WESTHAMPTON BEACH, N.Y. – In advocating against charter schools, or other education options, public school officials often allege they must educate all students by law, regardless of ability, while other school operators cherry pick the best and brightest.

The argument’s also used to justify poor academic performance of public schools in comparison to other options.

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But Remsenburg, New York 12-year-old Aiden Killoran is proving the line is a load of baloney.

“(The Westhampton School District) has never in history allowed an alternately assessed special education student to attend its middle school,” Aiden’s father, Christian Killoran, told ABC News.

“Alternately assessed” refers to special education students who are assessed by means other than normal tests, and include students with cognitive and other disabilities, according to the news site.

The school district has refused to admit Aiden to Westhampton Beach Middle School because he has Down syndrome and officials allege the school doesn’t have the appropriate accommodations for Aiden. The boy’s family wants him to experience a “mainstream” education, not ostracized to another school district.

The family filed a federal lawsuit against the district alleging discrimination against disabled students at its middle and high schools. District officials refused to discuss the matter with the media, and filed for a temporary restraining order against the child and his family, who held a protest with about 60 supporters outside of the school on the first day of classes Wednesday, NBC New York reports.

The family and the district settled the restraining order issue before the first day of class to allow the protest but keep Aiden off campus.

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Christian Killoran told ABC News his son is the first student with Down syndrome to graduate from the local elementary school and believes he deserves to continue to the middle school with his friends.

The Killorans allege that prohibiting Aiden from attending the middle school is a violation of his constitutional rights. Christian Killoran believes it was important to bring his son to the school on the first day of class because if officials want to reject him “they should have the balls to look him in the eye and tell him he is not wanted,” he said.

District officials refused to comment on Aiden’s case, but school board member Suzanne M. Mensch sent a letter to The Southampton Press to plead the district’s case.

Mensch wrote she has become “extremely disheartened by the Killoran family’s repeated public efforts to bully the Westhampton Beach School District into developing an educational program for their son …” and was “particularly outraged” the Killorans brought Aiden to the middle school this week, according to the news site.

“On July 22, the superintendent of Remsenburg notified Westhampton Beach that a resolution had been reached that did not involve Westhampton Beach and that the child would be attending Remsenburg-Speonk for the 2015-16 school year,” the letter continues. “Why would the Killorans willingly enter into such an agreement with Remsenburg-Speonk and then threaten legal action about the placement they agreed to.

“The challenge we have faced is that oftentimes the numbers of students with similar educational needs within a specified age range is very small. In these cases, students can be better served in specialized placements at a partner district or the Board of Cooperative Educational Services,” Mensch wrote.

Christian Killoran told the media he simply enrolled his son in another district while the family’s discrimination lawsuit plays out.

Sue Buckley, director for Science and Research at Down Syndrome Education International, wrote in an email to ABC News that “all the research studies show children with Down syndrome achieve more in inclusive education – better reading, maths and spoken language outcomes, more socially mature and fewer behavioral challenges – yet many US school districts seem to ignore this information.

“All students should be welcomed in their local community. What message are the educators giving all the other children in their school if they exclude a child with Down syndrome? I agree this is a clear case of disability discrimination,” Buckley wrote.

“If you ask the community what they want, you’d find they also want Aiden included. Everyone benefits from his empathy and kindness,” Christian Killoran said. “We have faith in the school, teacher and staff to provide him with a great education are committed to changing this.”