Utah School Accused of Excluding Special Needs Student From Yearbook

A Utah high school drew fire from parents after a yearbook committee reportedly decided to leave a special needs student out of the picture.

Leslee Bailey, mother to a special needs student in Tooele County, expressed shock when school administrators justified the decision to not include her daughter’s picture in the Blue Peak High School yearbook, according to local news affiliate Fox59.

“How would you feel if it was your child?” Bailey asked in an interview with Fox59. “You know, your child was left out because, as the principal told me, ‘We don’t have the pages.’”

School officials disputed the claim, arguing that the special needs students were separated from the student body in a transitional program that was designed to ease their way into the working world.

Portraits of Schoolkids Learning Firearm Safety in Rural Indiana, 1956

Caption from LIFE. Wide-eyed fascination is displayed by boys as Rankin holds his revolver with the cylinder opened to show them there are no shells in it.

Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Caption from LIFE. In safety class instructor Rod Rankin is bombarded by Hobart, Ind., boys with questions about gun display and cartridge case in his belt.

Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Gun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.

Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Gun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.

Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Gun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.

Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Gun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.

Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Gun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.

Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Gun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.

Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Gun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.

Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Gun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.

Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Caption from LIFE. Drawing bolt on 12-gauge shotgun, Johnny Cherela, 7, grimaces as he follows Rankin's instructions to check the chamber to see if gun is loaded.

Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Gun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.

Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Gun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.

Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Caption from LIFE. Cringing class holds breath and ears as Rankin aims 30-30 rifle at can of water in demonstration to impress kids with the destructive power of guns.

Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Caption from LIFE. Careening can splashes water through air as bullet hits it from 18 feet away. Later one of the awed boys told his mother how 'strong' the gun was.

Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Gun safety instruction, Indiana, 1956.

Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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