Her Teen Son With Down Syndrome Was Denied The Ability To Play In His High School Marching Band, So This Dedicated Mom Took Action To Change That

In fact, he was only allowed to attend the games and observe the other band members playing for his first year. This was a win for Jakobie for a short while. But, as time went on, Jakobie’s mom explained how being a bystander was torturous.

“We cooperated for a short while, but I had to go back and explain to them that just simply being a bystander was torture for my son, who loves to play,” she explained.

“I bought him a harness and a drum of his own so that he could at least perfect the gift that God gave him until I could possibly get the district to allow him to be involved at a higher level– the same as the other children.”

So, through Kristie’s persistence and her son’s dedication to music, the Klein School District did eventually allow Jakobie to participate in the band during his second year. He was given a drum top, stood with the other percussionists in the stands, and was allowed to be a part of the drumline during halftime.

However, Jakobie recently graduated from Klein High School this past year but will still be attending school through a Transitional Program meant to teach life skills and workforce preparedness.

Nonetheless, Kristie’s hopes that her son could continue playing with the band while enrolled in the program were not well received by the school administration.

Apparently, the mom met with the Klein High School principal before graduation since she was told the ARD department could not allow or deny participation while in the Transitional Program.

During the meeting, though, Kristie was asked what Jakobie hoped to accomplish by participating in the band.

“My response was that Jakobie would like to attend College at Texas A&M in their Achieve program and hopefully be able to be one of the first students with Downs to be a part of a college band,” Kristie said.

Even after the principal pledged to investigate this possibility, though, Kristie never heard back from the school. Instead, the school year has already begun, and she has spent the past weeks relentlessly reaching out to the administration.

“I was eventually responded to by the principal and was told that Jakobie could no longer be a part of the band since the transitional program is designed to teach them life skills and get them ready to work,” Kristie explained.