Teachers in a western Pennsylvania elementary school tried to ban a disabled girl from using a faculty bathroom by filing a grievance with the district's school board. The Steel Valley School Board voted unanimously without discussion on Thursday night to reject the complaint, according the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In the grievance filed February 13, the teachers union said allowing ten-year-old Kaitlin Montgomery to use the restroom on the lower level of Park Elementary School in Munhall violated the teachers' contract. The teachers union at Park Elementary School in Munhall, Pennsylvania, filed a grievance about Kaitlin Montgomery (left), pictured with her mother Tracy Montgomery (right), because she was using the faculty restroom on the school's lower level which violated their contracts . Kaitlin, a fourth grader, has chronic lung disease, pulmonary hypertension and foot problems, and is also autistic. There are no student bathrooms on the school's lower level, where Kaitlin's classroom is located . The grievance's solution was that Kaitlin would have had to go outside and up a flight of stairs to use the student bathroom . Eighteen female teachers, including two special education teachers, signed a petition that accompanied the grievance against the fourth grader, who has chronic lung disease, pulmonary hypertension and foot problems and is also autistic. The Steel Valley Education Association said the contract requires the district to provide 'lavatory facilities exclusively for employees', according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 'The bathrooms that have been designated as faculty bathrooms shall be exclusively used by the faculty,' the grievance said. The student's mother, Tracy Montgomery, told the board on Thursday that before she got permission to have her daughter use the faculty restroom, school officials said the girl would have to go outside and up a flight of stairs to use a student bathroom, which is what other students have to do. Kaitlin can't walk long distances, so her family uses a custom-made stroller for easier transportation. Because of her physical disabilities, Kaitlin cannot walk long distances and her family uses a custom-made stroller for transportation . Montgomery said that this is just one of Kaitlin's many issues at the school. Because there is no elevator from the school's lower level to the top levels, her daughter is unable to access the music and art rooms for classes . Montgomery found out about the grievance through a Post-Gazette article, after which she said she was 'embarrassed for the teachers and appalled. Steel Valley Education Association President Shawn McCallister said the grievance wasn't filed to prevent the student from using the restroom, the Post-Gazette reported, but to create 'a better outcome for all involved'. District Superintendent Ed Wehrer previously said federal law requires Steel Valley to meet the needs of students with disabilities. No other alternatives met the girl's needs, he said, and noted that the student is the only non-faculty member using the restroom. The school board said no alternatives to the faculty restroom met Kaitlin's needs, so she would be allowed into the bathroom, being the only non-faculty member using the facilities . The school board voted unanimously without discussion on Thursday night to allow Kaitlin to use the faculty bathroom . District official Diane Borges, who oversees pupil personnel and special services, had said the restroom on the lower level of the school in Munhall is the only one available. Another one located in a special education room is now taken up by a ventilation unit, according to WTAE. Borges said that two other faculty restrooms are in the school building and that she believes the district accommodations fulfill the teachers' contract. Montgomery said that this is only one of many problems Kaitlin faces in her school, saying that the lower level annex is two floors below the building elevator, so she won't be able to get to classes on higher levels including music and art. There are two other faculty restrooms for teachers to use at Park Elementary School. While there was a student bathroom on the lower level for Kaitlin to use in the special education room, it has been taken up by a ventilation unit .
Kaitlin Montgomery has chronic lung disease, pulmonary hypertension and foot problems and is also autistic . There are no student bathroom's on the Pennsylvania school's lower level . Teachers union filed grievance claiming her use of bathroom violated the faculty's contract . Eighteen female teachers, including two special needs teachers, signed a petition that accompanied the grievance against the girl . School board voted unanimously to allow Kaitlin to use the restroom .