ROGERS -- The School District plans to improve 15 of its buildings to increase accessibility for people with disabilities, according to a report recently completed by the district.
The district agreed in April to assess its buildings for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and submit a report on its findings by Aug. 31 to the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.
Office representatives visited the district in February 2017 to investigate a complaint buildings weren't compliant.
The district's 35-page report, signed by Superintendent Marlin Berry and submitted Aug. 29, responds to specific items of concern in 24 buildings as noted by the office representatives. Most of the items had to do with bathrooms, kitchens, water fountains and sinks.
The report explains how the district intends to address each item or, in other cases, why officials feel no corrective action is necessary.
"In terms of total cost, we haven't come close to looking at that," said Charles Lee, assistant superintendent for general administration.
Lee said he doubted the overall cost would be significant, adding many of the issues are minor. Some already have been fixed at minimal expense, such as adjusting the height of towel dispensers and grab bars.
Other issues will require more work.
At Eastside Elementary School, for example, the nurse's station's toilet room will be made accessible by moving a wall 14 inches and replacing the door. Similar changes will be made to the office restroom.
"Bottom line is, we want to be compliant," Lee said.
The office must approve the district's report. Then the district will have 18 months to correct any items deemed out of compliance.
"With very few exceptions, we believe we will be able to accomplish the remediation necessary within the 18-month timeline provided" under the agreement the district reached with the office earlier this year, the report stated.
The district hired architect James Swearingen to assist the facilities department with the assessment. The district included relevant measurements, photographs, diagrams, technical drawings and other material in its submission to the office, according to the report.
The report notes compliance issues in three buildings -- Lowell, Northside and Westside elementary schools -- will be addressed through renovation projects set to begin next summer. The three buildings are all more than 50 years old. Each of the remodeling projects is expected to take 15 months.
Garfield Elementary School, originally built in 1888, also is presented as a special case. Garfield cannot be assessed for accessibility without addressing broader issues with the site that would require additional corrective measures, the report states.
These additional measures are technically not feasible because of property size and topography constraints and the original stone construction, which would impose "undue financial and administrative burdens" upon the district, according to the report.
The district further recommends a full feasibility study of the school to develop detailed plans, including estimates of the required renovation. In the meantime, students and staff members with disabilities should be re-assigned to an accessible facility; alternatively, a person dedicated to assisting the disabled should be assigned to Garfield, the report states.
Garfield's enrollment as of last fall was 143, the smallest of Rogers' elementary schools.
Mike Price, a plumber who worked for the district for 20 years, filed the complaint leading to an investigation into the district's compliance.
The district opted not to renew the contracts of Price and another plumber for this school year and outsource all plumbing services. Price appealed the nonrenewal of his contract in front of the board May 29.
Administrators said, in addition to their desire to outsource plumbing services, Price had performance issues. They said he took too long to accomplish certain tasks and spent six hours one day to compose an email to his supervisor. The board unanimously upheld the administration's decision to terminate him.
Price, after reading the report, said he believes it falls short of addressing all the compliance issues.
"[The district] said they terminated my services because I was too slow," he said. "They have had decades to get their buildings in compliance, and they are nowhere near it, in my opinion. It seems they are slower than me."
Kristen Cobbs, board president, said she's not read the report, but has been briefed on the administration's work on it. She's confident administrators are on top of the task.
"They do a great job," Cobbs said. "It's not my role to tell them how to do their job and to double-check on every little thing they do. Dr. Berry is good about reporting the things we need to know. If we do need to take a deeper dive into it, we definitely will."
NW News on 09/09/2018