By Sid Harris
December 6, 2023
Attached is a copy of the agreement made between myself and the City of Methuen concerning a civil rights violation I filed in regards to the High School. The agreement follows a mediation process where the parties involved agreed to make all areas outside the High School accessible by the start of the 2024/2025 school year.
It is unfortunate that it took filing a complaint to bring about change, despite years of advocacy for accessibility in the area. Moving forward, it is recommended that the city develops a procedure that includes departmental collaborate and create oversight from a member of the disability community with technical knowledge to help plan all accessibility projects, thus ensuring Methuen becomes more accessible to all.
It appears that Methuen has a history of hundreds of accessibility violations on file that have not been properly addressed by this and previous administrations, leading to a collective failure to comply with accessibility laws. Despite my attempts, such as working with city officials and the failure of leadership with the local disability commission, there has been little action taken to address these issues. As a result, I’m forced to utilize the regulatory agencies to advocate for positive results for equal access to services and programs for all citizens and visitors to the community.
I invite all city officials once again to come to the table to discuss how we can work together to avoid such actions in the future and work together to help remove so many existing architectural barriers that prohibit people with disabilities from accessing public services and programs.
Methuen faces disability discrimination claim at high school
Sid Harris