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​District Court Grants Summary Judgment in Favor of Springfield Public School District 186 in Complaint of Violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act

On January 9, 2017 the U.S. Central District Court of Illinois in Urbana issued an Order granting judgment in favor of Springfield Public School District 186 and terminating Plaintiff’s case against it.

John McQuillan alleged the Springfield School District violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, complaining that he did not have access to Lanphier High School (LHS) in order to participate in his son’s education.  He demanded access to every floor of LHS which is architecturally unreasonable given the age of the buildings comprising LHS.  District 186 voluntarily made all those areas normally open to parents or the community accessible to Plaintiff and any other individual with mobility issues.  Improvements included the construction of accessible restrooms near the Main Office and widening of doors to those areas visited by parents or the public.  A ramp was constructed joining the Main Office area with the gymnasiums where new accessible restrooms were constructed along with an accessible pathway from one gymnasium to the other.  Signage was added inside and out and the ramp landings to accessible areas such as the Commons were modified to provide access from outside.  There was no order requiring District 186 to make such modifications.

After a review of the record, the Honorable Judge Colin S. Bruce concluded that the Plaintiff either failed to prove all the allegations against District 186 or, that the voluntary modifications made by District 186 to LHS and its parent-involved programs provided the Plaintiff the same access to LHS as any other parent.

Because all of the issues raised by this litigation had either been remedied by District 186 or had been abandoned by the Plaintiff, the Court granted summary judgment in favor of District 186 and the case was terminated. 

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