Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Teen Wins Supreme Court Case Over Disability Accommodations At School
The Supreme Court on Thursday made it easier for students to prove their schools are not making proper accommodations for disabilities, ruling for the family of a Minnesota teen with a severe form of epilepsy who claimed her school district did not do enough to meet her instructional needs. An attorney for Ava Tharpe argued that schoolchildren had to meet an unfairly high burden to show schools are falling short under the Americans With Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act and other disability statutes. The high court unanimously agreed. (Jouvenal, 6/12)
In other news about disability rights 鈥
Federal officials are holding off on implementing new regulations that were hailed as the largest expansion of rights for airline passengers with disabilities in a generation. The U.S. Department of Transportation said this week that it will not enforce what鈥檚 known as the 鈥淲heelchair Rule鈥 until at least August. The rule, which was finalized by the Biden administration in December, requires annual training for airline staff and contractors who help people with disabilities or who handle wheelchairs. In addition, the regulations impose stronger standards for how assistance must be provided, specifying that it be 鈥渟afe and dignified,鈥 and detail the steps airlines must take if a wheelchair is damaged or delayed. (Heasley, 6/11)
About a dozen residents of a homeless encampment in northwest Berkeley will be allowed to remain there while the city continues its effort to dismantle the settlement. The Berkeleyside reports the order will allow at least a dozen residents with physical and mental disabilities to remain at the site for about two months. The court gave the City of Berkeley the time to find accommodations for the disabled residents. (Khalid, 6/11)
Are students with special needs safe in school? It鈥檚 a question Project Baltimore has been asking for weeks after uncovering new information following a student鈥檚 death. Now, additional special education data obtained by Fox45 News, has one advocate saying safety is not always a school鈥檚 top priority. (Papst, 6/12)
