WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Parents in Polk County say they’re fighting for their kids’ lives. They’re worried their children’s school is going to cut funding to vital therapy for kids with special needs.
“Bottom line: her life depends on those therapies,” Ed Samaro, whose daughter Katie has Rett syndrome, said.
Katie can’t speak or eat and has daily seizures.
“This is something that we deal with every day, 24 hours a day,” Samaro explained.
When Samaro and his wife aren’t around, Katie has a team of therapists caring for her every day at a Winter Haven charter school called the Language and Literacy Academy for Learning.
“These therapists know all the nuances and needs of Kaitlyn,” Samaro said.
However, Samaro said the school’s board is considering cutting ties with the company that provides them, potentially reducing the therapy to one day a week to save money.
“I watch that little girl suffer every day,” Samaro said. “She lost her ability to eat a year ago, and so to lose the people who are closest to her every single day working with her, that’s big.”
Samaro’s daughter has been going to the school, which has changed its name over the years, since 2011. He fears if the school makes that change—he’ll have to put her in a public school where she won’t get the individual attention she needs.
We tried reaching out to two of the school’s board members but didn’t hear back. The Samaros said they think the board will make a decision in the next few weeks.
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