Sideline Role for Handicapped Teen-Ager Sparks School Dispute

By DANA BARTHOLOMEW / The Odessa American

ANDREWS - Last fall, "Hot Rod" Callie Smartt wheeled her chair before a boisterous Mustang stadium, thrilled to be the first freshman cheerleader at Andrews High School with cerebral palsy.

The fans loved her. The squad supported her. She was "on the team" - an honorary cheerleader at every practice, every game, and every cheerleading event.

Then, for Callie, the rules changed.

At season's end, Callie was kicked off the team.

Then when school officials reversed their decision, they banished her for safety reasons to the sidelines of this year's junior varsity cheer leading squad.

Some say Callie endangered herself and her teammates, and became a burden on other cheerleaders and adults who had to tend to her personal needs.

Others say her presence on the team, instigated by an earlier sponsor, opens the door to other disabled students which the school just can't accommodate.

Callie's mother, Fonda Smartt, has been fighting the school to fully include her daughter in all cheer leading activities - a battle that raises questions of just how far society must go to accommodate its handicapped citizens.

In order to mitigate the complaints of some students and their parents, the school stipulated Callie attend no more out-of-town games. No more sports except football. No more pep rallies or fundraisers. No more cheer leading class, or meetings. Not even Homecoming.

During each football drive Callie is relegated to sitting still, and must stay a minimum of 6 to 9 feet from other cheerleaders.

Last month, her cheerleading sponsor attempted to remove her picture from the school's football program because alternate cheerleaders, who were not included, objected.

And with one game left in the season, her mother says Callie still hasn't been issued the megaphone and other cheer leading amenities the school district promised her.

"We've been having a lot of trouble," said Fonda Smartt, Callie's mother. "I've been trying to handle this with a Christian attitude and turn the other cheek. I'm just about at the end of my rope."

Advocates for the disabled say public institutions like schools must, within reason, accommodate the handicapped as long as activities aren't fundamentally modified as a result.

"For any type of public program or activity, that activity needs to be open to a person with a disability," said Stephon Breedlove, regional attorney for Advocacy in Lubbock, designated by the state to protect the rights of the disabled.

"The person with the disability must be a qualified person in that activity, with reasonable accommodation - that's the law."

Safety should not be an issue, Breedlove noted, as other cheerleaders face similar danger. But whether she should be held to the same standard as other cheerleaders if she chooses to try out, "that's one of the things that will have to be worked out in the future."

But safety is an issue, said Tara Fuller, sponsor for the JV cheerleaders. Peter and Linda Francis, parents of the team's head cheerleader who have opposed Callie's participation, concurred.

If it wasn't for Callie's teammates, they and others say, she would have been hit with a ball or player or other cheerleader on several occasions, possibly injuring both.

"The young girl is as sweet as she can be, she's smart, and she always (has) a smile on her face," Peter Francis said, adding he was speaking as a parent and not as the president of the school board.

But other disabled students may want a position on the cheerleading team, or even the football team, which the school can't accommodate, he added.

"It's a great honor," he said, "but we don't have a spot for honorary cheerleaders - you're either a cheerleader or you're not. But if you open this up, if you've got one (handicapped person), you have to let all other handicapped kids in."

Callie, a sophomore, was invited to join the team after her older sister, a popular 4-year cheerleader, graduated from Andrews High last year.

A spirited girl with large green eyes and a smile that would overcome Scrooge, Callie moves awkwardly and has trouble moving her left arm.

But not to be outdone by her cerebral palsy, she sings in the school choir, serves as an alternate student council member, is a member of the art club and gets As and Bs. Students call her "Hot Rod" because of the speed with which she drives her motorized wheelchair.

In her room hang typical teenage mementos, such as her 4-H Club awards for champion pigs and a first place award for baking "West Texas Millionaires."

Like other Andrews teenagers, she drags Main Street, hangs out at the Sonic, travels to Odessa whenever she can, attends church and, at 15, isn't allowed to date. She considers herself an "Aggie," though she plans to go to Angelo State and pursue a teaching career.

"We're tough, we're fighters," said her mother. "I've never let her say I can't do something. If she wants something bad enough, I say 'Go for it.' "

So when Callie was first told she couldn't cheer, she was crushed.

"She was so upset," said Fonda Smartt, Callie's mother "She was crying; she couldn't talk - it just broke her heart, it really did."

"I was included in everything they did, fundraisers, I was included in the Christmas picture, and we traded presents and they included me ... I miss everything I'm not in right now," Callie said.

Smartt and her supporters claim everybody loved Callie, and the school is discriminating against her by discouraging her from participating. They also point to conflicts between the Francis's and the Smartt's.

"You can't give a handicapped kid a position, then take it away for her for no reason," said Ashley Gray, Callie's former cheer leading sponsor, now an employee of the Ector County School District.

"She's ostracized, definitely."

Others tell a different story.

Though the newer cheerleaders are supportive, some who participated last year are not. Smartt frequently didn't accompany her daughter to games last year, they say, a charge Callie's mother disputes.

"Fonda would bring Callie to drop her off, whether it was an in-town or out-of-town game," said Julie Wilson, echoing the sentiments of some of the other cheerleaders. "I had to offer to find her a ride home.

"Many times I had to take her to the rest room, and if I didn't, she'd be real rude about it. We also had to feed her. Last year we all loved her, but it just became too much, now that her mother's demanding we do stuff."

"Last year, at the beginning, we thought it was fine for her to be on the team," said Jennifer Francis, head cheerleader for the J.V. squad. "But then, later on, it was like she was forced on us.

"We got sick of it."

But Callie is undeterred. Though her honorary cheerleading title may expire at the end of football season, she's determined to make the varsity team.

"I'm practicing," she said. "I think I can make myself move with my motorized chair, maybe not like they do - but they'll have to accept that."