The mother of a special needs student says La Canada High School administrators are harassing him for missing more than 15 days of school, despite having doctors notes for each absence.
Alexander Sivazlian, 15, has asthma with complications from his 6-foot-2 frame, said his mother, Sandra Sivazlian. On top of that, he had a tough year, breaking his arm twice, and having back and oral surgery.
Alexander takes medicine "morning, noon and night," Sandra Sivazlian said, yet she was told that despite his 3.4 GPA and commendations from teachers, the school could take her son if he's absent again.
"They warned me that if he had one more absence, no matter what it’s for, they had a right to take him away from me and place him with a family who would take him to school, regardless of his illnesses," his mother said.
She was sent a threatening letter from the school calling Alexander a "habitual truant," forcing him to attend even when doctors say he can't, "or else there will be criminal charges filed against me for willfully and continually failing to bring him to school," Sivazlian said.
A school assistant principal denied threatening to take Alexander away, but said that when a student's absences are affecting his or her academic process, it's the school's obligation to step in.
Nevertheless, the assistant principal, Dr. Jarrett Gold, said he was looking to provide support and solutions. Neither he nor the school district's superintendent could comment on Alexander's case specifically.
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Most days he's considered absent, Alexander misses the first hour of school for doctor's appointments, his mother said. But the school's education code says anything more than 30 minutes late is considered an absence.
