Dad with ALS seeks BOE’s help

Wants kids in same, entry-lottery school to ease burden on his wife

EAST HAVEN — A plea from a father who is dealing with a degenerative disease is getting a lot of attention from the public — and now, the Board of Education.

Forty-two-year-old Brian Savo, who was diagnosed with ALS nine years ago, wants to see his two children attend the same school to take some of the burden off his wife’s shoulders.

“I’m here to fight for them because, if any of you are parents and you were in this situation, you would be doing the same exact thing,” Savo told members of the board during a recent meeting. “I understand there are rules, but sometimes you need to look at the situation. There are circumstances that outweigh rules.”

Savo’s emotional request was filmed during the meeting and shared on social media. Since being posted, the video has been viewed thousands of times, with parents in solidarity, posting comments in a show of support.

Following his request to allow his daughter to transfer to East Haven Academy, where his son is already a student, the school board has scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday to consider his request for a waiver.

While admittance to the school is based on a lottery system, Savo asked the school board to consider the hardship and make an exception.

Due to the degenerative nature of this disease, Savo is unable to do anything for himself. As time goes on and the disease progresses, he will lose his ability to speak, eat, move and possibly, breathe.

“My children, on a daily basis, wake up with me every morning … Do you know what it’s like for your wife and two children that are 11 and 9, getting you up out of bed, getting you dressed, feeding you, getting you a glass of water?” he asked the school board in the video.

Confined to a wheelchair and unable to drive, Savo said the responsibility of getting Savo’s two children to two different school falls on the shoulders of his wife, Andrea. She is solely responsible for two separate drop-offs and pick-ups, something that is particularly difficult in the afternoon.

“I have to leave for the school particularly early for one of my kids’ pick-up times,” said Andrea, “because the parking at the school if horrendous. When he gets out of school, I have to wait for him, take him home, and then I have to go wait at the other school for my daughter to get out. The combination is just timeconsuming,” Andrea said. “I’m just being pulled in a thousand different directions, and I’m the only driver.”

Savo said this past winter he was hospitalized three separate times within a three-week period.

“Trying to get the kids in separate directions was horrific,” said Brian Savo. “Having them in one spot would be much easier, not having to rely on a whole bunch of people to help. We want to minimize that as much as possible,” he said.

Along with the difficulties regarding transportation, Savo said having his

“It’s not a magnet school. It’s not a private school. Yes, there is a lottery, but I’m a taxpayer, and under consideration like this, if you look at hardship, then they should do something about it.”

Brian Savo, who was diagnosed with ALS nine years ago

children at the same school would also help with everyone being on the same page, making it easier for his children to lean on each other and for their teachers to understand and offer emotional support.

Savo said in the video he previously sent a letter to Superintendent of Schools Erica Forti, requesting his 9-year-old daughter be allowed to join her older brother at East Haven Academy. He said Forti proposed alternative solutions, such as transferring his 11-year-old son back to Momauguin School or door-to-door bus service, “(but) when it came to putting my daughter in Academy, there was no way.”

“It’s not a magnet school. It’s not a private school. Yes, there is a lottery, but I’m a taxpayer, and under consideration like this, if you look at hardship, then they should do something about it,” he said.

He said the outpouring of support and encouragement from the town’s residents have been incredible. He said two people have already offered to give up their spots at the Academy, but that’s not what Savo wants. “I don’t even want that. They’ve already been chosen. They should all go. Just add one student to a class,” he said.

When Savo presented his request to the board during public comment at this week’s meeting, Board of Education Chairwoman Michele DeLucia said it would have been “improper” to take action. “In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, the board cannot take action on matters that are not on the agenda,” she said.

Since Savo attended the meeting and made his request during public comment, the board is required to wait for a future meeting to address the request, according to DeLucia. She said during the meeting that a motion wasn’t made to add a vote on this matter to the agenda. The school board will be posting an appropriate agenda so the board can consider Savo’s request.

DeLucia said the superintendent doesn’t have the authority to make exceptions to the school board policy for admission into East Haven Academy; only the board can revise or waive its policy.

“Keep in mind that in 2010, the board adopted a lottery system for admission to East Haven Academy. As adopted, the lottery system does not make provision for exceptions under any circumstances. Since that time, the administration has faithfully implemented the lottery system for admission to East Haven Academy, and no exceptions have been granted,” DeLucia said.

“Speaking as an individual Board member, I believe that an exception in this case is warranted, but a decision must be made by the full board. When the board addresses Mr. Savo’s request, I will be recommending that the board establish a committee to review the lottery policy at East Haven Academy and to recommend to the board standards for making hardship exceptions to the policy in the future,” she said.

Moving forward, Savo said he hopes the school board will learn from this situation and “do the right thing” in the future.

“We should learn from something like this, and make our town much better,” he said. “That’s all I can hope for — for them to look into something like this, and hopefully, we’ll see some changes.”