NEW ROCHELLE, NY — This article is Part X in an Investigative Series by Talk of the Sound into apparent violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act at New Rochelle schools. Part I of the series is here. The investigation covers exterior issues only. For a detailed explanation of terms and requirements you will want to read our Primer on Compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act for Curb Ramps, Access Ramps and Parking Spaces
ADA Compliance Grades: New Rochelle High School:
Accessible Parking: C
Van-Accessible Parking: F
Curb Ramps: B-
Access Ramps: F
Overall Grade: C-
New Rochelle High School has three parking lots and a series of parking spaces that ring McKenna Field which we will treat as a fourth parking lot.
NRHS/Front Parking Lot (Clove Street)
There are 189 parking spaces, 11 Accessible Parking Spaces, 0 Van-Accessible Parking Spaces. This lot is often referred to as the “Teachers Lot”.
9 of the Accessible Parking Spaces are grouped together in a row separated by a grass island.
The five on the left have have 3 signed spaces and 3 unsigned spaces, and none of Accessible Parking signs are for Van-Accessible Parking Spaces. There is one Access Aisle shared between the first and third parking space which measured 62 inches. The other four parking spaces have no Access Aisle.
The four on the right have have no signed spaces and none of the parkings spaces is a Van-Accessible Parking Space. There is one Access Aisle shared between the eighth and ninth parking space which measured 78 inches. The other two parking spaces have no Access Aisle.
The Accessible Parking Space near the Softball Field has an Access Aisle in a triangular shape — large enough to be a Car-Accessible Access Aisle but not large enough to be a Van-Accessible Access Aisle.
The Accessible Parking Space near the Gate near the Whitney Young Auditorium has an Access Aisle which measured 62 inches. There is no Accessible Parking signage.
There is an oddly shaped bit of sidewalk, painted with a blue stripe around it, that appears to serve no particular purpose. Although it is painted blue, designating the sidewalk as part of the Accessible Parking Space, it is routinely used as a regular Parking Space, quite often by Director of Special Education Yvette Goorevitch, who treats it as “her” space, according to District employees who asked not to be identified.
NRHS/Curved Lot Around McKenna Field
There are 125 parking spaces, 2 Accessible Parking Spaces, 0 Van-Accessible Parking Spaces.
The two Accessible Parking Space are near the gated-entrance that leads down to the Interior Parking Lot (more on that in a moment). Both spaces have Accessible Parking signs and an Access Aisle measured at 104 inches. Neither is marked as a Van-Accessible Parking Space.
While these two Accessible Parking Spaces can provide access to the sidewalk leading down to the area between the old high school building and the new wing and to the Access Ramp leading to the Planetarium (more on that Access Ramp below) the parking spaces do not provide reasonable access to the Interior Parking Lot or McKenna Field (the other entrance, on the opposite of the field includes stairs) because the driveway leading to the Interior Parking Lot is too steep (8.1 degrees) for a person in a wheelchair.
NRHS/Interior Parking Lot
There are 35 parking spaces, 0 Accessible Parking Spaces, 0 Van-Accessible Parking Spaces.
NRHS/Braemar Parking Lot (near tennis courts)
There are 89 parking spaces, 3 Accessible Parking Spaces, 0 Van-Accessible Parking Spaces.
The three Accessible Parking Spaces are signed but none of them are signed as Van-Accessible Parking Spaces. There are two Access Aisles between the three parking spaces which measure 88 inches and 84 inches. There are no Curb Ramps at the end of the Access Aisles so no way for a person in a wheelchair to get onto the sidewalk. The only option is to move into parking lot traffic.
New Rochelle High School has 11 Curb Ramps.
There is a Curb Ramp near the Accessible Parking Space in the Front Parking Lot near the softball field. The Transition is not flush.
There are 2 Curb Ramps in the Front Parking Lot near the Whitney Auditorium. The first one has a Running Slop of 10.0 degrees which exceeds the maximum of 8.33 degrees. The Transition is not flush. The second one has a Running Slop of 15.8 degrees which exceeds the maximum of 8.33 degrees.
There are 3 Curb Ramps at the “Embassy Entrance” on Clove Road. All three are compliant although the Access Aisle is not part of any Accessible Parking Space but appears to be an attempt at creating a Drop-Off Zone which is not covered in the ADA worksheet used for this investigation.
There are 5 Curb Ramps in the area of the “New Wing” / Linda Kelly Theater / Braemar Parking Lot. Most of them have Running Slopes in excess of the maximum 8.33 degrees and Flared Sides with a Slope in excess of the maximum of 10 degrees. One of them, under the tunnel connecting the “new wing” to the “old high school” measures 20.0 degrees, more than double the maximum for Flared Sides of a Curb Ramp.
There are two Access Ramps at New Rochelle High School.
One Access Ramp is between the Embassy entrance on Clove Road leading into the back of the Whitney Young Auditorium. The Auditorium Ramp consists of three ramps with Transition areas. The bottom section measured 6.9 degrees, the middle section 6.1 degrees and the top section 0.2 degrees so that the first two sections are in excess of the maximum of 5 degrees slope.
The second Access Ramp is the new ramp providing access to the Planetarium. This ramp was built as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) in 2013. The work for the entire project including the Access Ramp cost about $200,000 and was done under an illegal, no-bid contract. Under New York State law, all such contracts in excess of $35,000 are required to be put up for competitive bid. After the work was completed, Schools Superintendent Richard Organisciak sent a letter to the OCR attesting to the work being completed and all done in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. This claim was false.
The Access Ramp was measured in three sections. The top section was 8.3 degrees, the middle section was 8.9 degrees and the bottom section was also 8.9 degrees. The height of a guard rail measured 44 inches. The Running Slope of Access Ramps can be no more than 5 degrees and there is no hand rail at all — handrails are to be no more than 36 inches off the ground.
Talk of the Sound offered to meet with the District’s ADA/504 Coordinator to review these findings in advance of publication. That offer was declined.
This is the final installment of a 10-part investigative series.
10-Part Series on Violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act in New Rochelle Schools
ADA Violations in New Rochelle Schools – Part I: Trinity Elementary School
ADA Violations in New Rochelle Schools – Part II: Jefferson Elementary School
ADA Violations in New Rochelle Schools – Part III: Columbus Elementary School
ADA Violations in New Rochelle Schools – Part IV: Webster Elementary School
ADA Violations in New Rochelle Schools – Part V: Ward School
ADA Violations in New Rochelle Schools – Part VI: Barnard Childhood Center
ADA Violations in New Rochelle Schools – Part VII: Davis Elementary School
ADA Violations in New Rochelle Schools – Part VIII: Isaac E. Young Middle School
ADA Violations in New Rochelle Schools – Part IX: Albert Leonard Middle School
ADA Violations in New Rochelle Schools – Part X: New Rochelle High School