A North Carolina school has come under fire after administrators reportedly denied a disabled girl a ramp so she could cross the stage at her eighth-grade graduation ceremony.
Shannon Dingle, 43, has spoken out for her daughter, Zoe, after Moore Square Magnet Middle School decided to have students receive their diplomas on the floor rather than cross the stage.
Dingle said the change differed from how other graduations were celebrated, and that the decision to move the proceedings off the stage was a failure to properly accommodate Zoe.
‘That’s how they’re choosing to accommodate my daughter, who uses a wheelchair full-time,’ Dingle wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
‘But this approach means they predetermined that Zoe couldn’t be a student leader/speaker, and it means that all parents won’t see their kids as well.’
She added that the school told her they ‘didn’t want to bother with getting a ramp,’ adding, ‘as if inclusion is a burden rather than a responsibility.’
Dingle concluded that ramps were not ‘luxury items,’ but were ‘accessibility needs’ for disabled individuals like her daughter.
The concerned mother told local NBC affiliate WRAL that one of her older children graduated last year, and when she remembered the stage was not wheelchair-accessible, she reached out to the school for accommodations.
Shannon Dingle said her daughter Zoe, pictured above, was prevented by her North Carolina school from using a ramp to attend her graduation ceremony
Dingle is a single mother to six children, pictured above. Her husband, Lee, died in 2019 in a freak swimming accident
Dingle said the school decided to have all the children receive their certificates on the floor rather than on the stage so they would not have to invest in a ramp. Zoe is pictured above
Dingle said that during rehearsal for the ceremony, it was clear that the other students were prevented from walking on the stage because of her daughter.
Wake County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Taylor, pictured above, told local news he was unaware of the issue
‘I want to make sure that in terms of ADA compliance, we are where we need to be and that all students are able to access the stages and be able to participate fully,’ she explained.
Dingle added that she only wanted to see her daughter have the opportunity to cross the stage and receive her certificate with her classmates.
Wake County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Taylor told WRAL that he was unaware of the issue but was looking into it.
The Daily Mail reached out to the district and Moore Square Magnet Middle School’s principal for additional comment.
Dingle is a disability rights activist and previously worked for the Little Lobbyist organization.
Dingle, pictured above, is a disability rights activist and wants her daughter to have the same graduation experience as her classmates
Dingle called on her daughter’s school to prioritize inclusivity for her daughter, Zoe. Zoe is pictured above in a social media post last August
Zoe is a graduate of Moore Square Magnet Middle School, pictured above, in Wake County, North Carolina. The school has not publicly addressed Dingle’s comments
She is a single mother of six children. In 2019, Dingle’s husband, Lee, died in a freak accident during a family beach day.
Dingle wrote in a blog post at the time that Lee was swimming with their children when a wave knocked him over, and he slammed his head into the sand.
The impact broke his neck and made his throat swell to the point where his brain was deprived of oxygen.
A friend has set up a GoFundMe for Dingle and her family as she struggles with grief and unemployment.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Dingle for additional comment.
