Family Protests Outside Westhampton Beach School Over Controversial Special Needs Decision

Standing on the corner of Oneck Lane and Mill Road, a group of approximately 60 neon-clad protesters erupted into cheers as a silver Toyota Camry pulled up to the intersection and rolled down the back passenger window—revealing a smiling Aiden Killoran.The 12-year-old nervously glanced around as drivers honked their horns. Friends and family wearing “We Want Aiden” shirts shouted words of encouragement for the boy as he was driven away from Westhampton Beach Middle School, where he will not be starting classes on Wednesday with the rest of his classmates and friends.Aiden, who has Down syndrome and lives in Remsenburg, has been at the center of a controversy fought on his behalf over the past few months. Westhampton Beach School District officials maintain that the district does not have the necessary programs to educate him and want to bus Aiden to one of several surrounding districts that they say are better prepared to meet his needs. Aiden’s family, however, wants him to stay with his friends at Westhampton—and say they were shocked this spring to learn he might not be able to.“Aiden is like the mayor of Remsenburg,” his 11-year-old brother, Christian, said Wednesday morning. “Everybody loves him, and if he goes to a different school, he will just be known as the kid with Down syndrome. But if he goes to Westhampton Beach, people will be looking out for him with anything going on with him, like, if people are making fun of him. That is why I think he should be here.”Aiden’s parents, Christian and Terrie Killoran, have been fighting with both the Westhampton Beach and Remsenburg-Speonk school districts for the past several months over their son’s educational future.Previously, the Killorans said they were led to believe that Aiden would be able to attend the Westhampton Beach Middle School after graduating from the Remsenburg-Speonk Elementary School this spring. Citing Aiden’s educational needs, Westhampton Beach school officials have since informed the family that their district lacks the necessary programming to educate Aiden during his middle and high school years, explaining that he must attend a different district, such as Eastport South Manor or Southampton, or enroll with the Board of Cooperative Educational Services come September.Since then, the Killorans have filed a discrimination lawsuit against Westhampton Beach, alleging that the district does not want to educate certain special needs students once they reach middle and high school age. The lawsuit seeks a court order allowing their son to attend the middle school, in addition to $20,000 in statutory damages and legal reimbursements.The battle came to a head last week after Mr. Killoran announced that he would be walking his son into the middle school on the first day of school, regardless of whether Aiden was permitted to attend classes there or not. Late last week, the district filed for a temporary restraining order with the U.S. District Court, seeking to bar the family from the school grounds and threatening to have them arrested if they violated the order.On Monday, Justice Joseph F. Bianco oversaw a discussion between the district’s attorney and the Killoran family, with both parties eventually deciding a restraining order was not necessary. At the time, it was decided that the family would be able to host a peaceful rally in support of Aiden on the first day of classes, as long as they did not cross onto school property. At the same time, Mr. Killoran agreed not to walk his son into the building.For a little over an hour on Wednesday morning, the group of more than 60 protesters stood behind police barricades on the corner outside of the school waving signs that read “Public school for everyone” and “Educate all.” To the side, a single Westhampton Beach Village Police officer stood watching the group, while district administrators—including Superintendent Michael Radday—observed from the front steps of the school.“It is great,” Mr. Killoran said of the turnout. “It is a Wednesday morning at 7 a.m., so I know it is difficult for people to come out. But it is great to see so many supporters and friends, and to have so many supporters who couldn’t be here personally but extended their well-wishes and prayers and so forth.”Mr. Radday declined to comment on the temporary restraining order request when reached on Friday afternoon, stating via email that “the district will not comment on pending litigation.”In a letter to the editor published in the August 13 edition of The Press, Westhampton Beach Board of Education member Suzanne Mensch stated that she has become “extremely disheartened by the Killoran family’s repeated public efforts to bully the Westhampton Beach School District into developing an educational program for their son.” The Westhampton Beach district, she explained, offers such programming only at its elementary school.She added that she was “particularly outraged” by Mr. Killoran’s earlier statement that he would bring his son to the middle school on the first day of classes.But the Killorans had a lot of support on Wednesday morning. For Westhampton resident Maureen Crowley Pesce, the issue hits close to home. Her own daughter, Kathleen, also has Down syndrome. She is currently enrolled in the third grade in the district, and Ms. Pesce is concerned for her daughter’s future if she cannot remain in Westhampton.“In three or four years, she will be in the same situation as this child,” Ms. Pesce explained. “To tell you the truth, I am appalled and startled that this forward-leaning district that is so liberal and spending millions of dollars on laptops and things would send all of their developmentally disabled middle school children out, rather than educate them here.”Ms. Pesce continued that she fully supports the Killoran family. “If it was my son today, I would walk into the building with him, restraining order or not,” she said. “Some things are worth getting arrested for.”While everyone at the rally supported the Killoran family, many protesters were also angry with the district.“I think it is a sign of arrogance as well as fear,” Diane DeMaio of Westhampton said. “I think it is an arrogant position the School Board is taking in not allowing Aiden to be educated here with his friends.”David Assalti of Remsenburg agreed, saying that students with Down syndrome deserve to be a part of their community’s schools. “Society is going to alienate these kids enough,” he said. “Allow them to experience real life.”In the meantime, Mr. Killoran said the court case over Aiden’s education will move forward, and the family will continue its battle to have Aiden attend Westhampton Beach schools with his friends. For now, Mr. Killoran said, Aiden will reenter the sixth grade at the Remsenburg-Speonk Elementary School, where his brother Christian will begin the sixth grade on Tuesday, until the case plays out.“I want to thank Remsenburg for stepping up and agreeing to educate him,” Mr. Killoran said. “It at least keeps him in the community, which is the second-best alternative.”