14-Year-Old With Down Syndrome Left Out of Yearbook Picture

Controversy is swirling around a junior high cheerleading squad in Utah after a 14-year-old girl with down syndrome was not pictured in the group photo that was in the yearbook.

Morgyn Arnold is the beloved manager of the squad. Like the other cheerleaders, she posed in the team photo for the school's yearbook. But when her family eagerly opened it, Morgyn was nowhere to be found. Shoreline Junior High’s school district in Utah is now apologizing.

Morgyn “knew all the routines by heart”, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. In the photo that included her, she was seated in the front row, whereas in the second image she was clearly absent. “Morgyn is very intelligent,” Poll said to the Salt Lake Tribune. “She knew what happened. She was sad, and she was hurt.”

Arnold’s older sister, Jordyn Poll, said Morgyn was crestfallen when she looked through the yearbook which, according to the New York Times. Arnold’s name also wasn’t included. Her sister reportedly said she thought this decision was because of her sibling’s disability.