Embedded Files
NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY
The School Committee states that within the Wayland Public Schools:
Discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability is prohibited; and
To the extent possible, qualified individuals with disabilities should be in the mainstream of life in the school community. Accordingly, employees of the District will comply with the below requirements of the law and policy statements of this Committee to ensure nondiscrimination on the basis of disability.
Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1992 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 require that no qualified individual with a disability shall, because the District's facilities are inaccessible to or unusable by individuals with disabilities, be excluded from participation in, or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, and/or activities of the District or be subject to discrimination. Nor shall the District exclude or otherwise deny services, programs, or activities to an individual because of the known disability of a person with whom the individual is known to have a relationship or association.
Definition: A "qualified individual with a disability" is an individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable modification to otherwise applicable rules, policies, or practices, the removal of architectural, communication, or transportation barriers, or the provision of auxiliary aids and services, meets the essential eligibility requirements for the receipt of services or the participation in programs or activities provided by the District.
Reasonable Modification: The District shall make reasonable modification in policies, practices, or procedures when necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability, unless the District can demonstrate that making the modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program, or activity or otherwise impose undue financial or administrative burden, hardship or expense.
Communications: The District shall take the appropriate steps to ensure that communications with applicants, participants, and members of the public with disabilities are as effective as communications with others. To this end, the District shall furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services where necessary to afford an individual with a disability an equal opportunity to participate in, and enjoy the benefits of, a service, program, or activity conducted by the District.
Auxiliary Aids and Services: "Auxiliary aids and services" includes where appropriate: (1) qualified interpreters, note takers, transcription services, written materials, assisted listening systems, and other effective methods for making aurally delivered materials available to individuals with hearing impairments; (2) qualified readers, taped texts, audio recordings, Braille materials, large print materials, or other effective methods for making visually delivered materials available to individuals with visual impairments; (3) acquisition or modification of equipment or devices; and (4) other similar services and actions.
Notice: The District shall make available to applicants, participants, beneficiaries, and other interested persons information regarding the provisions of Title II of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504) and its applicability to the services, programs, or activities of the District. This information shall be made available in such a manner as the School Committee and Superintendent deem necessary to apprise such persons of the protections against discrimination assured them by the ADA and Section 504.
Title II/504 Coordinator: The District shall designate at least one employee to coordinate its efforts to comply with and carry out its responsibilities under Title II of the ADA and Section 504, including the investigation of any complaint communicated to it alleging its noncompliance or alleging any actions that would be prohibited under the ADA and Section 504. The District shall make available to all interested individuals the name, office address, and telephone number of the employee(s) so designated and shall adopt and publish procedures for the prompt and equitable resolution of complaints alleging any action that would be prohibited under the ADA and Section 504. The District receives federal financial assistance and must comply with the above requirements.
The District’s Title II/504 Coordinator designee is as follows:
Director of Student Services
41 Cochituate Road
Wayland, MA 01778
Phone: (508) 358-3756
Fax: (508) 358-7708
Physical Accessibility:
Facilities that were constructed prior to June 4, 1977, need not necessarily be made accessible so long as the program or activity, viewed in its entirety, is readily accessible to persons with disabilities. Facility alterations commenced on or after June 4, 1977, that affect or could affect the facility’s usability must be accomplished so that, to the maximum extent feasible (as described below), the altered portion of the facility is readily accessible and usable by persons with disabilities.
As it relates to facilities constructed prior to June 4, 1977, to make the District’s programs and activities accessible and usable to persons with disabilities, the District may redesign equipment, reassign classes, assign aides to students, deliver services at alternate accessible sites, alter existing facilities, or use other methods which are as effective in making the District’s programs and activities accessible to persons with disabilities. However, the District need not undertake structural changes to said facilities in order to make the District’s programs and activities accessible and usable to persons with disabilities. In choosing among available methods of meeting the requirements, the District will give priority to methods that offer programs, activities and services to persons with disabilities in the most integrated setting appropriate.
The phrase “to the maximum extent feasible” covers the instance where occasionally the nature of an existing facility is such as to make it virtually impossible to comply fully with applicable accessibility standards through a planned alteration. However, in all of these instances, the alteration should provide the maximum amount of physical accessibility feasible. The District is required to designate at least one person to address concerns, questions and requests regarding physical accessibility of the District’s programs and activities, and in such circumstances an individual may contact the District’s Title II/504 Coordinator or may file a complaint under the District’s 504 grievance procedures, which may be obtained by contacting the Director of Student Services at (508) 358-3756 or through the student handbooks.
The District’s Title II/504 Coordinator designee is as follows:
Director of Student Services
41 Cochituate Road
Wayland, MA 01778
Phone: (508) 358-3756
Fax: (508) 358-7708
LEGAL REFS.:
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504
Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975
M.G.L. c.71B:1 et seq. (Chapter 766 of the Acts of 1972)
Title II, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992
Board of Education Chapter 766 Regulations, adopted 10/74, as amended
through 3/28/78
CROSS REFS.: AC, Nondiscrimination
SOURCE: MASC July 2016
School Committee Approval: June 7, 2023
Page updated
Report abuse