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Teacher says she got fired because son's cancer cost $1M

Posted at 10:17 PM, Feb 26, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-26 22:17:31-05

ANDOVER, Mass. (AP) - A teacher who says she was fired from a Massachusetts elementary school because of the high cost of her son's cancer treatment has filed a discrimination complaint.

Jacquelyn Silvani tells the Eagle-Tribune that her son's treatment cost Andover Public Schools about $1 million before she lost her job at West Elementary School in 2016. Her son was 3 at the time.

Silvani says she was told that federal funding for the position had been cut, but her complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination says the district later hired someone else.

Superintendent Sheldon Berman says the district has a "different opinion" about what happened but did not comment on specifics.

Silvani's son was diagnosed in 2015 with stage 4 neuroblastoma. The cancer is now in remission.

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Information from: The Eagle-Tribune, http://www.eagletribune.com