- Skip to main content
- About Us
- Contact Us
- FAQs
-  Language Assistance ****   - English
  - español
  - 中文: 繁體版
  - Việt-ngữ
  - 한국어
  - Tagalog
  - Русский

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Education

            - Student Loans
            - Grants
            - Laws
            - Data

About EDOVERVIEW
|  | **MS Word (417 KB)** |
|--|----------------------|

Examples of OCR Case Resolutions

Across the country, OCR’s enforcement program is having a profound influence   on the lives of students at all education levels. Following are some examples.

*Making Academic Adjustments for Students with Disabilities*

A student with neurological disorders was denied a request for academic adjustments in order to reduce distractions while taking examinations. The college resolved the complaint by designating a location for administering examinations for all students who, because of their disability, need a separate facility to take examinations. The college also agreed to post a sign to ensure students are not interrupted while taking examinations.

| “I wish to express my appreciation to the people that handled my       son’s case.... [T]hey assured me that they would make sure my       son’s        accommodations would be followed. I knew they really cared. Thank you       for  having these kinds of people available to care for kids who have       come out  on the short end of the stick. I’m eternally grateful.” 
Oct.          27, 2003, letter from         complainant after OCR completed investigation |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

*Extending Housing to Older Students*

 A 40-year-old student was informed that university housing was reserved  for students up to 22 years of age. The university resolved the complaint by  providing housing to the student. 

*Disciplining Students Without Regard to Race or National Origin*

 The parent of an African American student alleged that her son was given  a detention for being late to school while two white students, who also were  tardy on the same date, received no sanction. OCR learned that the students  involved were on their way to school in the same car when it ran out of gas.  While the school was alerted immediately of the situation by the parents of  the white students, it received no notice regarding the African American student.  After sharing the information and discussing the circumstances, the assistant  principal advised the parent that her son did not have to serve the Saturday  School detention and that all records related to the incident would be expungedfrom the student's file. 

 In one school district, OCR found that Hispanic students were required to  attend a meeting and sign contracts accepting more severe disciplinary sanctions  than those normally imposed. White students with similar school conduct records  were not required to attend. In response to OCR's findings, the district sent  a notice to all parents in English and Spanish about using the district's discrimination  complaint procedures. Parents of the students who attended the meeting also  received letters expressing regret and outlining steps the district will taketo prevent a recurrence.

*Protecting Students from Disability Harassment*

 OCR found that a district failed to take action when informed that a disabled  student was harassed during football games. The district resolved the complaint  by developing grievance procedures addressing disability harassment and later  trained staff and students on the new procedures. The district's disabilityharassment policy and procedures are now contained in student and staff handbooks. 

*Assigning Students Without Regard to Race*

 A class complaint alleged that African American students were discriminatorily  assigned to low level ability grouped classes. In investigating the complaint,  OCR found the district's placement criteria were inconsistently applied resulting  in a majority of African American students placed in low ability groups without  sufficient educational justification. The district agreed to revise its abilitygrouping procedures so that students are assigned in a nondiscriminatory manner. 

 OCR's investigation of a complaint against another school district found  intentional segregation of African American kindergarten students. Before each  school year, the school principal selected approximately 20 African American  children from the pool of new kindergarten students and established an all  African American class taught by the district's only African American kindergarten  teacher. School administrators offered no legitimate nondiscriminatory educational  justification for the establishment of the racially segregated class or its  assignment to the school's sole African American teacher. Instead, OCR was  informed the class was established in response to requests from African American  parents and as an attempt to prevent “white flight.” The district made commitments  to immediately assign students on a basis other than the race of the studentor teacher. 

| “Once again I am writing to give you the status of my son and to      thank  you for all you have done to make his life a success. In the fall,      he finished  all of his class requirements. This semester he is interning      at a newspaper...       He completed his courses with a 3.1 GPA. He has never gotten anything below       a B- since his freshman year! His overall GPA went from a 0.9 at the end       of freshman year.... You gave him the chance to achieve this success,        and we are forever grateful.... He has found his way in life, and        you  gave him the opportunity to do this. Thank you, thank you, thank        you. We  can’t say it enough.”        
Jan. 25, 2004, letter from parent whose        complaint was resolved by OCR several years ago |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

*Eliminating the Effect of a School Attendance Policy on Students with Disabilities*

 A district's policy allows for adding three extra points to a student's average  grade per quarter if a student has perfect attendance. The complainant alleged  her daughter was adversely affected by this policy because of her asthma. Although  the district questioned whether the daughter was disabled, it had not conducted  an evaluation. The district agreed to evaluate the student to determine whether  she had an impairment that substantially limits a major life activity, and,  if so, whether reasonable modifications could be made to give the student anequal opportunity to benefit from the attendance policy. 

*Communicating with Parents Who Do Not Speak English*

 A school district discriminated against parents of national origin minority  students with limited English proficiency by failing to communicate information  about their children in a language they could understand. The complaint was  resolved based on the district's commitment to establish interpreter and translation  services and other parent communication procedures. The procedures ensure that  the district's communication of information to national origin minority parentsis as effective as its communication with parents who speak English. 

*Communicating with Visually Impaired Students*

 A complainant alleged that a university discriminated against a visually  impaired student by sending him letters about his financial aid that he was  unable to read. Under the agreement OCR negotiated, the university assigned  an employee in the financial aid office to reformat outgoing correspondence  to the complainant in a font size at least as large as that determined appropriate  for written materials in the complainant's classes. The university also provided  a page magnifier so that the complainant could review promptly any correspondence  from the financial aid office that inadvertently is missed during the manualreview. 

 Another OCR investigation at a state university determined that visually  impaired students did not receive requested alternate format textbooks in a  timely manner. In several instances, the complainant had to withdraw from classes  because textbooks were not available. The university made comprehensive commitments  to ensure that visually impaired students have timely access to textbooks.  This includes an improved tracking system so students know the status of theirrequests. 

*Eliminating Shortened School Day for Students with Disabilities*

 Transportation scheduling resulted in a shortened school day for 140 students  with disabilities. OCR's investigation showed that some students were denied  as much as one hour of daily instruction. Under its resolution agreement, the  district altered bus transportation schedules so that no student was denied  access to a full school day. The district also provided compensatory servicesfor the students who were affected by previous transportation schedules. 

*Providing Students with Disabilities Equal Access to a Childcare Program*

 A parent requested a personal aide for her son, who has Tourette's syndrome  and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), to permit his access to  a childcare program. The school district did not act on the parent's request  for an aide or consider another reasonable accommodation. This resulted in  his termination from the program because of behaviors manifested by his disabilities.  As a remedy, the district established a process for responding to all requests  for accommodations and will apply the process to the student. 

*Providing Necessary Services for Students with Disabilities*

 A mobility-impaired student was forced to withdraw from driver's education  because the district did not provide an automobile with hand controls and an  instructor trained in their use. After discussing the matter with OCR, the  district outfitted a car with hand controls and obtained the services of an  instructor from the physical therapy department of a medical center, who trained  the student in using the equipment. The district also informed OCR that the  student's learning permit, which was suspended while she was not participating  in the driver's education program, was reinstated. The complainant confirmed,  after the district provided the accommodations, that his daughter was ableto participate in the road instruction portion of the driving course. 

*Removing Discriminatory Pre-Admission Inquiries from Admission Applications*

 An applicant was denied admission to a school district's adult and continuing  education program based on a response to a question regarding disability on  the admissions application. The district deleted the question from the applicationand granted admission to the complainant. 

| “For more than a decade, the female students at [the         high school] have been ignored, neglected, and lied to.... They were         forced to settle for not less but nothing, while the boys sports programs         were given anything they need. The response when you asked someone in         charge was ‘we’ll look into it.’ The response when         you  asked a parent of a female athlete was ‘there’s no         hope’...         OCR solved years of frustration.... For the first time this year,        our  girls will have adequate and equal facilities. We had been prepared        to  settle for substandard just to get anything. God bless you.”

E-mail message from parents         at a high school, Jan. 12, 2004 |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

*Improving Athletic Facilities for Female Athletes*

 A complainant alleged that a university was failing to treat female and male  student athletes equally in the provision of practice and competitive facilities.  OCR's on-site investigation revealed that the interior walls of the women's  swimming pool had significant decay, which could present health and safety  risks to the team's participants. The swimming facility was the only campus  athletic facility that lacked adequate seating arrangements for spectators.  The women's soccer field was the only competitive facility without a scoreboard.  Also, the women's soccer team practiced on the same field used for competitions.  The added wear and tear placed on the soccer field during practices affected  the quality of the field available for competitions. The on-campus outdoor  tennis courts were not available to the women's tennis team because of the  courts' poor quality. As a result, the team had to practice during inconvenient  evening hours at two off-site facilities. Also, the women's soccer field was  inadequately watered and the women's softball field was never watered, which  diminished the quality of the playing surfaces available to those teams. When  reviewing the athletic program as a whole, OCR found that these disparities  consistently disadvantaged the university's female athletes and were substantialenough to deny them equal athletic opportunity. 

 Based on OCR's findings, the university agreed to repair and install spectator  seating in the women's swimming facility and install an electronic scoreboard  for the women's soccer field. The university ensured that the women's soccer  team has access to a separate practice area that adequately met the team's  practice needs. Under its agreement, the university also implemented a schedule  for the equitable maintenance of all outdoor practice and competitive facilitiesand will resurface or replace the on-campus outdoor tennis courts. 

*Making Programs Accessible to Students with Disabilities*

 An individual with a disability may not be excluded from an educational program  because an institution's facilities are inaccessible or unusable by individuals  with disabilities. OCR investigated a complaint on the accessibility of more  than 1,500 portable trailers a district uses for regular classrooms. OCR substantiated  that all of the trailers lacked ramps and accessible entrances , and also fell  into the "new construction" provision of the Section 504 regulation.  Additionally, we found that the programs housed in each of these trailers were  used to provide educational programs which were not otherwise available in  an accessible location. Therefore, all of the trailers were required to meet  new construction accessibility standards. The district made commitments to  either eliminate the portable trailers or make them accessible to studentswith mobility impairments. 

 Students experienced serious problems because a university was not meeting  accessibility standards. An undergraduate student had problems entering her  dormitory and reaching the card readers to access vending machines. On one  occasion, facilities staff bumped her scooter down the stairs to evacuate her  from a building because they were unaware of how to transport the scooter.  Another student who uses a wheelchair had to wait four months before the university  installed a shower seat, hose, and handrails in his dormitory's bathroom. Students  in wheelchairs had to be carried while trying to obtain services at the healthcenter. 

 OCR obtained a compliance agreement that ensured that the campus is fully  accessible. The university agreed to a plan ensuring students with mobility  impairments access to its programs and activities. Also, the university provided  training to all administrators and its student life and disability services  employees about Section 504 requirements for accessibility of existing facilitiesand newly constructed or altered facilities. 

*Ensuring Emergency Treatment for Students with Diabetes*

 A mother of a student with diabetes alleged the district was in violation  of the disability laws by not designating trained individuals to administer  glucagon in the event the school nurse is not available at the time of an  emergency. The district's policy permitted only registered nurses to administer  injections but designates a partner nurse at each campus to fill in during  an emergency. The resolution agreement required the district to provide specific  information and guidelines on the use of the partner nurse. These include communication  procedures between the school campus and partner nurse and a protocol for contactingthe parent and the emergency medical system and for monitoring response time. 

*Assuring Students Are Not Placed in a Racially Segregated Educational Setting*

 A complainant alleged a school discriminated against her son and approximately  70 other third- and fourth-grade African American students by treating them  differently on the basis of race. She alleged the students were taken from  their classrooms, placed in a racially segregated setting, and given their  test scores on the state's assessment test. The test results showed lower scores  for African American students compared to white students. The vice principal  confirmed that he talked to the African American students without any nonminority  students being present. He stated the purpose of the meeting was to encourage  African American students to improve their scores. The students were told ifthey performed better in future tests, they would each be rewarded with a popsicle. 

 Under Title VI, no person on the basis of race shall be subject to segregation  or separate treatment in any matter related to the receipt of any service or  benefit. The district submitted assurances that it will not segregate African  American students on the basis of race in any educational setting and will  treat all similarly situated students the same. Also, the district agreed to  write to parents, staff, and students explaining the incident and providingassurance that this type of action will not occur in the future. 

*Ensuring Opportunity for Students with Disabilities to Participate in School   Graduation*

 A mother was informed that her son, because of his disability, would not  be allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony the same as other students.  Instead, the student would be seated with his parents and his diploma would  be handed to him. The decision was based on the opinion of a special education  teacher that the student would not be able to participate in the ceremony without  difficulty. The complaint was resolved after the district reconvened the student's  individual education program team to determine the full extent and manner inwhich the student could participate in the graduation ceremony. 

*Ending Racial Harassment of Minority Students*

A complaint alleged that a school district neglected to prevent and end racial harassment of African American and Hispanic students at a high school. The complainant stated that the district permitted a hallway where only white students were allowed to walk, discriminated in enforcing its dress code, and retaliated against the complainant for reporting incidents of racial harassment. OCR participated in detailed discussions and facilitated an agreement whereby the school district consented to conduct school and community forums to improve racial harmony and enforce disciplinary rules prohibiting racial harassment, including offensive conduct.

| “I am sorry to say that many of the parents will never know how you       have made a positive difference in the way their children will be treated       in the future. You are a piece of a puzzle that has been interlocked with       others so that children and their rights will be protected. I understand       this is your job, however it is your integrity I admire the most.”      
Aug 30, 2004, letter sent by         complainant to an OCR enforcement office |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

|                                              |
|----------------------------------------------|
|   19 | 20 | 21 | TOC | Printable viewShare this page |
|                                              |

## How Do I Find...

          - Student loans, forgiveness
          - College accreditation
          - Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
          - FERPA
          - FAFSA
          - 1098, tax forms

More >

## Information About...

          - Transforming Teaching
          - Family and Community Engagement
          - Early Learning

 

|  |
|--|
|  |
|  | Mission |  |
|  |
|  | Priorities |  |
|  |
|  | Welcome to ED.gov |  |
|  |

----

*Our mission*

Student Loans
Repaying LoansDefaulted LoansLoan ForgivenessLoan Servicers

Grants & Programs
Apply for Pell GrantsGrants ForecastApply for a GrantEligibility for Grants

Laws & Guidance
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)FERPACivil RightsNew IDEA Website

Data & Research
Education StatisticsPostsecondary Education DataED Data ExpressNation's Report CardWhat Works Clearinghouse

About Us
Contact UsED OfficesJobsPress ReleasesFAQsRecursos en españolBudget, PerformancePrivacy ProgramSubscribe to E-Mail Updates

----

          - Notices
          - FOIA
          - Privacy Policy
          - Accessibility
          - Security
          - Information quality
          - Inspector General
          - Whitehouse.gov
          - USA.gov
          - Benefits.gov
          - Regulations.gov