Parents Allege Disability Access Barriers at Elite Maine School

The parents of a local public-education contract student placed at Thornton Academy announced today that they have filed complaints with the Maine Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. They allege school-created access barriers now threaten her college admissions and scholarship opportunities.

The complaints allege Thornton Academy and the Saco School Department had notice of the student's documented disability profile, including Marfan syndrome, and related barriers, including treatment, that affected prolonged sitting, sleep, executive functioning, and walking to school without busing. Despite that notice, the parents allege the program relied on rigid attendance-based measurement and minimal intervention, narrowing the IEP trajectory to "just graduating" rather than adaptive instruction and meaningful supports.

The parents further allege disability-linked barriers were framed as fault. They cite an IEP record where a district official reportedly acknowledged the student "has so much going on," but said an IEP "doesn't excuse tardies and absences." They allege this chilled self-advocacy; after a December 19, 2025 meeting, the student reportedly feared the school might "take back" even limited accommodations, and a key internal advocate was cautioned from speaking freely.

School leadership, the complaints state, rejected technology-enabled supports recommended by staff and teachers alike-tools shown to help the student access instruction, submit work, and demonstrate learning-stating that Thornton "is not an online school," even when proposals were meant to supplement in-person instruction.

The parents point to grade volatility as evidence of school-controlled barriers: in math, they allege an F improved to a B+ after limited online retake accommodations, and another course shifted from F to A across semesters. They seek a companion record using Pass/No Credit coding for specified courses, with brief objective annotations, so that colleges can evaluate the record with a full and accurate context.

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This release was published on openPR.