CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of a functionally illiterate man who says the Kanawha County school system failed to provide him a proper education.
An attorney for Thomas Sturm says that although Sturm was allowed to graduate from Sissonville High School in 2004, the 21-year-old man can read only on a third-grade level.
The attorney, Mike Clifford, says the school board failed to abide by state and federal laws meant to monitor and protect the rights of students with disabilities. Sturm allegedly suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Kanawha County Judge Tod Kaufman dismissed the 2006 lawsuit last year, saying Sturm didn't exhaust all his administrative remedies.
School board general counsel Jim Withrow says Sturm could have complained about his lack of education and requested a hearing with education officials.
Clifford expects the high court to take up the case this summer.