Students with special needs at Las Vegas University of Technology are omitted from the yearbook and have never been included
A group of special needs students attending a Las Vegas school were excluded from a yearbook listing all other Nevada Tech students.
Samir Azarpir’s mother, 22, only noticed something was wrong after flipping through the entire book and noticing that her son’s name and photo were completely missing, along with about ten others with learning disabilities.
Mariela Azarpira purchased the Northwest Career and Technical Academy memorial yearbook, but she now feels upset and hurt that her son, who is on the autism spectrum, was left out.
To make matters worse, it’s Samir’s senior year in the Clark County School District.
Mariela Azarpira, the mother of 22-year-old Samir Azarpira, says a Las Vegas school yearbook excludes a group of students with special needs, including her son
Mariela, right, discovered the omission when she noticed her son’s name, Samir Azarpira, and his photo were missing
“Honestly, it really broke my heart,” Mariela told the Las Vegas Review Journal. “I went page by page. Not even one photo. Not even any acknowledgment.’
“They’re 22 years old, that’s all. They’re done with school. [NWCTA] has done nothing in memory, for me, for us,’ Mariela said with tears in her eyes.
He attended Northwest Career and Technical Academy since October 2021 after his family moved to Las Vegas from the Los Angeles area and enrolled in a Program Approach to Career Employment known as PACE.
The program is a bridging program for young adults with special needs who have already completed an adapted high school diploma.
Mariela describes her son as a jovial, sweet and cherished youngest son in their family of five children.
Mariela describes her son, who is autistic, as a gregarious, sweet and nurturing youngest in their family of five children.
The school in question is Northwest Career & Technical Academy in Las Vegas
“I have his yearbook and they’re not even mentioned. It’s like they didn’t exist,” she said 8NewsNow. “It’s like for them, they didn’t matter. It wasn’t important that they were recognized.’
The district has admitted to what it calls a “mistake” in acknowledging that they are typically students in ninth through twelfth grades.
“The school is reviewing the yearbook layout for future years to consider the addition of members of the school community who are enrolled in on-campus pre- or postgraduate programs,” the district wrote.
Laura Willis, the school’s principal, also apologized to Mariela via email, accepting responsibility for the omission of the selected students.
“It’s a shame we didn’t get to represent everything they do and bring to our campus,” Willis wrote. “There are no excuses, only human error. I will make sure this doesn’t happen again in the future.
‘I don’t want the money back. I want them to involve all the kids because it’s so important. Because if the school takes them in, all the parents will learn,’ Mariela said. ‘They must be included. They matter too.’
Samit has attended the Northwest Career and Technical Academy since October 2021
Mariela describes her son as a gregarious, sweet and cherished youngest in their family of five children
“Keep in mind we love all of our children, especially our young adults,” she added.
She tried to reassure Mariela that the mistake would be rectified in future editions and offered her a $90 refund, which she declined, claiming the damage had already been done.
‘I don’t want the money back. I want them to involve all the kids because it’s so important. Because if the school takes them in, all the parents will learn,’ Mariela said. ‘They must be included. They matter too.’
She is skeptical of the error being a “human error” when PACE students were never included in previous editions of the yearbook in years past.
She believes that Northwest Career and Technical Academy, despite being an excellent school, has simply failed to live up to its responsibility to create an inclusive time of the school year.
“I have his yearbook and they’re not even mentioned. It’s as if they didn’t exist,’ Mariela said. “It’s like for them, they didn’t matter. It wasn’t important that they were recognized.’
Education advocates Lori and Sig Rogich have expressed outrage at the Clark County School District’s “harsh disregard for special needs students that seems to permeate the district.”
They have called for an investigation by the US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, which is responsible for protecting students’ rights under the federal disability law.
“The picture that emerges is one in which students with special needs were deliberately sidelined and hidden,” Lori Rogich said in the statement. ‘These students work hard to get an education and are part of our community. The district’s disdain for their existence is just hard to comprehend.”