Sumner School District will meet with an investigator from the federal Office of Civil Rights this week in regards to a parent complaint about American Disabilities Act compliance.
The parent, Christina Jaeger, filed a formal request with the federal oversight organization in October on behalf of her daughter, eighth grader Ayanna Cole. Jaeger cited accessibility problems caused by construction to Sumner Middle School, as well as an issue with Cole’s bus drop-off location.
Cole has spinal bifita. She is able to walk with support, but most of the time she requires a wheelchair. The civil rights petition submitted by her mother primarily focused on two issues: ramp accessibility onto the school’s sidewalks and steep drop-offs from the sidewalk into dirt.
Jaeger brought the issues directly to the district shortly after the beginning of the school year in September.
“They have just had excuse after excuse,” she said.
She and Cole took a safety walk with a construction foreman and school staff, in which they took extensive photos and video of the walkway problems. Jaeger conceded that the staff on the safety walk were helpful and made a list of other possible accessibility issues.
But responses to secondary issues made her feel the district thought of her daughter’s disability as a burden, she said.
On the day of the first fire drill of the year, a staff member entered Cole’s class and brought her out to the evacuation spot before the drill began.
“In a real fire, no one is going to wheel her out beforehand,” Jaeger said. “That doesn’t prepare her.”
Additionally, the bus that Cole rides home dropped her off directly in front of her driveway, which has a steep incline. Jaeger wanted her daughter dropped off across the street so that she could build momentum.
“We won that one,” she said. “But their response was, basically, ‘It’s not our fault you chose to live there.'”
Assistant Superintendent Craig Spencer said the district’s concern was Cole’s safety crossing the street. Jaeger thought that reason was condescending, she said, and she wanted the district to recognize her daughter was self-sufficient even if she needed accommodation.
District officials said they feel accessibility problems have been addressed, and that they were prepared for the OCR investigator.
“All of these issues are from September, and we’re going through the investigation process now, so I’m actually not sure why [Jaeger] is bringing it up now,” District Spokesperson Ann Cook said. “[OCR] actually has an early complaint resolution process, and she opted not to do that. We were dealing with her directly then, and I think we addressed the issues she brought up.”
Jaeger disputed the district account of her choice, saying she had already spent significant time meeting with the district by the time the option became available.
“We opted out of Early Resolution because we had already had over 20 meetings, all the way up to [Superintendent Gil] Mendoza to resolve these issues,” she said. “I was exhausted and did not have the time to continue babysitting the school.”
On a recent tour of the Sumner Middle School campus, Cook, Principal Steve Sjolund and Spencer demonstrated the current state of accessibility around the school.
The sidewalk issues, at least, seem to have been addressed. Three ramps have been secured to the sidewalk at outside entrances to the school. Drop-offs from the walkway to the dirt have been filled in with gravel, and wooden barriers have been placed against parts of the sidewalk to keep obstructing gravel from being kicked onto the sidewalk.
“We have maintenance staff out here twice a day, blowing the sidewalk off to keep it clean,” Sjolund said. “Kids are kids and they’re going to kick some gravel into the walkway going from one class to another, so we’ve tried to make sure it’s clear.”
Sjolund noted that the fire drill incident in September was a one time mistake. A security staff member happened to be near the classroom shortly before the drill, and thought it would be a good idea to demonstrate the route, he said. Another premature evacuation hasn’t been repeated in any of the subsequent monthly fire drills.
“If anything, it’s been more of an opportunity as we deal with construction on the school,” Sjolund said. “If you see a middle schooler move some gravel, you see an obstruction for wheels. If you see a tailgate hanging over the curb at a parking space, you see a restriction on the sidewalk instead of just a parent hoping to leave the lot faster after they pick up their student. We’ve learned to think about those things now.”
