FIFE, Wash. — Jayna Doll loves to play the drums. It’s a skill she is proud of and works very hard to master.
Doll was born with a rare brain disorder that causes her to have seizures. She had half of her brain removed at barely a month old to resolve them.
But that hasn’t stopped her from playing and perfecting her craft. In addition to private lessons, she takes band classes at Fife High School. When there was a chance to perform at her school, she spent months preparing but was surprised to find out she wouldn’t be able to play.
Her family was even more surprised to find out why.
“We were told she was not ready and the band teacher did not want her to be embarrassed,” said Sunshine Glynn, Doll’s mother.
During the performance, Doll’s parents got a chance to see how their daughter was being treated by the band teacher. After feeling that she was being isolated, Doll’s parents called on the school district to launch an investigation into how their daughter was being treated by the band teacher.
The investigation revealed that the band teacher never watched her audition tapes, never listened to her play, and never assessed her ability to read music.
“While he said that she was unprepared and that she would be embarrassed, in actuality, he never intended for her to play,” Glynn said.
This left Doll having to sit and watch the performance from the sidelines, wondering if she would ever get a chance to play.
“I was kind of worried about if the other players were going to play the drums instead of me," Doll said. "So it was kind of sad, not letting me play the drums."
Fife Public Schools put out a statement that stated the district did not comply with its own anti-discrimination policies. The district offered remedies that include more training for staff.
Doll’s parents said the district's plan doesn’t go nearly far enough and hope that new staff can be brought in.
“Jayna didn’t choose this body, she was born this way,” Glynn said. “Just because she was born this way doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t provide her with every opportunity that we would provide any child.”
KING 5 reached out to the Fife school district for a comment, and what else has been done to address this incident, but has not received a response.