the yearbook is simply incorrect. As a district, we actively seek to foster a culture that embraces diversity, equity and inclusion."

Occhipinti did say the district told her parents they will be sending out a "supplemental yearbook that is inclusive of all the students as well as consult with the yearbook committee to ensure that all students will be represented going forward."

"We deeply regret that the student mentioned in the post was not pictured in our yearbook, and we apologize to her and her family for this omission. We are investigating what occurred and are currently looking to see if any other unintentional omissions were made," Jewett said. "We will do our best to rectify the situation. Lastly, we intend to carefully review our processes to avoid any erroneous omissions in the future."

The school parent teacher organization also said it has "no involvement in the creation or distribution of the student yearbooks. The WHRHS PTO will support the school in any way to help correct this issue. The PTO is committed to supporting all students and families throughout the entire WHRHS community."

To read Jewett's full statement click here.

Occhipinti's Facebook post now has more than 10,000 reactions, 225 comments and 6,200 shares.

The community expressed outrage and support for Glenda in the comments of the Facebook post, which have since been turned off.

"This is so terrible. Reading your post really made my heart break," said Megan Barone.

"This is the worst thing I've ever heard - it's unconscionable... I just can't imagine any reasonable situation outside of intention for something like this to occur. I look forward to hearing about a positive resolution," said Tinna Kim.

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