Cheerleader Says Missouri High School Won't Let Her on Field Due to Wheelchair

A Missouri high school cheerleader says her athletic department "is restricting her participation because of her wheelchair," per Fox 4. 

18-year-old Lacey Kiper, who is entering her second year on the Truman High School (Independence, MO) cheerleading squad, says she was told she could not join her team on the field due to the possibility of her wheelchair damaging the turf.

"They didn’t want my wheels, I guess, to be too heavy and damage a little bit of the turf for me to get stuck in it," Kiper said.

Kiper was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta Type 5, a condition that causes her bones to easily break. But she chose to pursue cheerleading two years ago as a way to feel included.

"It’s definitely been very challenging to find someplace to feel involved because, for the most part, I’ve only ever been the only wheelchair user in my school," Kiper said.

Kiper's family says the school has made it unnecessarily hard for her to cheerlead.

"She said, ‘I want to do cheerleading.’ I told the school I would put her on the mats if they want," her father, Charles Kiper, said. "I’ll be there for every game if they want. I’ll be sure that she’s got someone to assist her in any way to be a part of this team. And they have pretty much turned me down on most everything."

Lacy Kiper sees the potential damage to the turf as just another excuse from the school to exclude her because her requests to cheer for other sports have also been denied.

"Even for the basketball gym, they said no. And I was like, ‘That’s a floor that I go on all the time,'" she said.

The Independence School District said it is unable to talk about this case directly unless Lacy's father signs off on privacy releases, which he has refused to do up to this point.