WHITELAND — Pool safety at schools is a top concern.
15-year-old Alaina Dildine drowned in a pool during P.E. class at Whiteland Community High School due to a seizure in May. She had epilepsy.
Now, her mother and community members are asking for a change in the district.
“As if the negligence of Alaina wasn’t disturbing enough, this corporation is condoning the perpetuating this negligence within our schools,” Victoria Dildine, Alaina’s mother, said.
Victoria feels her daughter’s death could have been prevented. She is calling for the school to fire the P.E. teacher.
CPCSC’s Communications Coordinator, Rick Hightower, told WRTV the swim teacher was trained to recognize and respond to seizures and that the school has a seizure management plan.
However, when asked if the teacher was still employed, he responded that he cannot discuss personnel matters.
According to a timeline from the sheriff's department, Dildine went un-noticed in the pool for 52 minutes.
“Your position is to represent the voice of our community and to serve the good of our children,” Dildine said. “Continuing to employ this teacher, I assure you, does not align with parents.”
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A 2019 law requires all school employees who have direct contact with students to go through training.
The training teaches staff how to recognize the signs and symptoms of seizures, as well as how to respond and react when someone suffers one.
According to the Epilepsy Foundation, those signs and symptoms can be different based on the person.
"Different people have different action plans, and those action plans will allow them to know when to call 911," Crystal Hagans, Executive Director of the Epilepsy Foundation of Indiana, said.
The Epilepsy Foundation says there are a total of 23 states that require this training in schools.
Bettyjo Bouchey played a big part in getting the law passed. Her son was diagnosed with epilepsy in fourth grade when he had his first seizure.
"Water safety training is in the official version of seizure first aid that is offered by the Epilepsy Foundation,” Bouche said. “It's not required that you do those modules to be compliant with the legislation, so maybe that's a potential area of disconnect here. "
WRTV reached out to Clark Pleasant schools. A spokesperson said they have been complying with the state law since it passed. However, they didn't say whether or not they train their employees on the water safety portion.
Bouchey hopes schools across the state will take this training even more seriously considering this tragic event.
"We would hope that in this child’s memory, we would take this more seriously. We need to remember that these are kids. They just need people looking out for them in the school buildings," Bouchey said.
Clark Pleasant Schools also didn't say whether they provide water safety training regarding Epilepsy, but they are looking at creating new pool guidelines.
For more details on the water safety training regarding Epilepsy, click here.
