Education

UPDATE: Catholic School REVERSES Expulsion Of Girl Who Was Absent Because Of CANCER

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Officials at a Catholic middle school in Battle Creek, Mich. have now decided it would be world-historically lousy to expel a 12-year-old girl who had too many absences because she was busy fighting acute lymphoblastic leukemia — cancer of the blood cells.

The seventh-grade girl, Rose McGrath, has fought the disease for two years. In late 2014, she began a slow, still-ongoing recovery process.

Then, earlier this month, the Battle Creek Area Catholic Schools, which McGrath has attended all her life, informed the McGrath family that Rose could no longer attend St. Joseph Middle School. (RELATED: Little Girl Beats Cancer, Gets Expelled From Catholic School FOR TOO MANY ABSENCES)

“I didn’t do anything wrong, but they still got rid of me,” the girl, who was able to attend 32 days of school this academic year, told local CBS affiliate WWMT.

McGrath’s parents had been very unhappy about the expulsion.

“It’s not like she’s out at the mall having fun. She’s in her bed, sick with nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain,” mad mother Barbara McGrath said. “She’d be at school if she could.”

After a nasty bout of national and even international publicity, Rev. John Fleckenstein, pastor administrator of the Battle Creek Area Catholic Schools, has announced a change of heart.

“After much consideration and prayer, and in consultation with Mrs. Marcy Arnson, principal of Saint Joseph’s, we have decided to invite seventh grader Rose McGrath to return to our school as soon as possible,” Fleckenstein said in a statement sent to The Daily Caller by the Diocese of Kalamazoo.

Father Fleckenstein also defended the school’s previous efforts to work with the McGrath family.

“We remain convinced that the accommodations provided over the past months were extensive, appropriate, and compassionate,” the cleric wrote. “It is unfortunate that the coverage of this issue has been greatly distorted both in the media and on social networks. We hope and pray that moving forward we can do so with mutual respect while providing continued privacy for our student.”

Fleckenstein’s statement is a reversal of his prior sentiment, when he said “so many accommodations were made we felt eventually it became a point where we really had to help Rose by being able to make sure that she was getting the assistance that she needed and to learn.”

In his new, improved statement, Fleckenstein said he is optimistic.

“We remain very happy that Rose’s health has improved,” he said. “Our focus has been, and remains on the well-being and academic success of Rose.”

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Tags : michigan
Eric Owens