Shoreline Junior High in Layton, Utah, took two official portraits of its cheerleading squad: One with all the cheerleaders and their cheer team manager, 14-year-old Morgyn Arnold, who has Down syndrome, and one photo with just the cheerleaders.
When it came time to post about the cheer squad on social media and choose a photo for the yearbook, someone decided to use the photo that didn’t include Arnold, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Arnold’s older sister, Jordyn Poll, told the outlet that the young teen was hurt by the decision to use the photo that didn’t include her. On top of that, the yearbook didn’t even mention Arnold on the page about the cheer squad. Poll told the Tribune she believes Arnold was left out of the photo because she has Down syndrome.
“Morgyn is very intelligent,” Poll told the outlet. “She knew what happened. She was sad, and she was hurt.”
Poll also noted in social media posts that Arnold “spent hours learning dances, showing up to games, and cheering on her school and friends but was left out. I hope that no one ever has to experience the heartbreak that comes when the person they love comes home from school devastated and shows them that they’re not in the picture with their team.”
Poll also shared the two photos for comparison, questioning why the squad even decided to take a photo without Arnold.
“It’s the SAME cheer team — SAME girls, SAME photo shoot, SAME poses, but one included all team members and one did not,” Poll wrote. “A choice was made on which photo to submit.”
Poll also told the Tribune that this is the second time in the past three years that something like this has happened to her sister. Two years earlier, Arnold wasn’t included in the class list.
“Our intention in sharing the story was just to raise awareness so we could all learn to be a little better,” Poll said.
Following the attention received from Poll’s posts, the school posted an apology on Facebook, though it cannot be viewed by everyone.
“We are deeply saddened by the mistake that was made that omitted a student photo out of the yearbook,” the school wrote, according to the Tribune. “Apologies have been made to the family, and we sincerely apologize to all others impacted by this error. We are continuing to look at what has occurred, and to improve our practice.”
Poll said she received a different response from the school when her family first reached out – before she wrote about the incident on social media and gained national attention. Poll told the Tribune that a school employee “blatantly said they didn’t know what we were expecting of them and there was nothing they could do.”
The school reportedly contacted the family against in an effort “to make the situation right,” the Tribune reported.
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