**COMMEMORATING THE ADA  AND ANNOUNCING A NEW RESOURCE TO SUPPORT STUDENTS WITH LONG  COVID ** 

##### **July 26, 2021**

 

This week, we celebrate the 31st  anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a watershed civil  rights law that mandated the elimination of discrimination  against individuals with disabilities.  

Since its enactment in 1990, the  ADA has played a crucial role in expanding protection against  discrimination in education. Schools across the country—serving  students from pre-K through graduate school—must make their offerings available  and accessible to all students, including those with and without disabilities.  

Even with the power of the  ADA and an earlier disability civil-rights law known as Section 504 of the  Rehabilitation Act of 1973, many students with disabilities continue to  face steep challenges. The Office for Civil Rights’ recent report on *Education  in a Pandemic: The Disparate Impacts of COVID-19 on America’s Students* shows that the pandemic  has disrupted the education, related aids and services, and  accommodations students needed to support academic  progress, exacerbating longstanding disability-based disparities in  academic achievement. 

Today, OCR and  the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and  Rehabilitative Services released a joint resource to address another  pandemic-related challenge: the impact of ongoing health  problems related to COVID-19. This resource—***Long COVID  under Section 504 and the IDEA: A Resource to Support Children, Students,  Educators, Schools, Service Providers, and Families***—shows  how young children and students of all ages who have long COVID may be  entitled to disability-related supports, services, and accommodations  under Section 504 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education  Act. 

As our nation continues to wrestle  with the pandemic’s challenges, we encourage you to take a look at  the Department’s extensive resources to support students with  disabilities, their families, and their schools—all designed to ensure  that students with disabilities continue to receive an equal  opportunity to learn. These resources include: 
            -  **ED COVID-19 Handbook Volumes I, II, and III.** These  three volumes of  guidance provide support to schools in reopening safely and  equitably. Volume 1 provides  strategies for safely reopening elementary and secondary schools. Volume 2 focuses  on the social and emotional needs of students and educators returning to  school. And Volume 3 concentrates  on institutions of higher education. Each addresses the rights of students with  disabilities and shares practices for supporting students with disabilities as  schools modify their operating procedures.   
            -  **Civil Rights and School Reopening**. OCR’s Questions and  Answers on Civil Rights and School Reopening in the COVID-19 Environment discusses schools’  responsibilities to ensure students with disabilities have an equal opportunity  to learn, including during remote instruction.  

As we mark  the ADA’s anniversary, we also honor the dedication and tireless  commitment of advocates within the disability community who led the way  to its passage. In OCR, we take inspiration from these leaders  and dedicate ourselves fully to advancing equity and access  for students with disabilities, and to ensuring educational  environments free from discrimination so that all students have the opportunity  to thrive. 

Suzanne B. Goldberg  Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights  Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Operations and  Outreach  Office for Civil Rights  U.S. Department of Education