New York City Rejects Federal Findings That Many Elementary Schools Defy Disabilities Law
The administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio, left, has taken issue with an investigation into access by disabled students at city schools by the office of Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, center. Credit Mike Segar/Reuters
The administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio has rejected federal government findings that the vast majority of New York City’s public elementary schools are not “fully accessible” to children with disabilities, in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Last month, the office of Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, said that a two-year investigation had shown that six school districts, serving more than 50,000 elementary students, lacked a single school that was fully accessible. Mr. Bharara’s office gave the cityDepartment of Education a month to respond with proposals to “remedy this unacceptable state of affairs.”
In a letter released late on Friday, senior officials of the city’s Law and Education Departments rejected the federal government’s criticism, contending that Mr. Bharara’s office, in its Dec. 21 letter detailing the findings, “inaccurately characterizes the number and geographic distribution of accessible schools, and erroneously concludes that the D.O.E. is not providing program access to students with disabilities.”
“We believe the D.O.E.’s elementary schools, when viewed in their entirety, provide full program accessibility for all elementary students,” the city said in an eight-page response, which was dated Jan. 20 and addressed to Mr. Bharara and two lawyers in his civil rights unit.
The city did offer to “work collaboratively” with the Justice Department to develop “a reasonable and feasible plan” and listed nine proposals. Its letter was signed by Georgia Pestana, the second-ranking lawyer under Zachary W. Carter, the city corporation counsel, and by Courtenaye Jackson-Chase, the Education Department’s general counsel. Mr. Bharara’s office declined to comment on the city’s response.
In rejecting the findings, the city noted that Mr. Bharara’s office said the city “should, at a minimum, make the first floor of every elementary school building accessible.”
But, the city wrote, “Making every first floor of every school accessible is neither feasible, required by the A.D.A., nor a warranted allocation of resources.”
The disabilities law was intended to ensure broad access to public services,New York City Rejects Federal Findings That Many Elementary Schools Defy Disabilities Law - The New York Times: