Abstract
Purpose. It was the purpose of this study to determine the current status of implementation of the categories of reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 in the elementary, high school, and unified school districts in Los Angeles County. In order to analyze the implementation of the ADA, school districts were further analyzed by comparing elementary school districts to unified school districts. The four responding high school districts constituted too small a sample for comparison. Methodology. Descriptive research was the method selected for this study. The data for the study were derived from questionnaires sent to the chief personnel officers serving in seventy-seven school districts in Los Angeles County. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Program for the Social Sciences (SPSS) computer program. Information provided by SPSS included frequencies, means, standard error, standard deviation, and percentages. Additionally, a chi-square or t-test was used to determine significant differences for the research questions in this study. Significance was set at the.05 level of confidence. Findings. The study found that unified school districts have significantly more disabled employees, more requests for reasonable accommodations, and more job applicants that ask for reasonable accommodations than elementary school districts. Elementary school districts have developed more formal job descriptions than unified school districts at a significant level. It was found that the majority of the school districts in Los Angeles County need to develop essential functions for each of their job descriptions. The findings indicated the necessity to develop a compliance clause, either in union contracts or as a separate letter, to conform with the ADA as union contracts don't supplant federal law. The study also found that the majority of school districts do not provide employees information regarding the procedure to request reasonable accommodations. Recommendations. Through the entire employment relationship, the ADA employment provisions apply. Regulations provided by the ADA are vague and offer only general guidance. Since the regulations of the ADA are open to interpretation, legal counsel should be consulted and utilized to review policies, job descriptions, applications forms and union contracts.