Office for Civil Rights Discrimination Complaint Form
The State Department Of Human services refered me to the U.S. Justice Department. The justice Department refered me to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.
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On 01/08/05 I received a notification via certified mail from the ******* County Board of Education dated Jan. 7, 2005 signed by **** *****, Chairman of the ******* County Hearing Authority. Contents follow:
Mr. And Mrs. ******,
This letter is to inform you that the ******* County Hearing Authority will meet at 9:15 a.m., Wednesday, January 12, 2005 at the Board of Education in ************.
The comittee will hear the zero-tolerance charge against your daughter, ********. If you have any questions, contact me at ***-****.
Sincerely,
(signed)
**** *****, Chairman
******* County Hearing Authority
On 01/10/05, my wife called Dr. *****, Director of Schools and informed him that I was hearing impared. He replied that she should tell them when we went to the meeting.
On 01/12/2005, my wife, daughter, and I attended the ZT board meeting. We were accompanied by my daughter's Mental Health Center case manager, ***** ******* (***-****).
Being escorted into the conference room, my wife informed Mr. ***** that I was hearing impared. His only response was a grin. Once seated in the conference room, my wife again reminded Mr. *****, and the entire comitee, that I was hearing impared. No accomodation was made or offered. My wife tried to relate to me what was being said, but I only understood bits and pieces of what transpired. I asked a few brief questions, then the hearing was adjourned. As we left the conference room, I loudly complained to my daughter's case manager that I had been left out of the meeting. Outside the building, my wife and the case manager tried to fill me in on what had been said.
My wife then contacted Dr. ***** and asked for a transcript of the recording made at the hearing. She was told that it had not yet been transcribed, but we would receive a copy when it was.
On 01/13/2005 I received a second letter from Mr. *****:
January 12, 2005
Mr. and Mrs. ******,
This letter is to inform you that the ******* County Hearing Authority met Tuesday, January 12, 2005 and heard the case against your daughter, ********.
The decision of the DCHA comitee was that ******** will be suspended from school for one calendar year and placed in Alternative School in accordance with the zero-tolerance laws of the State of Tennessee. Please be informed that you have the right to request a review of this decision by the ******* County School Board within five days of notification of this decision.
Sincerely,
(signed)
**** *****, Chairman
******* County Hearing Authority
Repeated requests were made by my wife for a copy of the transcript. (case manager) ***** also made calls requesting the transcript on my behalf. To this date, no transcript has ever been provided.
It is my assertion that by denying my requests for auxillary device for the hearing, I was effectively excluded from witnessing and participation in that hearing on my daughter's behalf. Repeated notification that I was Deaf/HOH were ignored and there was no attempt made to accomodate my disability. As a direct result, my daughter was "convicted" and "sentenced" by the comittee and to this day I have no idea who said what, what evidence was presented by who, or really, since no charges were ever given to me in writing, what she was charged with.
I am late deafened (post lingual), and do not have TTY, ASL, or SEE skills. I have not received any oral training (lip reading, and do not have ITE or OTE hearing aids. I also have chronic tinnitus and hear a roaring sound all the time masking what residual hearing I do have.
What common sense accomodation could they have made? A transcription secretary could have typed the proceedings into a computer in real time so that I could read the monitor. If a computer was not available to the school system, even handwritten minutes passed to me from a secretary would have been better than nothing.
An accomodation after the fact would have been to see to it that I received a transcription of the hearing in time for me to avail myself of my right to appeal the decision of the comittee
I honestly believe that the finding/ ruling of the diciplinary comittee should be voided because of their blatent disregard for the rights of myself and my daughter. I would like to see them made unforgetably aware that ADA compliance does not end with parking spaces, wider doors, and rails around toilets. Deaf people are covered by ADA also. Compliance alternatives should be readily available to deaf people in all school venues, and especially when something so drastic and life altering as a ZT hearing is concerned.
Good luck! 
