🕊️ Theo’s Law
Every Student with Disabilities Deserves a Graduation

👤 Named in Honor of:
------ “Theo” Stoner, Class of 2020
A profoundly autistic, non-verbal student from ------High School who was denied the opportunity to walk at his own graduation due to systemic failures and a lack of inclusive planning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 
🎓 Purpose:
To ensure that students with disabilities, including those in residential care facilities or receiving special education services, are never excluded from major school milestones — especially graduation ceremonies — due to a failure to accommodate.

 
📜 Summary of the Issue:
Theo earned his diploma in 2020.
He was promised the chance to walk with his father.
His cap and gown were purchased. His participation was confirmed.

But when COVID-19 restrictions forced his ----- care facility into lockdown, -----High School failed to make any alternative arrangements. Despite repeated requests over several years, Theo has still not been allowed to walk. Other students who missed the 2020 graduation due to the pandemic were accommodated — BUT NOT THEO.

This exclusion is more than a missed event. For students like Theo, graduation may be their only major life milestone the only formal recognition of years of effort, growth, and achievement.

 
📘 What Theo’s Law Would Do:
Guarantee the Right to a Ceremony:

Ensure every student who earns a diploma or certificate of completion — regardless of disability status or setting  has the legal right to participate in a graduation ceremony, with accommodations if necessary.
Mandate Inclusive Graduation Planning:

Require schools to proactively plan inclusive alternatives (e.g., delayed ceremonies, remote participation, private walk-throughs) for students in hospitals, care facilities, or with significant health restrictions.
Require Written Policies for Inclusion:

Districts must adopt and publish clear policies ensuring non-discriminatory access to milestone events under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Retroactive Inclusion Clause:

Allow districts to offer make-up ceremonies or honorary “walks” for students with disabilities who were excluded from past ceremonies due to medical or disability-related circumstances.
Create State/Federal Oversight:

Empower Departments of Education and Offices for Civil Rights to investigate and sanction districts that fail to uphold these rights.
 
🏛️ Proposed Language:
“No student shall be denied participation in a graduation ceremony, recognition event, or similar milestone celebration on the basis of disability, medical circumstance, or institutional placement. Schools must provide accessible alternatives or compensatory events where barriers exist, in compliance with Section 504 and ADA standards.”
 
❤️ Why This Matters:
Theo,  like so many others was forgotten, overlooked, and excluded.
But this doesn’t have to happen again.

By passing Theo’s Law, we make sure every student with disabilities gets to be seen, honored, and celebrated just like everyone else.