Americans living with the Disabilities Act: Know Your Rights

By MeShonya Wren-Coleman, Ph.D.

​Please note that the following is a true story and individuals should know their rights as it relates to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) passed in 1973, especially Section 504. 

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on disability in federally assisted programs or activities. It protects the rights of persons with visible or invisible disabilities in areas such as employment, access to services, and benefits. 

It was the first disability civil rights law to be enacted in the United States and set the stage for the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. The ADA protects people with disabilities from discrimination in everyday activities, such as employment, education, transportation, and public accommodations. The ADA is similar to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, and other characteristics illegal.

It is clearly stated that this act gives children with disabilities the right to the accommodations and care they need to be safe and be able to fully participate to the best of their ability in an educational facility that receives federal funding. No student with or without a disability deserves and/or should have problems receiving an education, especially an education protected by Section 504 of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

In August 2023, a three-year-old girl was dismissed from a school that is under the umbrella of a public entity receiving federal and state funds. The parents had been on a waiting list for this educational facility for an entire year. As most parents with children in schools know, many documents come with enrollment which include a required document that asks if your child has any disabilities that require accommodations according to ADA. 

In this case, the parents followed the requirements of the school and the district to complete the required form. One week after successfully enrolling their daughter and her being accepted, the teachers, administrators, and nurses began to complain about accommodating the three-year-old child’s needs. Be mindful that the child’s healthcare provider also provided documentation that was required so that the child could receive the proper care needed.

The parents were asked to meet with school personnel. According to school personnel in the meeting with the parents, accommodating their child was entirely too much for them to handle, they were short-staffed, and it was an inconvenience for the parents to check on their child (in this strange and new environment). Most schools’ welcome parents, especially parents who have genuine interest and concern about their child’s education, educational development, self-esteem, overall growth, and well-being. 

With this being a new school and the child having needs that had to be met, it was important for these parents to ensure that the adjustment was going well, and certainly not trying to be a nuisance. But, as the school administrator stated, it was an inconvenience for school personnel to provide the help THIS child needed. 

The administration decided to dismiss the child without any prior communication with the parents until this meeting. It appears the administration felt they were well within their rights because it was stated in their handbook that they could dismiss a child at any time, though this was written to address behavioral concerns. The three-year-old child had no behavioral issues or concerns, just a disability that she inherited from birth.

The rights of the child and her parents have been neglected and violated. A student’s right to be educated in a public-school sector and provided the care that the law clearly states in the American Disabilities Act should be upheld, honored, and implemented without bias or prejudice by every individual in the building from the administrator/principal to the cafeteria workers and custodians. If a school receives one cent of federal dollars, the personnel of that facility are required to accommodate and educate every child that walks through the doors. If you don’t have the adequate services to provide the care needed, it’s your responsibility to get the adequate services and notify the parents of the services that will and shall be provided.  

Parents, know your rights because you are well within your rights to have your son or daughter provided a grade-A education regardless of their disability. Justin Dart, Jr., an American activist, tells us that the ADA is an essential foundation on which solutions will be constructed and promises will be kept to make a declaration of equality for those with disabilities. With that being said, the school that dismissed this toddler and inconvenienced her parents by them missing days of work until finding a new school has become a part of the problem of why so many have lost trust in their school system and resorted to homeschooling. You not only made a bad name for yourselves, but also for those educators who are doing the job, wearing many hats, and finding the solutions.

As an educator, it should be in your best concern to do what is right for the child and not what is convenient. I have been in education since 1996, and our role as educators requires us to wear many hats. Everyone who has been licensed to educate is not qualified to educate. How does your hat fit when it comes to being fair to EVERY child you are required to fully educate to their potential? This is discrimination and a blatant violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504.

What kind of hat are you wearing? What level of education are you providing? Are you in violation of the ADA? Are you discriminating based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion, or culture? If you are an educator reading this article, go re-evaluate what you are bringing to the classroom.

Dr. MeShonya Wren-Coleman, Vice President of Student Services and Dean of Students at Bethel College. She is also the author of the Resume of a Man. She’s known affectionately as Dr. “MeMe” and her personal line of encouragement for all Set the Example, Be the Example. Dr. Wren-Coleman is Editor-at-Large for ReelUrbanNews.com.