Bay Area mom fights to keep epileptic daughter in school after district can't accommodate her
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KGO) -- A Santa Rosa family that made national headlines seven years ago when a judge allowed their daughter to receive cannabis oil to stop seizures in school, is now, again, battling to keep her in school.
The local district says her needs have grown, and they can no longer accommodate her.
Twelve-year-old Brooke Adams was sitting on her couch as we spoke with her mother Jana on Wednesday.
Sadly, in Brooke's case, it's a similar situation to seven years ago, when she wasn't allowed at school because the remedy that stopped her seizures was cannabis oil.
"I think it's different, but we're still in the same situation: still stuck at home, and not with her peers, and not getting education. They don't care that she's not at school," said Jana Adams.
Brooke has special needs, as she suffers from Dravet syndrome -- a form of epilepsy -- which causes her to have seizures.
After we featured her story in 2018, a judge ruled in her favor, allowing licensed vocational nurses to administer the THC oil to her during seizure emergencies at school.
Now though, Brooke -- who requires two aides, but is able to learn -- is going into seventh grade. Her mom says she started planning last September and Brooke was accepted into Spring Lake Middle School, a charter school in the Rincon Valley Union School District.
Then in June, Jana received word that that wouldn't happen.
The principal wrote: "In this case, Spring Lake Middle School does not have the specialized programs, staffing, or resources necessary to fully implement Brook's IEP as written."
"They said we didn't know her extensive needs. It's like, she's been in the same district this whole time, since preschool really, since age three. We, with cannabis were able to expand our reach and fully put her into the community, so that's why we're fighting so much," Jana said. "When they told us back seven years ago when she couldn't go to school they said, 'Oh just bring friends over, so she can have socialization.' The friends that are all at school? Even now, like how does she interact with peers right now? It's not happening."
Jana has filed a complaint with the state. The interim superintendent says they are currently in the process of responding to and resolving this complaint but couldn't speak to specifics.