A Capehart Scatchard Blog

Tag: Americans with Disabilities Act

Offer Reasonable Accommodations for Students Who are Unable to Wear Face Coverings

By on July 29, 2020 in NJ School Law, Students with 0 Comments

Lauren E. Tedesco, Esq., a shareholder in the firm’s School Law Group, was recently interviewed by Special Ed Connection on the topic of accommodations for students who are unable to wear face coverings. To view the PDF version of the article, please click here.

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Interactive Process Breakdown: Employee’s Refusal to Participate Bars Discrimination Claims

Editor: Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. On March 31, 2020, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals decided the matter of Petti v. Ocean County Board of Health, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 10082 (3d Cir. 2020). Plaintiff B. Janet Petti was an accountant for the Ocean County Board of Health (“OCHD”) and worked in one of the two buildings at OCHD’s office campus. Construction began at the building next to where Petti worked. Petti reached out to OCHD’s Director of Administration and Program Development regarding construction debris and asbestos out of concern it could aggravate her unspecified medical condition. OCHD responded that […]

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Court Finds Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies Was Required in Service Animal Case

By on October 27, 2017 in NJ School Law, Students with 0 Comments

Editor: Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. A District Court in New Hampshire recently ruled that the parents of an 8-year-old boy who uses a service animal could not bring forth claims under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (“Section 504”) and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) against a school district because the parents failed to first exhaust their administrative remedies under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (“IDEA”). In A.R. v. Sch. Admin. Unit #23, No. 15-CV-152-SM, 2017 WL 4621587 (D.N.H. Oct. 12, 2017), the student in question suffered from a seizure disorder, developmental delay, hypotonia, […]

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District Court Addresses Issue Involving Waiver for Enrollment in Honors/AP Classes

The North Valley Regional High School District had a policy in which students could enroll in Honors or Advanced Placement classes by obtaining a teacher’s recommendation. Without a recommendation, a student could “waive” into such a class if the student and parents sign a document stating that they understand the requirements and demands of the course and that no accommodations would be made. Two parents of learning disabled students sued North Valley in federal court seeking injunctive relief. They claimed that the policy discriminated against the students in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. On September 6, 2017, the […]

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Upcoming Seminar at NJSBA Spring School Law Forum

On Wednesday, June 14, 2017, Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. and Lauren E. Tedesco, Esq. will be presenting at the New Jersey School Boards Association’s Spring School Law Forum. They will be speaking about uncommon accommodations and service animals for students in school. The seminar will be held in Monroe, New Jersey. For additional information and registration, please click here.

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What You Need to Know About Service Animals in Schools – Part 2

By on March 28, 2017 in NJ School Law, Students with 0 Comments

Editor: Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. In Part 1 of this series, we discussed what qualifies as a service animal and what types of inquiries a school district is permitted to make. Today, we will discuss the parameters by which a school district may exclude a service animal from school, the responsibility of caring and supervising the animal, allergy and/or fear considerations, and liability insurance. Pursuant to 28 C.F.R. § 35.136 (b), once a school district permits the use of a service animal by a student with a disability, the service animal can only be removed from the premises under the following […]

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What You Need to Know About Service Animals in Schools – Part 1

By on March 20, 2017 in NJ School Law, Students with 0 Comments

Editor: Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq. More often than not, school administrators face questions relating to requests for service animals to accompany students in school. What is a service animal? Who is allowed to bring a service animal to school? What restrictions may a school impose on the use of a service animal? In this two part series, we will explore these and other issues surrounding the use of service animals in schools. New Jersey school districts must permit access to service animals that accompany students with disabilities. N.J.S.A. 18A:46-13.2 and 13.3 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”) allow service […]

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