A 9-year-old Michigan girl with a terminal illness and her family are embroiled in a dispute with the Whitehall school district because officials want to send the child some 14.6 miles away to a facility for children with special needs. Justina Bernhardt wants her daughter, Anna Bernhardt, to stay at the Ealy Elementary School, where she has been since kindergarten.
Justina Bernhardt said Anna would be on a bus three hours a day, while the district said the ride wouldn’t be nearly that long.
Anna has Sanfilippo Syndrome, otherwise known as children’s Alzheimer’s. Bernhardt has letters from medical specialists saying the change could be detrimental to Anna’s already fading condition.
Citing privacy issues, district officials said they couldn’t discuss the case. A hearing was scheduled for late last week with an administrative-law judge.
