Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism (https://iowawatch.org/tag/accessibility/)
The federal Americans with Disabilities Act is intended to help people access public facilities, but an IowaWatch investigation shows most of our schools are not in compliance with the law.
Data shows the results of school district equity reviews conducted by the Iowa Department of Education based on the letter of findings sent to districts as well as the date upon which school districts became compliant. Documents from reviews starting in the fall of 2010 through February 2016 were reviewed.
Read the Story:
Most Iowa School Districts Don’t Comply With Americans With Disabilities Act
Database:
Find your school or school district in the database of non-compliance citations compiled by IowaWatch. IowaWatch reporter Hannah Soyer obtained equity review documents from the Iowa Department of Education for reviews conducted from the fall of 2010 through February 2016. Since 2010, the Iowa Department of Education has inspected 48 school districts in the districts’ annual equity review, and all except one had areas of non-compliance with the ADA. The largest categories of non-compliance were parking and passenger loading zones, with a combined 336 citations, followed by toilet rooms with 157 and entrances with 122. Jump to Year:
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
2014-2015
2015-2016
2010-2011 Equity Reviews
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2011-2012 Equity Reviews
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2012-2013 Equity Reviews
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2013-2014 Equity Reviews
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2015-2016 Equity Reviews
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When Cael Rudkin was in first grade at West Marshall Elementary School he got stuck outside one day because none of the school’s doors had handicap accessible push buttons. Fact is, the majority of Iowa school districts reviewed by the Iowa Department of Education do not meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, an IowaWatch investigation revealed.