‘SHE WAS HURT’

Utah Cheerleading Squad Leaves Out Student With Down Syndrome in Yearbook Photo

The cheerleading squad took two pictures, one with the disabled student and one without.

A Utah school’s cheerleading squad took two yearbook photos for the 2020-21 school year, one with a 14-year-old student with Down syndrome and one without, and the school chose to use the one that excluded the disabled student in the published yearbook and on social media. Morgyn Arnold was the cheer team manager at Shoreline Junior High, and she knew all the squad’s routines by heart. She was reportedly the only student affiliated with the team to be excluded from the photograph. Her sister Jordyn Poll told The Salt Lake Tribune, “Morgyn is very intelligent. She knew what happened. She was sad, and she was hurt.” Arnold’s name did not appear in the team’s roster, and two years ago, her name did not even appear in a list of the members of her grade. Shoreline issued an apology Wednesday: “We are deeply saddened by the mistake that was made that omitted a student photo out of the yearbook. Apologies have been made to the family.”