Someone’s job should disappear.
A West Virginia community is outraged after a high school yearbook declared a special-needs student and his friend “most likely to disappear” in a section otherwise devoted to positive traits and goals.
“The family and the young gentleman in the picture had no idea that this was coming,” attorney Jerry Sklavounakis told WTOV-TV. “And to be quite frank, they were very offended and shocked.”
The snap appeared in Cameron High School’s 2014 yearbook under a section called the “Hall of Fame.” The teen, identified only as Brady, learned of the picture only recently, leaving his parents horrified by the disturbing description, the station reported.
Other students were described as “cutest couple,” “most athletic” or “future millionaires.” Those photos showed the teens posing, while Brady’s was taken at graduation.
“He was confused as to why he would be deemed the most likely to disappear, so he did what anyone would do and looked up the definition,” Sklavounakis told the NBC affiliate. “When you look up the definition of disappear, there’s just no positives that can come out of it.”
The Cameron, W.Va., community railed on Facebook against the description, the station reported, and the lawyer asked the school board to destroy and reprint the books, to no avail.
The picture and description can only be classified as bullying, a violation of school rules, Sklavounakis said.
“In this day and age, it’s pretty amazing that someone with the school system would approve this superlative for any student, let alone someone that has special needs,” he told WTOV. “I would like to know, from the school board’s position, how would they like it if that was their child in that picture.”
The county superintendent declined to comment to the station, or reveal who oversaw the yearbook’s production, because it is a pending legal matter.
