School Kicks Out Boy for Having Cystic Fibrosis Gene

Two California parents are crying foul over a school's order to transfer their son because he has the gene for cystic fibrosis, Today Health reports. Officials at the Palo Alto school are moving Colman Chadam, 11, because another boy there has the disorder—which experts say is normally a good way to guard against dangerous bacterial cross-contamination. But Colman only has the gene, not the full-blown condition. "This was an ill-thought-out decision," says NBC's chief medical editor.

So Colman's parents are home-schooling their boy until they can fight the move in court. "Why take a child who’s new to the district, who’s just making friends" and has "been well his whole life ... why stigmatize him?" asks his dad. A district official calls the move a "zero-risk option," but Colman feels wronged: "I was sad but at the same time I was mad because I understood that I hadn’t done anything wrong,” he says. “It feels like I’m being bullied in a way that is not right.” (More cystic fibrosis stories.)