CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Disabled Student Sues Over Class Trip

A high school senior who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair has filed suit, charging that school officials are excluding her from the senior class picnic and a trip to Disneyland. “I’m very angry and frustrated,” said 17-year-old Sascha Bittner. “It’s kind of sad because I was really looking forward to my senior year.” The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco by the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund of Berkeley on Bittner’s behalf. The suit charges the San Francisco Unified School District with making it impossible for Bittner to take the bus trip to Disneyland scheduled this Thursday because the school will not provide attendant care. Calls to the school district and Bittner’s school, Lowell High School, went unanswered Sunday. Bittner’s lawyer, Sid Wolinsky, said the district is violating a 1990 legal advisory from the state Department of Education requiring off-campus activities sponsored by public schools to be accessible to disabled students.