GILBERT, Ariz. - A Gilbert family believes their special needs child is being forced to leave his school so the district can save money.
Ryken Mctighe goes to kindergarten at Ashaldn Ranch Elementary in Gilbert. This past December, his parents said they were notified Ryken would be switching schools in 2016. Sarah and Michael Mctighe said they were never given an explanation for why.
"(They said) he could have better help at a different school," Sarah Mctighe, Ryken's mother, said. "They don't know that."
"The only thing they can say each time is, everything has to be modified," Ryken's father Michael Mctighe said.
The Mctighes believe Ryken would be better off in a school that integrates special needs students into classrooms. The Mctighes said Ryken's new school would segregate the special needs students into their own classrooms.
The Mctighes and four other families are working with a lawyer and special education consultant Vanessa DiCarlo to fight the district.
DiCarlo believes the Gilbert School District wants to move the special education students in order to cut costs.
"They think that if they can move children into different schools, then perhaps that would be easier to consolidate kids," DiCarloa said.
The Gilbert School District did not respond to multiple requests for comment.