Connecticut
Student who says she is illiterate — despite graduating with honors — sues Connecticut school district
A Connecticut honors student is suing her school district, saying she is illiterate.
Despite graduating from Hartford Public High School in June with honors and getting a scholarship to the University of Connecticut, Aleysha Ortiz is claiming she cannot read or write.
The 19-year-old, who spent 12 years in the Hartford public school district, testified at a May city council meeting, explaining her unique situation and how the educational system failed her.
“I decided, they [the school] had 12 years,” Ortiz, a native of Puerto Rico, told CNN. “Now it’s my time.”
Ortiz is suing the Hartford Board of Education, the City of Hartford and her special education case manager, Tilda Santiago, for negligence.
According to her lawsuit, she began having problems with “letter, sound and number recognition” as early as first grade, and because those issues were not addressed, she began acting out in school.
“I was the bad child,” she told the outlet.
When she was in 6th grade, she was reading at a mere kindergarten or first-grade level, Ortiz alleges.
When Ortiz was a sophomore at Hartford Public High School, Santiago was assigned as her special education teacher and case manager.
Santiago bullied, harassed and stalked Ortiz, and was later removed from the role, the suit claims.
Although she hardly speaks English, Ortiz’s mother, Carmen Cruz, did her best to advocate for her daughter, speaking to the principal and other school officials.
“I didn’t know English very well, I didn’t know the rules of the schools,” she told the outlet.
“There were a lot of things that they would tell me, and I let myself go by what the teachers would
tell me because I didn’t understand anything.”
By the 11th grade, Ortiz began taking matters into her own hands and started speaking up for herself, which led her teachers to suggest she get tested for dyslexia.
Just one month before graduation, she began receiving the testing, which was not completed until the last day of high school, the lawsuit states.
The testing concluded that Ortiz was in fact dyslexic and “required explicitly taught phonics, fluency and reading comprehension.”
School district officials told Ortiz she could defer accepting her diploma and receive intensive services, she alleges.
“While Hartford Public Schools cannot comment on pending litigation, we remain deeply committed to meeting the full range of needs our students bring with them when they enter our schools —
and helping them reach their full potential,” Hartford Public Schools said in a statement to CNN.
Ortiz, who dreams of becoming a writer, is currently attending the University Connecticut as a full-time student, although she hasn’t been to classes since Feb. 1 in order to get mental health treatment.
To complete her college assignments, she is relying on apps that translate text to speech and speech to text, as she did in high school.
The apps gave “me a voice that I never thought I had,” she said.
VESTAL, NY (WBNG) — In a second straight doubleheader Saturday following up a Bearcats women’s win, the Bearcats men’s team dropped their second consecutive home game, 84-67 to Central Connecticut State.
In a closely contested matchup early on, the Bearcats stayed in it heading into the break only trailing by seven points.
In the second half, Binghamton brought it to within four points before the Blue Devils pulled away once again and went on an 11-0 run and went up by as much as 20 points.
Darin Smith Jr. finished with a game high, 23 points for the Blue Devils.
The Bearcats were without center, Demetrius Lilley which led to junior forward, Zyier Beverly, having an increased role.
Beverly led Binghamton with 21 points and five rebounds.
After back-to-back losses at home, the Bearcats now go on the road for a three game road stretch starting on Wednesday, Dec. 17 against Pittsburgh at 7p.m.
Copyright 2025 WBNG. All rights reserved.
New Canaan faces Cheshire in the 2025 Connecticut high school Class L football state championship on Saturday afternoon.
The game begins at 4 p.m. EST on Saturday, Dec. 13, at Veterans Stadium in New Britain, Connecticut.
The game will stream live on the NFHS Network.
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What: Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) Class L football championship
Who: New Canaan vs. Cheshire
When: Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025
Where: Veterans Stadium in New Britain, Connecticut
Time: 4 p.m. EST
Stream: NFHS Network
Tickets: $11,50
Record, MaxPrep state rankings: New Canaan 12-0, No. 1; Cheshire 9-3, No. 11
Here’s more information about the game from the Hartford Courant, via the Tribune News Service:
New Canaan is going for its 16th state title and fourth straight under veteran coach Lou Marinelli and New Canaan outscored its playoff opponents, 85-13. Cheshire’s last finals appearance was 2009, when coach Don Drust was an assistant for the Rams’ team, which beat Staples in overtime to win a Class LL title. Cheshire rallied from a 19-point deficit against Fairfield Ludlowe to win the Class L quarterfinal game and beat Ridgefield 21-0 in the semifinals. QB Aiden Gregorich’s pass to Liam Suomala proved to be the game-winning touchdown with 10 seconds left in the quarterfinal.
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Have you still seen a lot of mini-liquor bottles, littering the streets in Connecticut?
Members of one environmental group said they still see them, and believe a ban is the best way to solve a multi-tiered problem.
State data shows in the past 12 months, ending September 30, there were more than 93 million mini-liquor bottles sold in our state.
The group supporting local bans says it’s not just the litter, but also the fact mini-liquor bottles are easy to conceal and consume on the job, in the car, or at school.
The group “Connecticut Towns Nixing the Nip” met this week, working on strategies to get a legislative hearing on the issue in the upcoming 2026 session.
Right now, stores collect a 5-cent surcharge for every mini-liquor bottle sold, resulting in about $5 million annually for town and city environmental cleanup efforts.
Town funding from nip sales
Average revenue per year 2021 to 2025.
“Having talked to a number of towns, well a few towns, they like the money, said Tom Metzner, a member of the group. “It’s fairly broad in how it can be used. It’s environmental. It doesn’t have to be used for cleaning up nips. And so the towns have become somewhat silent on the issue of banning nips.”
The group cited Chelsea, Massachusetts, where minis are banned, both litter and alcohol related EMS calls decreased.
The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Connecticut, which devised the “nickel per nip” program, said banning the mini-liquor bottles would be unprecedented.
Instead, it said the environmental group should be challenging municipalities to prove they actually use the money for cleanup.
Legislative leaders suggested several years ago the way to really do this is to have a redemption program for mini liquor bottles, and now, that could be possible.
At least one state with the Clynk bottle collection program has redeemed mini-liquor bottles for cash.
The company just announced a major expansion in our state, but it told us it is not aware of a redemption program for mini-liquor bottles here any time soon.
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