APR 9 1996


The Honorable Gerald B. Solomon
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515-3222

Dear Congressman Solomon:

        I am responding to your letter on behalf of your
constituent, Mr. XX              , who is concerned about
provisions for students with disabilities in the Rhinebeck, New
York, school district. Specifically, XX        would like to
know whether the school district is eligible for a waiver from
the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) due to the expense that
compliance with the ADA would entail. Please excuse our delay in
responding.

        Title II of the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of
disability in State and local government services, including
public schools. Sections 35.149 and 35.150 of the Department's
title II regulation (enclosed) require accessibility to programs,
services, and activities in facilities existing on the effective
date of the statute, January 26, 1992. The principal focus of
the program accessibility standard is access to programs,
services, and activities, as opposed to access to physical
structures. Therefore, not every area of an existing school
facility would have to be made accessible, as long as there is
access to a school's programs, services, or activities.

        For existing facilities, every building does not necessarily
have to be made accessible if all of the programs located inside
that building can be made accessible by alternative means.
Section 35.150(b)(1) of the title II regulation does not require
that a school district eliminate structural barriers if it
provides access to its programs through alternative methods such
as redesign of equipment, reassignment of services to accessible
buildings, assignment of aides to beneficiaries, delivery of
services at alternate accessible sites, alteration of existing
facilities, construction of new facilities, or any other methods
that result in making the services, programs, or activities
readily accessible to and usable by individuals with
disabilities.

cc:     Records, Chrono, Wodatch, McDowney, Milton, FOIA
        n:\udd\milton\congress\progacc.sol\sc. young-parran
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                                -2-

        If structural alterations are necessary to provide program
accessibility, such alterations must be undertaken unless the
public entity can demonstrate that the alterations would cause a
fundamental change to its program or that the cost of the
alterations would result in undue financial and administrative
burdens. 28 C.F.R. S 35.150(a)(3). Where an action would result
in such a change or such burdens, the public entity must take any
other action that would not result in such change or such burdens
but would nevertheless ensure that individuals with disabilities
receive the benefits or services provided by the entity.

        As you can see, the ADA is a reasonable and balanced law
that takes the cost of compliance into consideration. Therefore,
the law does not allow waivers. Thus, public entities may not
waive the requirements of the ADA, nor is any Federal agency or
other entity authorized to grant such a waiver.

        I hope this information is helpful to you in responding to
your constituent.

                                Sincerely,

                             Deval L. Patrick
                        Assistant Attorney General
                           Civil Rights Division

Enclosure
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                        Handicapped Accessibility

        Currently, no district building meets the Federal requirements
        contained in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This
        act, signed into law by President George Bush on July 26,
        1990, essentially requires that all program areas of all public
        buildings must be made accessible to persons with disabilities.

At this time, the district has children with disabilities in the first, fourth
and fifth grades, and they will not be able to access the Bulkeley building
because of its limitations. This creates a possible legal liability for the
District.

An architectural study, provided to the district earlier this year,
estimated the cost of the renovations at Bulkeley to be as high as
$750,000.00.
A recent estimate by the current architect, based on different plans,
estimates renovations at $460,000. The building will need a three story
elevator, exterior ramp work, new doors, and lavatory renovations. Yet the
district would still face space problems at Bulkeley and an accessibility
problem at the High School.

                                        VOTE

                                  January 18, 1996
                                 2:00 PM -- 9:00 PM
                            At the High School Gymnasium
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