The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities. It is the policy of the Linn-Mar Community School District to comply with all federal and state laws concerning the employment of persons with disabilities.

It is the policy of the Linn-Mar Community School District not to discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities in regard to application procedures, hiring, advancement, discharge, compensation, and training or other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.

The Linn-Mar Community School District will reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with a temporary or long-term disability so that they can perform the essential functions of a job.

An individual who can be reasonably accommodated for a job without undue hardship will be given the same consideration for the position as any other applicant.

All employees are required to comply with safety standards. Applicants who pose a direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals in the workplace, which threat cannot be eliminated by reasonable accommodation, will not be hired. Current employees who pose a direct threat to the health or safety of the other individuals in the workplace will be placed on appropriate leave until an organizational decision has been made by the superintendent [or designee] in regard to the employee’s immediate employment situation.

Definitions: As used in this policy, the following terms have the indicated meaning and will be adhered to in relation to the ADA policy.

• Disability refers to a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of an individual. An individual who has such an impairment, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment is a disabled individual.
• Direct threat to safety means a significant risk to the health or safety of others that cannot be eliminated by reasonable accommodation.
• Qualified individual with a disability means an individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position that the individual holds or has applied for.
• Reasonable accommodation means making existing facilities readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, job restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules, reassignment to a vacant position, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices, adjustment or modification of examinations, adjustment or modification of training materials, and similar activities.
• Undue hardship means an action requiring significant difficulty or expense by the employer. The factors to be considered in determining an undue hardship include: 1) the nature and cost of the accommodation; 2) the overall financial resources of the district; 3) the number of persons employed; 4) the effect on expenses and resources or other impact on the district; 5) the overall number of employees; and 6) the operations of the entire district. These are not all of the factors but merely examples.
• Essential job functions refers to those activities of a job that are the core to performing said job for which the job exists that cannot be modified.

Adopted: 3/06
Reviewed: 3/11; 12/11; 4/13; 9/14; 8/17; 6/20; 4/23
Related Policy: 403.24-E
Legal Reference (Code of Iowa): § 281-95.3 (256); 29 CFR Part 1630;
161-8.26 (216); ADA Amendments Act of 2008