Avon Grove board votes to let home schooler into spelling bee

WEST GROVE, Pa. — A school board has decided to allow a 12-year-old home-schooled student to compete in the first round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Meghan Reynolds, the winner in last year's contest at her local school, will be allowed to participate in the spelling bee after the Avon Grove school board voted unanimously Thursday night to make an exception to a district policy.
State law allows home-schooled students to participate in public school extracurricular activities, but the district initially ruled the bee was a classroom event, not an extracurricular activity.
The girl's mother, Kim Reynolds, thanked the board, but said the family still believed they were right.
"I don't want them to think they are doing us a favor," she said. "They still need to review their policy. I don't think it is right."