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Why did my teacher call CPS when I missed school for chemotherapy · Martin Animations

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  Speaker 1: Why did my teacher call CPS when I missed school
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: for chemotherapy? The attendance office called my mom's cell while
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: I was getting my port flushed at the oncology clinic,
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  Speaker 1: and I could hear Mrs. Kowalski's voice through the speaker
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  Speaker 1: asking why I'd missed three days without proper documentation. Mom's
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  Speaker 1: hand tightened around the phone as she explained for the
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  Speaker 1: fourth time this month that I had leukemia and was
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  Speaker 1: undergoing treatment at Children's Hospital. Mrs. Kowalski's response came back
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  Speaker 1: clipped and bureaucratic, saying that chronic illness required specific paperwork
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  Speaker 1: filed in advance and and my absences were being marked
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  Speaker 1: as unexcused truancies. The nurse accessing my port paused when
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  Speaker 1: she heard Mom's voice rising, and I watched her exchange
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  Speaker 1: a look with the other staff member in the room.
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  Speaker 1: Mom ended the call by promising to bring documentation tomorrow.
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  Speaker 1: Her face flushed with frustration and embarrassment. I told her
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  Speaker 1: it was fine, that I'd catch up on the work
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  Speaker 1: like I always did, but the tightness around her mouth
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  Speaker 1: told me this was becoming a bigger problem than either
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  Speaker 1: of us wanted to admit. Mr. Garrison taught my AP
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  Speaker 1: biology class and had been my favorite teacher since freshman
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  Speaker 1: year when he'd spent extra time helping me understand cellular respiration.
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  Speaker 1: He'd written recommendation letters for summer programs and told me
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  Speaker 1: I had real potential for medical research. When I came
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  Speaker 1: back to school after my diagnosis in September, he'd pulled
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  Speaker 1: me aside and promised to help me stay on track
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  Speaker 1: with the curriculum despite my treatment schedule. For the first month,
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  Speaker 1: he'd been true to his word, sending me notes and
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  Speaker 1: letting me make up labs on Saturdays when I felt
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  Speaker 1: strong enough. But something shifted in October, after I missed
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  Speaker 1: the midterm and due to a particularly brutal round of
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  Speaker 1: chemotherapy that left me hospitalized for five days with complications.
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  Speaker 1: He'd marked the exam as a zero despite my doctor's note,
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  Speaker 1: saying makeup exams created unfair advantages for other students. When
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  Speaker 1: I'd tried to explain that I hadn't chosen to be
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  Speaker 1: in the hospital fighting an infection, his expression had gone
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  Speaker 1: cold in a way I'd never seen before. The pattern
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  Speaker 1: started small enough that I almost didn't notice it at first. Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Garrison began calling on me in class when I was
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  Speaker 1: obviously struggling, my hand not even raised, asking complex questions
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  Speaker 1: about material we'd covered during my absences. When I'd stumble
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  Speaker 1: through an answer or admit I wasn't sure, he'd make
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  Speaker 1: comments about students needing to take responsibility for their own learning,
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  Speaker 1: regardless of circumstances. Other kids would shift uncomfortably in their seats,
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  Speaker 1: and my friend Jasmine started whispering answers to me when
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  Speaker 1: she could. But the real problem was the attendance tracking.
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  Speaker 1: Every absence, even ones covered by hospital documentation, went into
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  Speaker 1: his gradebook as a participation zero. My A from last
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  Speaker 1: semester had dropped to a C by mid-November, and my
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  Speaker 1: guidance counselor said if it fell any lower, I'd lose
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  Speaker 1: my eligibility for the National Honor Society and potentially my
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  Speaker 1: college scholarship applications. Mom had meetings with the principal, brought
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  Speaker 1: stacks of medical records, and followed every protocol the school required.
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  Speaker 1: Nothing changed Mr. Garrison's grading policy. The day everything exploded
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  Speaker 1: started like any other treatment day. I'd gone to the
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  Speaker 1: hospital at six in the morning for blood work and
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  Speaker 1: chemotherapy infusion, a process that would take roughly four hours
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  Speaker 1: if everything went smoothly. Mom had called the school attendance
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  Speaker 1: line at 7.30, left a detailed message about my appointment,
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  Speaker 1: and forwarded the hospital scheduling confirmation to the attendance office email.
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  Speaker 1: By noon, I was done with treatment and feeling relatively okay,
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  Speaker 1: so Mom drove me to school for afternoon classes. I
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  Speaker 1: walked into AP Biology twenty minutes late with my medical
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  Speaker 1: excuse note, still wearing the hospital bracelet they'd forgotten to
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  Speaker 1: cut off my wrist. Mr. Garrison looked up from his
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  Speaker 1: lecture on genetic mutations, and his face went through several
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  Speaker 1: expressions before settling on something between anger and disgust. He
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  Speaker 1: told me to take my seat but added that coming
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  Speaker 1: to school after medical appointments showed poor judgment about infection
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  Speaker 1: risk and put other students in danger. The comment hung
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  Speaker 1: in the air like poison gas and I felt 30
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  Speaker 1: pairs of eyes on me as I slid into my chair.
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  Speaker 1: After class, Mr. Garrison asked me to stay behind while
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  Speaker 1: other students filed out. Jasmine hesitated by the door until
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  Speaker 1: I nodded that I'd be fine, though I wasn't sure
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  Speaker 1: I believed it myself. Once we were alone, he closed
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  Speaker 1: the door and turned to face me with an expression
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  Speaker 1: I couldn't read. He said he was concerned about my
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  Speaker 1: attendance pattern. and whether home circumstances might be contributing to
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  Speaker 1: my excessive absences. The words didn't make sense at first
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  Speaker 1: because he knew about my leukemia, had seen the documentation,
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  Speaker 1: had been in the same meeting with my mom and
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  Speaker 1: the principal. I explained again about chemotherapy schedules, and how
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  Speaker 1: the timing wasn't something I could control. Mr. Garrison crossed
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  Speaker 1: his arms and said that many families used medical issues
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  Speaker 1: as excuses to avoid school requirements, and he'd seen patterns
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  Speaker 1: of educational neglect before. His voice had that careful tone
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  Speaker 1: people use when they're accusing you of something without saying
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  Speaker 1: it directly. I felt my face getting hot as I
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  Speaker 1: realized he was suggesting my mom was lying about my
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  Speaker 1: treatment or keeping me home unnecessarily. I pulled up my
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  Speaker 1: shirt sleeve to show him the port-a-cath scar on my
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  Speaker 1: chest where they accessed my veins for chemotherapy, a raised
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  Speaker 1: line of tissue that would probably never fully fade. I
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  Speaker 1: showed him the hospital bracelet still on my wrist with
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  Speaker 1: that day's date and my patient ID number. I asked
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  Speaker 1: him what possible reason my mom would have to invent
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  Speaker 1: a cancer diagnosis and subject me to months of poisonous
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  Speaker 1: treatment that made my hair fall out and my body ache. Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Garrison's expression didn't change as he said medical procedures could
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  Speaker 1: be elective and some parents had Munchausen syndrome by proxy
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  Speaker 1: where they invented illnesses for attention. The accusation was so
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  Speaker 1: absurd and cruel that I actually laughed, a sharp, bitter
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  Speaker 1: sound that surprised both of us. He told me his
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  Speaker 1: concerns were serious and he had a duty to report
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  Speaker 1: suspected educational neglect to Child Protective Services. I asked him
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  Speaker 1: if he was joking and he said he'd already filed
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  Speaker 1: the report that morning before I'd even arrived at school.
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  Speaker 1: The room tilted sideways and I grabbed the desk to
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  Speaker 1: steady myself. Mom's phone rang at 2.15 while she was
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  Speaker 1: at work, and the caller ID showed an unfamiliar number
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  Speaker 1: with our county's area code. The woman on the line
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  Speaker 1: identified herself as Veronica Chen from Child Protective Services and
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  Speaker 1: said they'd received a report alleging educational neglect and possible
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  Speaker 1: medical abuse. Mom's voice went very quiet as she asked
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  Speaker 1: what the report specifically claimed, and I watched her face
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  Speaker 1: drain of color as she listened to the response. The
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  Speaker 1: allegations stated that I was being kept home from school
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  Speaker 1: excessively under the guise of medical treatment. that my mother
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  Speaker 1: was possibly fabricating or exaggerating health issues for attention or
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  Speaker 1: financial gain through disability benefits, and that my educational needs
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  Speaker 1: were being neglected in favor of unnecessary medical interventions. Mom's
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  Speaker 1: hands started shaking as she explained about my leukemia diagnosis,
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  Speaker 1: my oncologist's name, my treatment protocol at Children's Hospital. Veronica
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  Speaker 1: said she understood Mom wanted to provide context, but CPS
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  Speaker 1: had to investigate all reports thoroughly, and an investigator would
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  Speaker 1: be visiting our home within 48 hours. The investigation consumed
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  Speaker 1: our lives like a second cancer. A woman named Dorothy
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  Speaker 1: Klein showed up at our apartment on a Friday evening
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  Speaker 1: with a clipboard and a measured smile that never reached
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  Speaker 1: her eyes. She walked through our small two-bedroom place, taking
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  Speaker 1: notes on everything from the contents of our refrigerator to
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  Speaker 1: the medications in our bathroom cabinet. She photographed my pill
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  Speaker 1: organizers and the anti-nausea medication I took to handle chemotherapy
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  Speaker 1: side effects. She asked to see my room, and I
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  Speaker 1: watched her examine my schoolwork, my books, the medical supplies
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  Speaker 1: I kept by my bed for managing port care. Dorothy's
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  Speaker 1: questions came in careful succession, designed to sound casual, but
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  Speaker 1: clearly following a script. Did my mom ever seem overly
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  Speaker 1: focused on my medical issues? Had I ever felt pressured
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  Speaker 1: to seem sicker than I was? Did doctors ever express
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  Speaker 1: concern about my mom's requests for treatments? Each question felt
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  Speaker 1: like an attack disguised as concern, and I struggled to
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  Speaker 1: answer without sounding defensive because defensive people looked guilty. Dorothy
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  Speaker 1: wanted to interview me alone, and mom had to wait
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  Speaker 1: in the kitchen while we talked in my room. The
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  Speaker 1: woman's pen moved constantly across her notepad as I explained
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  Speaker 1: my diagnosis, my treatment schedule, the side effects I experienced
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  Speaker 1: from chemotherapy. She asked why I went to so many
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  Speaker 1: appointments if the cancer was being treated successfully. And I
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  Speaker 1: had to explain that chemotherapy happened in cycles over months,
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  Speaker 1: not in a single session. She asked why I needed
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  Speaker 1: so many different medications when cancer typically required just one treatment.
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  Speaker 1: I listed out the anti-nausea drugs, the antibiotics to prevent infection,
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  Speaker 1: the pain medication for bone marrow biopsy recovery, the antifungal medication,
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  Speaker 1: because chemo destroyed my immune system. Dorothy made a small
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  Speaker 1: humming sound that suggested skepticism, and I felt panic rising
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  Speaker 1: in my chest. This woman had the power to decide
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  Speaker 1: whether my family stayed together or got torn apart based
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  Speaker 1: on lies told by a teacher who apparently couldn't accept
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  Speaker 1: that six students deserved accommodations. The school meeting happened the
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  Speaker 1: following Monday with my mom, me, Principal Hayworth, Mr. Garrison,
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  Speaker 1: the guidance counselor, and the district's legal representative, all crammed
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  Speaker 1: into a small conference room. Principal Hayworth opened by saying
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  Speaker 1: they took all allegations seriously, but also needed to support
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  Speaker 1: students with documented medical needs. Mr. Garrison immediately jumped in
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  Speaker 1: with a prepared statement about his concerns regarding my attendance
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  Speaker 1: pattern and what he perceived as enablement of school avoidance.
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  Speaker 1: He pulled up a spreadsheet showing every absence I'd had
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  Speaker 1: since September, color-coded by type, with notes about which ones
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  Speaker 1: he considered legitimate versus questionable. The fact that he'd been
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  Speaker 1: tracking this so meticulously, building a case against a 16-year-old
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  Speaker 1: cancer patient, made my stomach turn. Mom presented our counter-evidence,
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  Speaker 1: a folder thick with hospital records, treatment schedules, doctor's notes,
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  Speaker 1: medication lists. The legal representative suggested that perhaps a medical
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  Speaker 1: evaluation by the school's physician could provide clarity, and I
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  Speaker 1: wanted to scream that I'd been evaluated by actual oncologists
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  Speaker 1: who specialized in childhood leukemia. Mr. Garrison brought up my
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  Speaker 1: AP biology grade, using it as evidence that I wasn't
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  Speaker 1: keeping up academically, which he suggested indicated either lack of
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  Speaker 1: effort or cognitive issues that should be investigated. The guidance
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  Speaker 1: counselor pointed out that my other grades remained strong. A's
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  Speaker 1: in English and history, B's in math and Spanish. Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Garrison countered that those teachers were being too lenient out
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  Speaker 1: of sympathy, essentially enabling my failure to meet proper academic standards.
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  Speaker 1: His argument kept circling back to the idea that accommodating
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  Speaker 1: my medical needs was actually harming my education and future prospects.
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  Speaker 1: The twisted logic made my head hurt. I was failing
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  Speaker 1: his class specifically because he refused to accommodate my absences
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  Speaker 1: for chemotherapy. and now he was using that failure as
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  Speaker 1: proof that I needed to be in school more consistently,
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  Speaker 1: which I couldn't do because of the chemotherapy that was
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  Speaker 1: keeping me alive. Principal Hayworth suggested we table the discussion
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  Speaker 1: until after CPS completed their investigation, and Mr. Garrison's satisfied
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  Speaker 1: expression told me he considered that a victory. Dorothy made
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  Speaker 1: two more home visits over the next three weeks, each
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  Speaker 1: one more invasive than the last. She interviewed my younger
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  Speaker 1: brother about whether he felt neglected because of my medical issues.
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  Speaker 1: She requested permission to speak with my oncologist. and Dr.
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  Speaker 1: Patel spent 40 minutes on the phone explaining acute lymphoblastic leukemia,
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  Speaker 1: chemotherapy protocols, expected side effects, and prognosis. Dorothy took notes,
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  Speaker 1: but her questions suggested she was looking for inconsistencies or
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  Speaker 1: red flags rather than trying to understand my actual medical situation.
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  Speaker 1: She asked Dr. Patel whether parents ever pressured for more
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  Speaker 1: aggressive treatment than necessary, and I could hear my doctor's
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  Speaker 1: confusion through the phone as she explained that no parent
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  Speaker 1: wants their child to undergo chemotherapy unless absolutely necessary. because
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  Speaker 1: the treatment itself was brutal and dangerous. Dorothy requested copies
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  Speaker 1: of all my medical records dating back to my diagnosis,
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  Speaker 1: and the hospital compliance officer had to get involved to
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  Speaker 1: determine what could be legally released. Our lives became an
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  Speaker 1: open book for scrutiny by people who seemed determined to
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  Speaker 1: find problems that didn't exist. The worst part was watching
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  Speaker 1: my mom fracture under the pressure. She'd taken unpaid leave
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  Speaker 1: from her job as a dental hygienist to attend CPS
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  Speaker 1: meetings and school conferences. She'd spent hours organizing documentation, and
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  Speaker 1: writing timeline summaries of my medical care. She'd stopped sleeping
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  Speaker 1: properly because the investigation kept her up at night worrying
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  Speaker 1: about worst-case scenarios. One evening, I found her crying in
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  Speaker 1: the kitchen, surrounded by medical bills and bank statements that
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  Speaker 1: CPS had requested to prove we weren't profiting financially from
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  Speaker 1: disability benefits. The cruelty of forcing a mother fighting to
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  Speaker 1: save her child's life to also prove she wasn't a
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  Speaker 1: fraud became overwhelming. I hugged her and promised everything would
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  Speaker 1: be okay, but neither of us believed it. The system
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  Speaker 1: that was supposed to protect children was actively harming our
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  Speaker 1: family based on one teacher's vindictive misunderstanding of medical necessity.
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  Speaker 1: Jasmine and other classmates started a petition asking the school
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  Speaker 1: board to review Mr. Garrison's accommodation policies for students with
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  Speaker 1: serious illnesses. Over 200 students signed within three days, and
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  Speaker 1: several parents called the principal's office expressing concern about how
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  Speaker 1: my situation had been handled. Mr. Garrison responded by adding
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  Speaker 1: a unit to his curriculum about scientific skepticism and the
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  Speaker 1: importance of questioning medical authority. complete with case studies of
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  Speaker 1: parents who'd harmed children through unnecessary medical intervention. The timing
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  Speaker 1: wasn't subtle. He was using his classroom to justify his actions,
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  Speaker 1: teaching students that my situation might be an example of
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  Speaker 1: medical abuse rather than legitimate illness. Kids who'd signed the
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  Speaker 1: petition found their class participation grades mysteriously dropping. The administration
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  Speaker 1: claimed they couldn't interfere with a teacher's pedagogical choices, even
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  Speaker 1: when those choices were clearly retaliatory against students who'd supported me.
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  Speaker 1: The CPS investigation dragged into December, and Dorothy scheduled what
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  Speaker 1: she called a closing interview at their downtown office. Mom
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  Speaker 1: and I sat in a gray waiting room with fluorescent
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  Speaker 1: lights that made everything look sickly and institutional. When Dorothy
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  Speaker 1: finally called us back, she had another woman with her,
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  Speaker 1: identified as her supervisor, Catherine Merritt. They went through their
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  Speaker 1: findings methodically, and I felt my chest getting tighter with
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  Speaker 1: each point. They'd confirmed my medical diagnosis was legitimate and
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  Speaker 1: treatment was appropriate. They'd found no evidence of financial exploitation
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: or Munchausen syndrome by proxy. They'd verified that my educational
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: needs were being met, despite my absences through homebound instruction
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  Speaker 1: and makeup work. Everything they said should have been clearing us,
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  Speaker 1: but Dorothy's tone remained neutral and careful. Then came the
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  Speaker 1: pivot point, where Catherine explained that while the specific allegations
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  Speaker 1: weren't substantiated, they'd identified concerns about educational planning that needed monitoring.
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  Speaker 1: The monitoring plan meant CPS would keep our case open
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  Speaker 1: for six months, with monthly check-ins to ensure I was
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  Speaker 1: maintaining academic progress and attending school whenever medically possible. It
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  Speaker 1: meant continued invasion of our privacy and and continued stress
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  Speaker 1: on my mom who was already stretched beyond her limits.
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  Speaker 1: It meant the system had found a way to not
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  Speaker 1: admit they'd wasted resources investigating a malicious report while still
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  Speaker 1: justifying their involvement in our lives. Mom asked what would
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  Speaker 1: happen if we refused the monitoring, and Catherine's response made
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  Speaker 1: it clear that refusal would be interpreted as lack of
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  Speaker 1: cooperation and could trigger a more formal investigation. We were
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  Speaker 1: trapped in a bureaucratic maze with no exit because one
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  Speaker 1: teacher had decided that his interpretation of attendance policies mattered
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: more than a student's survival through cancer treatment. Back at school,
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: the tension in AP biology became unbearable. Mr. Garrison maintained
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  Speaker 1: professional courtesy in a way that somehow felt more hostile
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  Speaker 1: than open conflict. He called on me frequently, assigned me
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  Speaker 1: extra homework to make up for absences, and graded my
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  Speaker 1: work with standards that seemed more rigorous than what he
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  Speaker 1: applied to other students. When I earned a B on
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  Speaker 1: a lab report, he returned it covered in red ink,
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  Speaker 1: questioning my methodology and conclusions that matched the rubric he'd provided.
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  Speaker 1: Other teachers noticed what was happening. and my English teacher, Ms. Delacroix,
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  Speaker 1: pulled me aside to say she'd filed a complaint with
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: the teacher's union about Mr. Garrison's conduct. But the union
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  Speaker 1: representative said grading decisions and accommodation judgments fell under teacher discretion,
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  Speaker 1: unless clear discrimination could be proven. My word against his
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: wasn't enough, and my declining grade became evidence supporting his
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: position that I needed to be in school more regardless
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: of medical circumstances. Mom hired an education attorney named Samuel Ortega,
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  Speaker 1: who specialized in disability rights and 504 plan violations. Our
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: first meeting lasted two hours as we walked through everything
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  Speaker 1: that had happened since my diagnosis. Samuel's face darkened as
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: I described Mr. Garrison's comments about medical abuse and his
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: decision to report us to CPS without consulting the school
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: nurse or my oncologist. He explained that students with serious
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: health conditions were protected under federal law requiring reasonable accommodations
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: and refusing to allow makeup work for documented medical absences
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: violated those protections. He drafted a formal complaint to the
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: school district outlining multiple violations of my civil rights and
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: demanding immediate intervention. The letter was eight pages long, cited
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  Speaker 1: specific statutes and case law, and requested compensation for the
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: emotional distress caused by the district's failure to properly train
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: and supervise staff regarding students with disabilities. Sending that letter
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: felt like finally fighting back after months of just trying
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  Speaker 1: to survive. The district's response came from their general counsel,
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  Speaker 1: a terse letter acknowledging receipt of our complaint and stating
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  Speaker 1: that all personnel matters were handled confidentially and we wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: be informed of any disciplinary actions taken. Samuel called it
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  Speaker 1: a classic stonewalling tactic designed to frustrate families into giving up.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: He filed a formal complaint with the Office for Civil
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: Rights at the Department of Education, a process that could
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  Speaker 1: take months but created a permanent federal record of the
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: district's violations. He also reached out to local media, and
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: a reporter named Yasmin Khalid contacted us about doing a
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: story on how schools handle students with serious illnesses. Mom
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  Speaker 1: was hesitant about going public, worried it would make things worse,
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  Speaker 1: but I'd reached a point where I didn't care anymore.
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  Speaker 1: If my experience could prevent this from happening to another
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  Speaker 1: sick kid, then the exposure was worth it. Yasmin's story
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  Speaker 1: ran on the local news website with the headline, Student
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: with Leukemia Reported to CPS by Teacher Over Treatment Absences.
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: The article included my medical timeline, quotes from my oncologist
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  Speaker 1: about the necessity of my treatment schedule, and comments from
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  Speaker 1: education law experts saying the school had clearly violated federal
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: disability protections. The response was immediate and overwhelming. The story
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  Speaker 1: got shared thousands of times on social media. Parents flooded
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: the school board meetings demanding accountability, and the State Teachers
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: Association issued a statement condemning the reporting of medically necessary
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: absences to CPS. Suddenly, our private nightmare was public. And
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: while the attention was uncomfortable, it also meant we weren't
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: alone anymore. Other families reached out sharing similar stories of
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: schools treating sick children as problems to be managed rather
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: than students to be supported. The pattern was bigger than
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: just Mr. Garrison or just our district. The school board
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: called an emergency meeting and voted to place Mr. Garrison
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: on administrative leave pending an investigation into his conduct. The
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: district also announced they'd be reviewing all attendance and accommodation
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: policies to ensure compliance with federal disability law. Principal Hayworth
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: released a statement saying the school was committed to supporting
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: all students, regardless of medical circumstances, though he didn't mention
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: how they'd failed to support me for months, despite repeated complaints.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: CPS closed our case officially, with Catherine sending a terse
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: letter stating that after review, no further monitoring was necessary.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: Dorothy never apologized for the investigation or acknowledged how the
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: process had harmed our family. Samuel said that was typical
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: of bureaucracies that would rather quietly close cases than admit
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: wrongdoing that could create liability. The hardest part wasn't the
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: investigation or the publicity or even Mr. Garrison's retaliation. It
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: was the realization that systems designed to protect children had
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: been weaponized against me because I was sick in ways
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: that inconvenienced institutional priorities. That teachers I'd trusted could view
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: my cancer not as a challenge to help me overcome,
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: but as a disruption to their attendance statistics and grade curves.
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: That's CPS. an agency meant to rescue children from abuse,
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: could become an instrument of abuse itself when wielded by
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: vindictive adults against families already fighting for survival. The betrayal
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: cut deeper than any chemotherapy side effect because it came
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: from people who were supposed to care about my well-being
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: but only cared about their rules and procedures. Every adult
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: who'd questioned whether my cancer was real, whether my mom
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: was exploiting me, whether I deserved accommodations for trying not
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: to die, had revealed something ugly about how society treats
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: sick children when they become inconvenient. My treatment protocol ended
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: in March after seven months of chemotherapy cycles that had
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: destroyed the leukemia cells, but also destroyed my sense that
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: the world was fundamentally fair. I'd lost my hair twice,
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: spent weeks in the hospital with infections, missed my entire
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: junior year homecoming and winter formal, and graduated from Mr.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Garrison's AP biology class with a C that would sit
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: on my transcript forever as proof of his cruelty. Dr.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: Patel said my scans looked clear and my blood work
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: showed normal cell counts. I was in remission, a word
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: that meant victory, but also meant uncertainty. because cancer could
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: always come back. The hospital threw me a party with
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: sugar-free cake and sparkling cider, and my nurses gave me
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: a blanket they'd all signed with encouraging messages. But I
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: couldn't fully celebrate, because I'd learned that survival wasn't just
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: about beating cancer. It was about surviving the institutions and
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: people who saw your illness as an inconvenience rather than
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: a crisis. The school board's investigation concluded in April with
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: findings that Mr. Garrison had violated district accommodation policies and
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: shown bias against students with disabilities. They offered him the
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: choice between resignation or termination, and he chose resignation effective
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: at the end of the school year. No criminal charges
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: were filed, no teaching license was revoked, no formal apology
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: was issued to our family. He just moved on to
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: a teaching position in another district where presumably he could
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: continue imposing rigid attendance policies on students who didn't fit
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: his definition of acceptable reasons for absence. Principal Hayworth retired early,
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: citing health issues, though rumors suggested the school board had
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: pushed him out for his mishandling of my case. The
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: district implemented new training for all staff about disability accommodations
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: and medical absences, mandatory sessions that wouldn't have been necessary
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: if they'd followed existing federal law in the first place.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: Our suffering had become their lesson plan. Samuel negotiated a
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: settlement with the district that included monetary compensation for emotional distress,
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: removal of the C from my transcript, and replacement with
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: a medical withdrawal notation, and guaranteed accommodations for any future
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: medical needs. The money helped with the medical bills that
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: insurance hadn't covered, but no amount could compensate for the
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: trauma of being investigated by CPS while fighting cancer. Mom
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: used part of the settlement to take us on a
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: vacation to the beach once I was strong enough to travel.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: We spent a week doing nothing but sitting in the
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: sand and watching waves and not talking about school or
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: investigations or cancer, just existing together without crisis. My hair
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: was growing back in soft patches, and the port scar
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: on my chest was fading to a thin white line.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: I looked like I was healing on the outside, but
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: the inside damage would take longer to repair. Senior year
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: started with a new AP biology teacher who'd been briefed
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: on my medical history and bent over backward to assure
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: me I'd be supported through any absences. The accommodation felt
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: strange after a year of fighting for basic human decency.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: My grades climbed back to A's across all subjects, and
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: colleges started sending acceptance letters with scholarship offers. I wrote
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: my admissions essay about resilience and advocacy, about learning to
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: fight systems that claim to help, but actually harm. Several
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: schools specifically mentioned how powerful my story was and how
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: they wanted students who could challenge injustice. The irony wasn't
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: lost on me that Mr. Garrison's cruelty had ultimately strengthened
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: my college applications by giving me material about overcoming adversity.
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: But I'd have traded every acceptance letter to have never
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: gone through that nightmare year in the first place. Mom
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: and I testified at a state legislative hearing about a
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: proposed bill requiring CPS to consult with treating physicians before
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: investigating medical neglect allegations related to chronic illness. Our testimony
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: described the reality of fighting cancer while also fighting the
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: social services system that should have been supporting us. The
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: committee room was packed with other families sharing similar stories
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: of schools reporting them for medical absences, of CPS investigations
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: triggered by teachers who didn't understand complex health conditions. The
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: bill passed unanimously. and was signed into law with provisions
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: requiring training for mandatory reporters about distinguishing between medical neglect
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: and appropriate treatment for serious illness. One representative told us
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: privately that our case had been the catalyst for legislative
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: action that should have happened years ago. We'd become symbols
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: of systemic failure and change, roles we'd never wanted but
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: couldn't escape. I graduated high school with honors and multiple
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: scholarship offers, accepted admission to a university with a strong
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: pre-med program. My plan was to become a pediatric oncologist.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: so I could help other sick kids navigate not just
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: their illness, but the systems and institutions that failed to
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: protect them. Dr. Patel wrote one of my recommendation letters,
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: describing me as a patient who'd shown remarkable strength not
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: just in fighting cancer, but in fighting for the right
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: to be treated with dignity during treatment. She mentioned our
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: case in medical conferences as an example of how schools
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: sometimes traumatize already vulnerable students through ignorance and rigid adherence
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: to policies that ignore medical reality. Mr. Garrison's name never
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: came up in those discussions. but the pattern he represented— teachers
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: who viewed accommodations as unfair advantages rather than civil rights— remained
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: unfortunately common. Three years later, I was thriving in college,
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: maintaining a strong GPA in challenging science courses, and volunteering
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: at the children's hospital where I'd been treated. My cancer
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: remained in remission, the regular scans showing clear results that
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: let me exhale each time. Mom had rebuilt her career
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: and her emotional stability, though she still carried the trauma
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: of that investigation year in the way her shoulders tensed
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: when school officials called. We'd both learned that survival wasn't
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: the end of the story, but the beginning of carrying
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: what happened forward into whatever came next. The port scar
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: on my chest was completely faded now, barely visible, but
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: the emotional scars from being investigated for the crime of
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: being sick stayed fresh. Some wounds heal on the outside
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: while staying raw underneath, and that's the part they don't
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: tell you about surviving cancer and surviving the cruelty of
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: people who should have protected you, but chose bureaucracy over
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: humanity instead.