Board Takes Step Toward Honoring Dying East Haven Father's Wish

EAST HAVEN, CT — The Board of Education Wednesday night decided to have a dying father who wants both his kids attend the same school together to work on a policy that will allow that to happen.

The board did not take a vote to allow the kids to attend the same school together. Instead, they decided to have Brian Savo work on a policy that the board said needs to be in place, first, before it can be enacted.

Savo has a dying wish that his children could attend school together so they can comfort one another as he continues to die. Savo has been heroically battling ALS for the past nine years, and he tearfully pleaded last week with the Board of Education to honor his dying request.

He was turned down then; but on Wednesday night the board took a step toward allowing that to happen by asking that a policy be formulated.

At last week’s meeting, Savo said: "Since my daughter's 3 both of them have been going down to Washington, D.C. to fight for patient's rights and to fight for me. Well I'm here to fight for them. If any of you are parents, you'd be doing the same exact thing," Savo said while becoming emotionally distraught during the school board meeting.”

At the meeting Savo pleaded with board members to do the right thing. Savo, 42, a life-long East Haven resident, said his wife was six months pregnant with their second-child when he was diagnosed with ALS.

He said his children wake up with him everyday and he asked school officials if they understood what it's like to not be able to get out of bed and have his two children, ages 11 and 9, and his wife get him out of bed, dress and feed him.

Two days after last week’s meeting, Michelle A. DeLucia, chairperson of the board, issued a statement that in 2010, “the Board adopted a lottery system for admission to East Haven Academy. As adopted, the lottery system does not make provision for exceptions under any circumstances. Since that time, the Administration has faithfully implemented the lottery system for admission to East Haven Academy, and no exceptions have been granted.”

“Speaking as an individual Board member, I believe that an exception in this case is warranted, but a decision must be made by the full Board. When the Board addresses Mr. Savo's request, I will be recommending that the Board establish a Committee to review the lottery policy at East Haven Academy and to recommend to the Board standards for making hardship exceptions to the policy in the future," DeLucia’s statement concluded.