http://allergy.hyperboards.com/action/view_topic/topic_id/7270Two letters and third with LTFA policy to include 504 plan info.
These MAY not be posted in correct order, please bear with me.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O. BOX 14620
WASHINGTON, DC 20044-4620
Telephone: (202) 786-0500; Facsimile: (202) 208-7797; TDD: (202) 208-7741
e-mail: OCR.DC@ed.gov
OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OFFICE
SOUTHERN DIVISION District of Columbia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia
July 26, 2006
Dr. Ed Davis
Superintendent
Union County Public Schools
500 N Main Street, Suite 700
Monroe, North Carolina 28112-4730
Re: OCR Complaint No. 11-06-1096
Resolution Closure Letter
Dear Dr. Davis:
This letter is to inform you of the results of our investigation of the above-referenced complaint, that was filed on January 27, 2006 with the District of Columbia Office, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), U.S. Department of Education (Department). The Complainant alleged that Union County Public Schools (the District) discriminated against the Student (the Student) on the basis of his disabilities (peanut and tree nut allergies, or PTAs) during the 2005/2006 school year.
As we informed you in our prior letter, OCR is responsible for enforcing certain Federal civil rights statutes and regulations, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) and its implementing regulation, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in programs and activities that receive Federal financial assistance from the Department. OCR also enforces Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Title II) and its implementing regulation, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability by public entities, including public education systems and institutions, regardless of whether they receive Federal financial assistance from the Department. Because the District receives Federal financial assistance from the Department and is a public entity, we have jurisdiction over it pursuant to Section 504 and Title II. Because the Complainant has alleged discrimination on the basis of disability, we have jurisdiction over the allegations pursuant to these same laws.
The Complainant’s specific allegations were that the District discriminated against the Student on the basis of his disabilities during the 2005/2006 school year by:
1. Failing to provide him with a free and appropriate public education (FAPE), that is, regular or special education and related aids and services that are designed to meet his needs as adequately as it meets the needs of students without PTAs by adequately addressing his PTA-related needs and ensuring a safe educational environment for him that is completely free of peanuts and tree nuts and products containing them (PTs), more specifically, by failing to:
a. Provide the Student with a timely and appropriate Section 504 Plan;
b. Provide adequate PTA training for all District staff responsible for the immediate custodial supervision or care of the Student, e.g., teachers, substitute teachers, administrators, counselors, coaches, supervisors of extracurricular activities, and bus drivers;
c. Provide adequate notice to all parents and students at Sun Valley Middle School (the School) and on the Student’s bus that there are students with PTAs attending the School and of the potential harm to students with PTAs from exposure to PTs; and
d. Promptly and adequately respond to incidents in which the Student’s PTA-related needs were not adequately met; and
2. Failing to take prompt and effective action to stop and prevent the recurrence of disability-based harassment of the Student:
a. During November and on December 8, when his bus driver repeatedly sold PTs on the bus despite having been notified of his PTAs;
b. Twice during November, when boys on his bus who knew of his PTAs forced him to move from the seat near the bus driver in which he sat to better deal with his PTAs to another seat farther away from the bus driver and teased him about his PTAs;
c. On December 8, when two boys on his bus who knew of his PTAs forced him to move from the seat near the bus driver in which he sat to better deal with his PTAs to another seat farther away from the bus driver, and assaulted and battered him for resisting the move;
d. Between December 9 and 12, when his bus driver, despite having been notified of his PTAs: repeatedly berated him for notifying District officials of her sales of PTs on his bus (after which she was prohibited from continuing those sales); brought her children onto the bus to show him who was affected by his notification to the District; informed him that she was not a nurse and did not want to be responsible for “saving” him; and returned his EpiPen (without authorization to do so) and told him to “have a nice life”;