U.S. Attorney’s Office Settles Disability Discrimination Allegations at The Park School

BOSTON – The United States Attorney’s Office reached a settlement agreement today with the Park School, resolving allegations that the school violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by discriminating against a student with a disability.

The Park School is an independent school in Brookline that serves over 560 students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. After conducting an investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office determined that Park School violated Title III of the ADA by denying a prospective student with a disability admission to the school without making an appropriate, individualized assessment of the school’s ability to accommodate the student.

Under the terms of the agreement, the school will:

• Revise its disability non-discrimination policy;

• Modify its admissions policies and procedures to ensure that the school fully and appropriately assesses its ability to accommodate an applicant with disabilities before rendering a decision;

• Implement appropriate procedures for responding to requests for reasonable accommodations;

• Provide comprehensive training to admissions staff; and

• Remove architectural barriers in school buildings to ensure the facilities are ADA-compliant.

“Children with disabilities deserve equal opportunities to attend independent schools,” said Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb. “I want to thank the Park School for its cooperation throughout our investigation, its eagerness to address the issues identified, and its commitment to diversity, including disability. The policies that Park School has agreed to implement should serve as blueprints for other independent schools to ensure that their admissions processes do not discriminate against children with disabilities.”

This matter was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Torey Cummings and Stephen Heymann of the Civil Rights Unit.

The Civil Rights Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office was established in 2015 with the mission of enhancing federal civil rights enforcement. For more information on the Office’s civil rights efforts, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-ma/civil-rights. For more information on the ADA, please visit www.ADA.gov.