LEGAL OBLIGATIONS

The following discussion highlights Section 504 as it pertains to the academic and program aspect of community colleges. The discussion is not inclusive of all aspects of Section 504 or even of all those relating to post-secondary institutions.

SECTION 504 OF THE REHABILITATION ACT OF 1973

For the purpose of explaining who is covered by this law, 504 offers the following definitions:

Handicapped person - any person who has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activity (functions such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking seeing, hearing, speaking breathing learning, and working); has a record of such an impairment that substantially limits major life activities only as a result of the attitude of other toward such impairment.

Qualified handicapped person - a handicapped person who meets the academic and technical standards requisite to admission or participation in the educational program or activity.

PROGRAM ACCESSIBILITY

Section 504 prohibits discrimination against students with disabilities in recruitment, admission, and treatment after admission. It mandates all recipients of federal funding to make adjustments and accommodations in their programs and activities in order to provide qualified handicapped persons with opportunities equal to those enjoyed by qualified non-handicapped persons.

Section 504 requires that each program or activity operated by the institution be accessible to handicapped persons when viewed in its entirety. An institution is not required to make each of its existing facilities or every part of a facility accessible. Extensive facility renovations are not always necessary to meet this requirement as long as other methods can be used effectively to achieve program accessibility. Priority must be given, when using other methods, to those alternatives which would offer programs and activities are the most integrated setting possible. Any programs that are currently inaccessible because of the need for major structural modifications should have been changed no later than June 1981.

REASONABLE ADJUSTMENTS TO ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS

Section 504 prohibits exclusion of qualified handicapped students from any course or area of concentration on the

basis of handicap. Moreover, it is considered discriminatory to counsel handicapped students toward more restrictive careers than non-handicapped students, unless such counsel is based on strict licensing or certification requirements in a profession. Post-secondary institutions are, therefore, required by 504 to make reasonable adjustments to permit handicapped students to fulfill academic requirements. Reasonable adjustments may include the following: increased time allowances to complete degree requirements, substitution of equivalent courses for those than cannot be made accessible for handicapped students, changes in teaching methods, and changes in the manner of conducting classes.

Course examinations and other methods of evaluating a student=s academic achievement must be conducted in a way that will reflect the student=s achievement rather than his impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills (except when such skills are the factors which are being measured).

Post-secondary institutions must take steps to ensure that handicapped students with impaired sensory, manual or speaking skills are not, in effect, excluded from programs because of the absence of education auxiliary aides. Auxiliary aids@ may include taped tests, interpreters or other effective methods of making orally delivered materials available to students with hearing impairments, readers in libraries for students with visual impairment, and other similar services and actions. Institutions, however, need not provide attendants, individually prescribed devices or services of a personal nature.

It is unlawful to prohibit handicapped students from using any auxiliary aid, including tape recorders, in the classroom when the aid is needed to ensure full participation of the student.

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT ( ADA)

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) extends federal civil rights protection in several areas to people who are considered “disabled”. Built upon a body of existing legislation, particularly the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the act states its purpose as providing “a clear” and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities.

The ADA seeks to dispel stereotypes and assumptions about disabilities, and to assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living and economic self-sufficiency for people with disabilities. To achieve these objectives, the law prohibits covered entities from excluding people from jobs, services activities or benefits based on disability.

Not every person with a disability is covered by the ADA. Certain standards must be met for a person to qualify for the act’s protections. To be considered “disabled” under the ADA, a person must have a condition that impairs a major life activity or a history of such a condition, or be regarded as having such a condition.

A disabled person must be qualified for the job, program or activity to which he or she seeks access. To be qualified under the ADA, a disabled person must be able to perform the essential functions of a job or meet the essential eligibility requirements of the program or benefit, with or without an accommodation to his or her condition.

The ADA has five titles and are as follows:

EMPLOYMENT (Title I)

The ADA prohibits employers with 15 or more employees (25 or more workers for the first two years at the effective date) from discriminating against qualified job applicants and workers who are, or become disabled. The law covers all aspects of employment, including the application and hiring process, on-the-job training, advancement and wages, benefits, and employer-sponsored social activities.

A qualified disabled person is someone who, with or without a reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the job in question. An employer must provide reasonable accommodations for disabled workers, unless that would impose an undue hardship on the employer.

PUBLIC SERVICES AND TRANSPORTATION (Title II)

Title II of the ADA prohibits state and local governments, and educational institutions from discriminating against disabled people in their programs and activities.

The law requires bus and rail transportation to be accessible to disabled passengers. Air transportation is not covered by the ADA. New public buses and new train cars in commuter, subway and light rail stations must be made accessible. Where fixed-route and rail bus service is offered, a public transit agency must also offer paratransit service.

PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS (Title III)

The ADA prohibits privately operated public accommodations, from denying goods, programs and services to people based on their disabilities. Covered businesses must accommodate disabled patrons by changing policies and practices, providing auxiliary aids and improving physical accessibility, unless that would impose an undue burden.

New and renovated commercial buildings must be accessible. Existing public accommodations must remove architectural and communications barriers where such removal is “readily achievable.”

Title III also requires providers of private transportation service, such as private bus lines and hotel vans, to make their vehicles and facilities accessible.

TELECOMMUNICATION (Title IV)

Title IV or the ADA requires telephone companies to provide continuous voice transmission relay services that allow hearing and speech impaired people to communicate over the phone through telecommunication devices for the deaf. In addition, Title IV requires that federally funded television public service messages be closed-captioned for hearing impaired viewers.

OTHER PROVISIONS (Title V)

Miscellaneous provisions in Title V require the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board to issue accessibility standards; attorneys fees to be awarded to prevailing parties in suits filed under the ADA; and federal agencies to provide technical assistance. Title V states specifically that illegal use of drugs is not a covered disability under the act. It also provides that states are not immune from suits under the ADA and those other federal, state and local laws that provide equal or greater protection to individuals with disabilities are not superseded or limited by the ADA.