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15 Hearings on a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging discrimination against students with disabilities in the Eanes school district have been delayed until June. A hearing to decide whether or not to try the Americans With Disabilities Act case as a class action suit was originally scheduled for last week, but is now set for June 11.
Cheryl Fries, the mother of a district middle school student, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in May, asserting the district was violating her daughter’s civil rights and discriminating against others with disabilities by failing to remove architectural barriers that are dangerous to students and failing to provide accessibility at each of the campuses in compliance with state and federal laws.
In February, Judge Lee Yeakel ruled against the district, denying a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the case, saying, “The Court finds that Fries has presented evidence for each element of her prima facie case of discrimination under he Disabilities Act.”
On June 11, Yeakel will begin hearings to decide if the case will be heard as a class action suit, expanding the scope to represent all students with mobility impairments in the Eanes school district.
“We would like to review the school district’s facilities with their lawyers and experts and decide what barriers prevent program access and then decide on a schedule for barrier removal,” said Kenneth Carden, a Dallas attorney representing Fries.
Dale Whitaker, communications director for the school district, said that the court has dismissed the majority of the plaintiff’s disability claims that allege that the district’s facilities are inaccessible to the mobility impaired
“The district anticipates that the court will now allow further investigation on the plaintiff’s remaining allegations that the student was previously denied access to programs and activities offered by the district, an allegation that the district continues to dispute.”
Whitaker said district officials believe that a class action designation to the lawsuit was unwarranted.
Fries is asking for no monetary damages in the lawsuit. She said she just wants the district to go public with its list of ADA barriers and a timeline for removal. She said she tried to work with the school district for six years to create such a list, developing a task force and volunteering hundreds of hours of research time.
“When it came time to create the to-do list, timeline and budget, the superintendent hired a lawyer to tell me that the plan for making the ADA improvements would not be shared with me,” Fries said. “That’s when I knew I had no choice but to pursue legal complaint.”
School district administrators say they have identified accessibility issues in the district and are working on a plan for modification. The district wants to use money from an upcoming bond election to make its facilities more accessible.
“(The district) remains committed to working toward universal access in all schools, a goal that exceeds legal requirements of the ADA,” Whitaker said.
But some parents of children with disabilities in the district are skeptical, saying the district has promised bond money for ADA compliance before without significant result.
“The district is all over the place on this. One minute they say they have a plan and they’re working on it, the next they say they have no ADA compliance issues,” Fries said. “Then they say they need millions of dollars in a future bond to fix their ADA issues. Then they tell the court that they are grandfathered. None of this means anything to a child who can’t get to the playground during recess at his elementary school or the student at Westlake (High School) who can’t be evacuated during a fire drill.”
Glad that you are reporting on this issue. The priorities of the District clearly need re-directing. This is yet another example of the disparity in funding between extracurricular activities and academics. As far as I see it, this is about academics–equal access is a fundamental part of that.
How do the costs of making the facilities ADA compliant compare to any of the recent upgrades to the District’s sports facilities?
Sadly, I am not surprised by Eanes’ action and their response. Having gone through the Eanes system from first through 12th, the priorities even struck me as misguided when I was a student. Now, as a parent, this is truly appalling.
More updates on this lawsuit here:
http://www.keepeanesinformed.com/ada_lawsuit_-_eanes_isd.htm
I have followed this case from the beginning and have become dumbfounded as to the lack of responsible actions by the school district. Why are they willing to spend a lot of money fighting this cause when they could use it to correct the problems!? They have spent millions for football field type projects with money that could have been used to make basic improvements for kids with disabilities-a relatively minimal expense. Are ego’s at work in the school leadership?
I commend Mrs Fries for having the courage to fight for the rights of so many. It can’t be easy work and I would not be surprised if the school leadership doesn’t resort to the character assasination mode. When you are wrong on the issue, it’s easier to attack the individual. Get ready, the school leadership is wrong on the issues.
I am ashamed of your school district leadership. Hang tough and continue the fight.
Bob Baird
Argyle, TX
Glad to see another parent stand up for disabled kids. I hope this lawsuit will bring to light how school districts fight parents of disabled children. Hopefully the district doesn’t retaliate against this family. We experienced retaliation first hand for advocating for our special needs child. We used to live in Clarendon, Texas and our child attended Clarendon ISD. When we asked for a due process hearing to get speech and autism eligibility for our child we were retaliated against. About four days before the due process hearing, protective services showed up and I was accused of physically abusing our daughter. Then when our child informed the worker that she didn’t like the teacher tying her up another allegation was made against me. This time I was accused of sexual abuse. Then when I complained about the peer on peer sexual harassment and asked the principal to investigate a teacher of physical abuse, low and behold I was accused of physical abuse again. We have filed a lawsuit against this district in hopes of holding the school accountable. Apparently this is a tactic districts use now. See Ogelsby vs Ellenville School district. Parents must stand up to school districts.
When I saw Texas Parents’ post, it kind of scared me. My family and I move to Clarendon, TX in July 09 and for some reason we keep hearing from people when we complain “your not from here.” Almost as though they are trying to say tread lightly. We have filed several complaints about our children’s bus driver. She exceeds the speed limit and runs stop signs. Almost hit my kids one day with the bus. We complained.. Nothing. No corrective action or anything. When the weather gets bad, they expect parents to take the kids to school, not the buses. Yesterday, the driver punished my son for being tripped by another student. My husband confronted her, and she then threatened to call her husband to come out and kick my husband’s a$$. In front of kids still on the bus. This morning, she just drove past my kids bus stop as though she was trying not to pick them up. But, she has to go back by our house to get other kids, so our boys were out there and ready. We again, complained and got brushed of…. Trying going above all and called Texas Education Agency and they said it is all dealt with in the school district, not the state.
Yes, TEA cites “local control”. I removed my student from Eanes ISD due to extreme problems with safety. Any good parent would have done the same.
In reply to Another Clarendon Parent says : Sorry to hear about your son being tripped on the bus. This type of bullying should be addressed appropriately by the school district. Unfortunately, you are dealing with a district that apparently meets parental advocacy with retaliation. Our child was also tripped on the bus by another student. We complained and nothing was done. I ended up making a complaint to the Office Of Civil Rights for other violations. I believe that OCR is currently investigating this school. I hope you will also make a complaint to OCR. We were also considered outsiders in this community. I bet the bus driver was the same driver our child had. Our child was very scared to ride the bus. We observed the driver speeding and driving through bar ditches. Our child was even more fearful of going to school. She would lock doors and close blinds anytime she saw a school bus and when she got home from school. I have been blogging about this school on Clarendon and Amarillo Topix and just recently on Clarendon Enterprise Facebook. If you would like to discuss this further you can email me at timtndm@aol.com.
It is the law- just fix it and move on. We have bigger funding issues to worry about.
What is the law? What more important than our kids. Are you from clarendon?
?? What law are you talking about ? Not sure where you’re going with your post. Funding issues ? We haven’t been discussing funding issues. Anyway, the district we are discussing has many issues not just transportation and bullying. I encourage any parent having problems with this district to make an OCR complaint.
Sandy is that u baaaah?
If you are having trouble with a school district you find the grievance policy in the district and you follow it. First the assistant principal, then the principal, then superintendent then school board. Not to individual members, go to the board meeting, sign in and speak. You keep complaining, especially about something like a bus driver running stop signs.
You should also report this to local law enforcement officers. City, County, DPS.
What a joke!!!
I’m not sure what Michelle thinks is a joke, but it’s not this lawsuit. What’s a joke is that our voters have consistently approved money for ADA compliance and apparently we still have a long way to go. I’d like to see an accounting for what was originally proposed in the bonds, what was spent, and the deficiencies we still need to correct, and how much that would cost. We just spent $450,000 on signs at the high school (no you didn’t read it in the Picayune–it might reflect negatively on the school)–why wasn’t that spent on some ADA items? I think most voters in this district would be comfortable supporting paying for ADA compliance instead of this legal battle. The resistance to legal compliance and the advice that our massively remodeled facilities are somehow still “grandfathered” is what I find to be a joke!
No Eanes mom, I am not referring to this lawsuit. I am referring to ” Texas Parent Also .” I believe the ADA lawsuit and the compliance it seeks is a just cause and wish you, or whoever filed the suit, the best of luck.