text: A teenager suffering from cystic fibrosis is battling to be allowed to take part in her high school graduation after school officials told her she couldn't. Victoria McKennon is just one class short of fulfilling the necessary requirements to graduate from Plano Senior High School in Texas. The 17-year-old has had to miss dozens of lessons for frequent hospital visits as she struggles with her life-threatening condition. Scroll down for video . Cystic fibrosis sufferer Victoria McKennon is desperate to take part in the graduation ceremony at Plano Senior High School in Texas but is one class short of the credits she needs . Despite that she is only just short of being able to officially graduate and her family appealed to the school to allow her to take part in ceremony at the Dallas Convention Center in June. The plan was that she would finish the outstanding work necessary to graduate in the summer and earn her diploma that way. But officials initially refused to allow Victoria to join her friends at the prestigious event, which draws a crowd of hundreds to see students proudly don their graduation caps and gowns in the school's maroon colours. Plano High instead told her she could participate in a small summer ceremony, according to the Dallas Morning News, yet she is desperate to take part in the real thing. The school has since set out a way in which Victoria could make up the missing credit and graduate in time for the main summer ceremony. But her mum Grace McKennon said this won't work if her daughter has an unforeseen hospital stay and wants a guarantee from the school she will be able to take to the stage in June no matter what. She told WTHR: 'I don't know how long Victoria is going to live. Of course, we always aim for the moon, the sky, and the stars, but in reality her life span is limited and so every experience is very important for her,' Victoria and her mum Grace McKennon (right) say they do not want her to be awarded credits she didn't get, but allowances made to accommodate her disability . The 17-year-old has to manage a complicated programme of medicines to fight her condition, which has often resulted in hospital stays causing her to miss class . Officials acting on behalf of Plano Senior High School (pictured) have refused Victoria's plea to be allowed to take part in the graduation ceremony in June if she hasn't got the right number of credits . The family say they are not asking the school for Victoria to be awarded credits she didn't get, but to accommodate her disability and allow her to take part in the ceremony with her friends. Victoria says she wants to be seen as a 'normal kid' which is why taking part in graduation is so important to her. The family has filed a civil rights complaint with the Department of Education over the dispute, under a law which aims to protect disabled people from discrimination. Lesley Range-Stanton, speaking for the Plano Independent School District, said all its schools follow Texas board of education policy, which state that a student must 'meet all state and local graduation requirements, including all applicable state testing,' in order to be allowed to graduate. Victoria was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis 10 years ago. The condition has no cure and greatly affects the lungs and digestive system. Her father Larry McKennon said it had been 'heartbreaking' watching her grow up fighting the disease.
target: Victoria McKennon, 17, is student at Plano Senior High School in Texas .
  Is desperate to take part in school's graduation ceremony in Dallas in June .
  But officials won't let her unless she makes up work she has had to miss .
  This may not happen as she struggles with her life-threatening condition .