Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Second grader with CP files civil rights complaint against Texas school district over playground access

From the Austin American-Statesman:

Elizabeth Studer, a second-grader at Block House Creek Elementary School, wants to play during recess like her classmates do.

But Elizabeth — who has cerebral palsy and uses a walker or a wheelchair — has difficulty traversing the mulch on the playground at her school, on Creek Run Drive in the Leander district.

Last week, the Studer family filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education that says the 8-year-old "has been discriminated against on the basis of her disability" because the school playground is not physically accessible to her.

District officials said they have complied with state and federal disability laws.

"We've reached the conclusion that we are in compliance with (the Americans with Disabilities Act), but it doesn't mean we'll not look on ways to improve and make things better," said Superintendent Bret Champion on Thursday, when the district received a copy of the complaint.

Malissa Studer said she has driven to the school during recess and seen her daughter sitting on a bench because she cannot get onto the equipment. Studer has gone to help Elizabeth on the playground, lifting her into the swing, Elizabeth's favorite, and other equipment.

The Studers first raised the issue when Elizabeth started kindergarten and have done so three times this school year, their lawyer said. The complaint says the playground "does not contain a significant number of activities that she can access independently, or with minimal assistance."

"There's not one thing she can access independently," Studer said. "The problem really is the fact that the district doesn't want to spend the money to upgrade the district's playgrounds, and even the new schools don't make them accessible.

"All I want is for my child to go on the playground and play like the other kids," Studer said, adding that the complaint is on behalf of "the other kids who have special needs, too."

The Studer family is requesting that the mulch at the school be replaced with hard rubber or a similar surface.

Area school districts use various materials on their playgrounds:

The Austin school district has cement or other hard surfaces on its campuses, and in the fall zones around swings and playscapes, the district is upgrading existing gravel with synthetic wood chips.

The Hays school district uses pea gravel and mulch.

The Round Rock school district uses pea gravel in combination with rubberized surfaces.

The Manor school district uses mulch.

In the Eanes school district, where pea gravel and mulch are used at most campuses and artificial turf is used at two schools that have recently been upgraded, a parent of an Eanes Elementary student with physical disabilities filed a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in May saying that the school district is violating her daughter's civil rights.

Among other things, the pending lawsuit says most of the district's playgrounds, some performance stages and nearly all its secondary sports facilities are inaccessible.

Eanes officials said they have been bringing facilities into compliance and need more time.

The Leander district's certified playground inspector visited the Block House Creek campus in October and concluded that the playground meets standards set by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, Champion said.

In mid-November and again Thursday, a civil engineer hired by the district visited the playground. The district is awaiting the report.

"Whenever we get a complaint, we take them seriously," Champion said.

The district has not conducted a study to determine how much it would cost to replace the wood mulch at Block House Creek with a smooth surface.

"We brought it to the district's attention again and again to address the issue," said Steven Elliot, an attorney with Advocacy Inc., which is an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. Elliot, who filed the complaint on behalf of the Studers, said district officials told them that the playground didn't need changes.

"We're hoping that they make the playground at Block House Creek Elementary accessible so Elizabeth can use it and are hoping they make all the other playgrounds accessible at the other schools," Elliot said.

Champion said the district "will fully cooperate if the (U.S. Education Department's) Office of Civil Rights investigates."