Parents sue college that won't admit daughter -- she's only 13!!!

In some ways, Anastasia Megan is a typical 13-year-old girl. She enjoys riding her horse on her family's rural Sumter County spread. She loves to scuba dive, kayak and listen to rock music.

But she is not a typical teenager. The home-schooled student has almost completed her high-school education, and her parents, both retired engineers, say they have reached their limit in continuing to challenge her academically. They recently applied for their daughter to take dual-enrollment courses at nearby Lake-Sumter Community College in Leesburg, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

But the college gave a firm thumbs down, saying Anastasia — who also goes by Annie — is not ready to sit side by side with older students, most of them adults.

So her parents have filed an age-discrimination complaint against the college with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

"If she meets all the qualifications but for her age, then why not let her in?" asked her mother, Louise Racine.

College President Charles Mojock would not comment specifically on Annie's situation. However, he said Lake-Sumter is an open campus, unlike a gated high school or home-school environment, and that could present safety issues for especially young students.

Annie's parents point out their daughter has traveled the world with them and her siblings — she is one of triplets — and is comfortable in adult settings. Her father, John Megan, offered to accompany Annie to classes. When college officials again said no, her father said he would even enroll in his daughter's classes. College officials still would not bend.

"We were told that parents could not be allowed to do that because it could be disruptive," Megan said.

In recent years, Scott said, Lake-Sumter college has seen an increasing number of young applicants, including some as young as 8 or 9 years old. That led the college's board of trustees in April to enact a minimum-age requirement of 15.

"It's a shame to see the [college] administration taking the go-slow approach to a bright student who wants to continue to learn," Megan said, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

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