Student revolt on Mt. Philo!

A lovely story from Ben's first year at Edmunds Middle School. He's likely the first student in the 111-year history of Vermont's most prominent school to attend using a wheelchair. The five-story brick building, which sits on Main Street in the state's largest city, was made whole last year with the addition of an elevator.

Ben's team of 50 6th graders and teachers did a "hike for hunger" fund-raiser last week... they hiked to the top of Mt. Philo. As the kids spilled out of vehicles at the base of this mountain, Ben's mom prepared to drive him to the top in their ramp-van via the access road. Everyone else was hiking up the narrow trail through the woods.

That's when the student revolt hit. "No fair!" "Ben should go with us!" Suddenly, Ben was headed up the access road with a dozen classmates and adults pushing and pulling him in his wheelchair! That's a loooong steep push! (See pair of photos on the school's home page.)

What a great group of students and teachers. Diversity benefits everyone.

Edmunds Elevator Celebration Video Coverage

Great coverage of the Edmunds elevator celebration from CCTV Channel 17...



See two years worth of media coverage of this issue here.

WCAX: Burlington school finally handicapped-accessible

Burlington School Finally Handicap Accessible
WCAX
Burlington, Vermont - January 19, 2011

Burlington's oldest school is finally starting to look a little more modern.

Parents, teachers, and students cut the ribbon Wednesday on a brand new $500,000 state-of-the-art elevator at the Edmunds School.

There have been people working to get an elevator in Edmunds for decades. And no parent was happier about the new addition than Michael Wood-Lewis. His son Ben currently attends fifth-grade at Champlain Elementary. Without an elevator, he wouldn't be able to move on to middle school at Edmunds next year with many of his fellow classmates.

"I don't think there have been any students to attend Edmunds who use a wheelchair simply because they couldn't. There have been plenty of candidates but they've all been sent elsewhere," Michael Wood-Lewis said.

Accessibility for disabled students is a problem perplexing many of Vermont's schools. Only one new school has been built in the past decade and more than half are at least 40 years old, built before requirements for handicapped accessibility. That means most are in need of improvements.

The Vermont Center for Independent Living fields complaints about school accessibility on a regular basis.

"I think generally people look at the main bathrooms or the main entrance, but maybe the second floor isn't accessible to everybody or the staging area for the theater isn't accessible to everybody," said Sarah Launderville of VCIL.

Schools must meet requirements outlined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, but many resort to creative measures in order to do so, like bringing in stair lifts instead of installing expensive elevators or moving classes downstairs to accommodate disabled students.

In the case of Edmunds, disabled students were simply sent elsewhere in the district.

But there are signs of progress, especially recently. According to the Vermont Education Department, upwards of 20 schools have taken advantage of federal stimulus funds to make major accessibility upgrades to schools.

"School budgets are so strapped that when stimulus money came in it was one area where they could really expand and make improvements," Launderville said.

And for families like Ben's-- that's encouraging news. Families that just want to see their children made a part of the classroom community in every way possible.

"It's the daily lottery to see who gets to ride in the elevator with Ben," Michael Wood-Lewis said. "It's really about accessibility and inclusion."

Keagan Harsha - WCAX News

Edmunds Elevator Carries First Passengers!

Speeches were made, thanks shared, a ribbon cut, and rides were gladly taken on the new first-ever elevator in 111-year-old Edmunds Middle School today!

While many people have worked and wished for this day for decades, the current effort started two years ago, January 2009. It took one year to convince the school and city leadership to make this project a priority and to locate funds, and one year to design and build it. Amazing!

Congratulations and thanks to all involved!!

Spread the Word... Edmunds Elevator Celebration Poster

Download this poster and share it around Burlington before Jan. 19, 2011!

Newspaper Covers Edmunds Elevator Progress

In today's Free Press...

Burlington school renovations make progress
By Molly Walsh
Burlington Free Press
Thursday, January 6, 2011

The ribbon-cutting ceremony planned for a new elevator at Edmunds Middle School on Jan. 19 will wrap up a wave of improvements at city schools over the past 18 months and be followed by another round, school officials said.

The $1.5 million elevator project will improve handicap access in the century-old, multi-story structure whose many stairs are an obstacle for people with mobility problems.

Michael Wood-Lewis, a South End parent who led the campaign to make the building more accessible, said the elevator means one of the most prominent public school buildings in Vermont -- located on Main Street in Vermont's most populous city -- will finally be open to all.

"It's very significant. It means that people who use wheelchairs or have other mobility issues will now be able to work in the building or be a student in the building or attend events or vote," Wood-Lewis said.

The elevator will allow 11-year-old Ben Wood-Lewis, a fifth-grader at Champlain School who has cerebral palsy, to attend Edmunds Middle next year with his current classmates rather than being assigned to the one-story Hunt Middle School across the city in the New North End.

Until now, it has been district practice to assign South End students who use wheelchairs to attend Hunt because Hunt is handicapped accessible. Michael Wood-Lewis argued that this practice was unfair for many reasons, including the way it separated students from their grade school peers.

Ben Wood-Lewis, who was recently in the hospital, came home to find 30 get-well cards from buddies at Champlain -- underscoring the importance of friendship, his father said.

"These are his classmates and these are the folks he's going to middle school with now," Michael Wood-Lewis said.

The elevator project is just one item on an ambitious list of renovations, including some that cost significantly more than anticipated. Voters approved a $9.7 million bond in 2009 that was supposed to pay for overhauls at three schools but will come up short. Costs for some projects exceeded estimates:

-- Work at the Sustainability Academy at Lawrence Barnes was expected to cost $2.5 million when the bond went to voters, was estimated at $3 million last year after a kitchen renovation was added and will cost about $3.27 million.

-- Work at C.P. Smith School was estimated at $3.1 million but will cost about $4 million, said Chris Giard, property services director for Burlington Schools.

-- The reminder of the $9.7 million bond will not be enough to cover the third renovation project, at J.J. Flynn School, which was projected to cost $3.96 million initially but is now pegged at $4.7 million.

The district plans to move forward with the renovations at Flynn and cover costs above the $9.7 million bond through an annual $2 million bonding authority that city voters approved in 2009. This bonding authority and about $300,000 in federal stimulus funds helped pay for the Edmunds elevator.

Burlington Superintendent Jeanne Collins said a number of factors contributed to higher than anticipated costs at Smith and the Sustainability Academy, including the difficulty of making accurate estimates more than 18 months before construction begins. She thanked Burlington voters for their generosity and said she was pleased that so much work has been done in the district, which operates nine schools and owns more than 20 buildings. The recent round of improvements are significant, she said.

"I don't think the district has seen that much work in about 50 years," she said.

Contact Molly Walsh at 660-1874 or mwalsh@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com.

Edmunds Elevator Ribbon-Cutting Jan. 19, 2011

Burlington School District Superintendent Jeanné Collins announced on CCTV that the Edmunds elevator ribbon-cutting celebration will occur...

January 19, 2011 (Jan. 20 snow date)
3:30 PM
Edmunds cafeteria
Details to follow!

The following video clip is a compelling discussion of inclusion and accessibility in Burlington schools that aired December 2, 2010...

Ribbon cutting for new Edmunds elevator?

Rumor has it that a ribbon-cutting event is in the works for the latter half of January 2011 for the almost-completed Edmunds Middle School elevator! Very exciting. Stay tuned for details.

Edmunds Update

From Burlington School Board Chair, Fred Lane, about the school board meeting this week...

One of the final items that the Board dealt with was approval of the bid for the installation of the elevator at Edmunds Middle School. Site work will start in the basement of the building before the end of the month, and intensive work will get underway as soon as school is finished in mid-June. The project is scheduled to finish before the start of school in September and I am looking forward to a ribbon-cutting, button-pushing ceremony. We will continue to work to improve accessibility in the Edmunds complex, but this is a great milestone.

Source: Front Porch Forum

Edmunds Accessibility Effort Wins Award

Today the effort to make Edmunds schools accessible garnered some lovely recognition. The Vermont Family Network presented one of the leaders of the Edmunds campaign, Michael Wood-Lewis, with it's first annual Nancy DiVenere Award for Outstanding Parent or Caregiver.

Parent to Parent of Vermont founder, Nancy DiVenere, herself made the presentation and outlined the struggle to open up this school to all students and community members. Wood-Lewis said in accepting the award on behalf of the team who worked on the effort...

... about the Edmunds school accessibility project... wow! We went from a solid "no way" to our request to open up the most prominent school in the state... to one year later hearing a big fat "yes!" In fact, the school board just approved a contractor this week and construction on a five-stop elevator and bathroom modifications should be completed by fall of this year. Amazing.

So thanks to Superintendent Jeanne Collins and the Burlington School Commissioners for being open to this progress and making it real. And thanks to the hundreds of Vermonters who weighed in through Front Porch Forum, letters and calls, button-holing officials on the sidewalk, etc... your grassroots push made all the difference.

And that team I mentioned... a fantastic group of persistent professionals, politicians and parents, including: Suzy Comerford, City Councilor Karen Paul, Peggy Owen Sands, Connie Curtin, Deborah Lisi-Baker, Kim Brittenham, Sarah Launderville, Sam Abel-Palmer, Patrick Halladay, Jessica Oski, and others.

One last point... this accessibility campaign would not have happened without the inspiration provided by our ten-year-old son, Benjamin Wood-Lewis, and his younger siblings, Madeline, Henry and Isaac. I'm one proud papa. And my beautiful wife, Valerie, played an active and critical role throughout this project.

And since I'm up here to receive an "outstanding parent award," let me accept it in honor of my parenting mentor, my partner and my inspiration... the best parent I know... Valerie Wood-Lewis. Thank you.

Edmunds will be accessible this time next year!

Hallelujah! It's official... the Burlington School Board allocated the funding necessary for Phase 1 of improving Edmunds... complex-wide overhaul of the electrical system and the fire alarms... and a brand-spanking-new first-ever elevator (five stop) in the middle school.

Congratulations to all the advocates, our school leaders, the kids, and our whole community... all of whom will benefit directly or indirectly. Bravo. Here's Molly Walsh's take on it in the Free Press yesterday...

Next year at this time, one of Burlington's old school buildings should be more accessible to students and others who use wheelchairs.

The city School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to install an elevator in the Edmunds Middle School on Main Street and make electrical and fire safety changes that will cost about $1.55 million. The vote came after more than a year of lobbying by parents, school employees and community members who said the building's many stairs block access to classes, school plays, voting and First Night performances.

Under current district practice, students who use wheelchairs and would normally be districted to Edmunds Middle are assigned to Hunt Middle School in the city's New North End.

Valerie and Michael Wood-Lewis, South Enders whose 9-year-old son has cerebral palsy, led the drive for access and argued that it was wrong to segregate students with disabilities. Scores of people attended public meetings -- including school staffers who spoke of not being able to get up and down stairs in casts, and grandparents who couldn't climb up to the third floor classrooms for open houses.

The vote will help make a beautiful historic building more accessible to everyone, Valerie Wood-Lewis said. "I'm just thrilled for the whole community that this is moving forward."

Community members have complained for years about the building's lack of access. The School Board had proposed improvements as part of a large bond that fizzled last fall, and it looked as though the building could remain off limits to wheelchair users for years.

Parents and others lobbied hard for the changes last spring, and the School Board put the project on the front burner. "We were able to accelerate this a little faster than we expected so I think everybody's pretty pleased," said Fred Lane, chairman of the Burlington School Board.

The board will use leftover bonding capacity money from fiscal year 2009 and about $300,000 in federal grant money to pay for the project, which is expected to go out to bid in March. Construction should begin as soon as school lets out.

The first phase will cover only a portion of the changes needed. For example, wheelchair users bound for the middle school building will have to enter through a door at the adjacent Edmunds Elementary School and cross over to the middle school via a ramp in a connecting building.

"It's a start," Valerie Wood-Lewis said.

Contact Molly Walsh at 660-1874 or mwalsh@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com.

More Edmunds Accessibility Coverage

WCAX covered the big news that the Burlington School District is finally preparing to make Edmunds school accessible to people with mobility impairments.



Not working? See video clip here.

Accessible Edmunds One Step Closer to Reality

Tonight, the Burlington School Board's finance committee voted to approve the Superintendent's recommendation that the School District use existing funds to tackle all of Phase 1 of making the Edmunds complex accessible.

What's all this mean? Well, time will tell, but when asked, the committee said it means that, pending full board approval on Sept. 8 (7 PM at BHS) and no serious code inspection hurdles, BSD will begin designing Phase 1 immediately and put it out to bid in January 2010... in four or five months! Construction will start the last day of this new school year and be completed by this time next year... in time for the 2010-2011 school year... WOW!

This is an incredible accomplishment for our school leadership and the many, many local advocates. Of course, we're not at the finish line yet... that will be the ribbon cutting ceremony on the new elevator one year from now. And then folks will need to tackle remaining Burlington school accessibility challenges... of which there are many... but none as daunting as this first one! Thanks to all involved in this pending success.

So please attend the Sept. 8 full school board meeting at 7 PM at Burlington High School.

Here's Fox 44 News' take...

Burlington Looks To Make Middle School Handicap Accessible
Posted: Sep 1, 2009 10:19 PM

At the Burlington School District finance meeting Tuesday night education leaders recommended using the remaining $1.25 million in last year's capitol bond to jump start renovations on Edmunds Middle School.

Right now the only way for a student to enter the Edmunds Middle School is by using stairs which can be a challenge or even impossible for students with disabilities.

The first phase is to put in an elevator that would go from the basement to the 5th floor.

"We do have approval from the department of education to use federal stimulus money for a portion of the elevator," Burlington Superintendent Jeanne Collins said.

Phase two through five would add an elevator in the elementary school and ramps around the middle school. Collins says they hope to install the elevator next summer at Edmunds Middle School.

And here's the more detailed video version from Fox 44 News...

Zoe's Race - Accessibility Fundraiser

Congratulations to the Nestor family for organizing the first Zoe's Race on August 30. Named after their young daughter, this event is a money-raiser for a HowardCenter fund for families who need cash to make changes to their homes to accommodate a family with some sort of mobility need.

Tim Johnson at the Burlington Free Press covered it today.

Critical meetings for making Edmunds accessible

Burlington school leaders are making steady progress toward making Edmunds accessible to all students and community members. Now is the time for people interested in this issue to tune in and attend the following critical meetings...

Burlington School Board Finance Committee meeting
Sept. 1, 2009
5 PM
Ira Allen Administrative Center, 150 Colchester Ave

Burlington School Board ITC meeting
Sept. 1, 2009
7PM
Ira Allen Administrative Center, 150 Colchester Ave

Burlington School Board meeting
Sept. 8, 2009
7 PM
Burlington High School cafeteria

Check here for schedule changes.

VPR: "How accessible is Vermont?"

From Vermont Public Radio today... listen here...

Vermont Edition
08/12/09
How accessible is Vermont?
By Jane Lindholm

AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach

Sit-skiing, hand-cycling, and adaptive sailing- the state is teeming with opportunities for disabled Vermonters to stay active and enjoy an outdoor lifestyle. But just how accessible is the state on a day-to-day basis? Say, at the grocery store, or town hall? We explore the challenges faced by and opportunities offered to disabled Vermonters. Our guests include Sarah Launderville of the Vermont Center for Independent Living, and Patrick Standen, the director of the Northeast Disabled Athletes Association.

San Francisco improves access to schools

Burlington's not the only school district working to make old buildings accessible to community members with mobility impairments...

School improves access for disabled students
Jill Tucker, jtucker@sfchronicle.com
San Francisco Chronicle, page B - 1
Tuesday, April 7, 2009

A year ago, Gaby Castro would show up at Mission High School not knowing whether she'd be able to get to her classes that day.

If the one elevator wasn't working, a weekly occurrence, Castro would be stuck on the school's second floor - her wheelchair unable to navigate all the 27 level changes scattered throughout the 84-year-old building.

And even if the elevator was working, Castro still couldn't get to many parts of the campus, including a gym and an auditorium.

Now, about a year and $18 million later, the 18-year-old senior can get wherever she wants, whenever she wants at school.

"Now it's, like, so perfect," Castro said.

In San Francisco, the district has budgeted about $255 million to ensure that about 90 schools meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements by 2012.

A federal judge is overseeing the work - everything from ramps and water fountains to scattered seating in auditoriums - to ensure that San Francisco schools adhere to a 2004 legal settlement correcting a lack of disabled access in the schools.

The Lopez case forced the district to put ADA access over everything else - sometimes leaving failing roofs or faulty boilers for later.

"It forced upon the district a legal settlement with very, very strict guidelines and timelines," said district Chief Facilities Officer David Goldin.

Voters have approved two facilities bonds in recent years, one in 2003 for $295 million and another in 2006 for $450 million. The district is also getting nearly $100 million in state bond money.

About 30 percent is being spent to fulfill Lopez requirements, Goldin said.

Ensuring disabled access never comes cheap. Take the controversial and costly ramp to bypass the five steps up to the historic podium in the Board of Supervisors chamber in San Francisco City Hall. The total renovation related to the ramp is estimated to cost about $1 million.

At Mission High School, the project required architects to make a five-story school built on a hill - one side of the building is 50 feet higher than the other - accessible.

Inside, the 600 doors of varying sizes and shapes had to open easily, especially for wheelchair users.

Every water fountain, every bathroom, every doorway was adjusted or completely redone. Each of those 27 separate level changes had to be addressed.

And they had to do something about the elevator.

"This building was never built with (the ADA) in mind," Goldin said.

The architects spent two years designing the changes. Construction took two more years, with a flurry of work during the summers. Aside from finishing touches, the work is essentially done.

There are now two elevators - one that makes seven stops, including two stops on levels that are up or down a few steps off main floors.

"I think it's all about equal access," said special-education teacher Nikki Taylor. The disabled students "can go see a play. They can go to the library to check out a book."

Upgrading to ADA standards also resulted in improvements for all students, including new bathrooms throughout the school and improvements to the historic main auditorium.

"This was really a major challenge," said Lisa Gelfand, principal of the architectural firm Gelfand Partners, as she walked through the hallways pointing out the various ramps and ADA changes. "A tremendous challenge."

While the majority of the school's 850 students will never need any of the $18 million worth of ADA improvements, teachers and students say the improvements have created equality and are worth every penny.

"That's the positive out of all this, that if you were blind or if you were mobility impaired, you have equal and free access (to) the best Mission High School has to offer," Goldin said.

Special-education teacher Tanya Derkash shudders when she recalls how students couldn't get to their regular high school classes because of the elevators.

"We would go get their work and they would come in here," she said of the second-floor special-education room.

Senior Lepa Kupu, 19, remembers those days.

Born with cerebral palsy, he uses a wheelchair equipped with a touch screen that allows him to type or select common words off multiple screens.

"I came started here our school don't ramp everywhere," he said, moving across various screens quickly to access the words he wanted.

Then he smiled as he completed the next sentence that appeared at the top of his screen.

"This year excellent."

Edmunds awarded grant

Congratulations to the Burlington School District... the Edmunds renovation project just landed a $20,000 grant. From the Burlington Free Press today...

More than $85,000 in grants have been awarded to 19 municipalities in Vermont to help ensure people with disabilities have access to polling places, according to a statement from Secretary of State Deb Markowitz.

The Burlington School District received the maximum amount -- $20,000 -- to install automatic doors and add handicap parking spaces... The grants are intended to help towns meet the mandates of the federal Help America Vote act signed into law in 2002... Since the program began, the Secretary of State's Office has awarded 119 grants worth $481,538. For more information on the Help America Vote Act, visit http://vermont-elections.org/elections1/hava.html

Burlington School Board Votes for Edmunds Accessibility

The Burlington school board passed the following motions tonight. This is a great stride forward! More steps to come.

2) Elevator Accessibility

2a) Motion: Ask Bobby Miller to review concepts and budget for Phase I to verify budgetary numbers and identify potential problems as well as have the plan reviewed by Access Board.

2b) Motion: to request prior to any concept reviews, the C Building addition that addresses security, external access and curricular program access be added to the concept drawings.

2c) Motion: to accept the recommendation to finance Phase I A Building elevator project by using $1,090,000 from FY 12 capital project plan, $300,000 IDEA ARRA funds and ask the city or other viable source to support the project with the additional $300,000 needed.

3) Motion: to authorize and direct the chief administrative officer of the city to pledge the credit of the city by issuing negotiable orders, warrants, notes or bonds in an amount not to exceed in the aggregate two million dollars ($2,000,000) in fiscal year 2010 for the purpose of providing working capital and capital improvements, additions and replacements required for the efficient and economical operation of the school department.

Edmunds Accessibility Effort Wins Award

The many local volunteers working to make Edmunds accessible were among those recognized with an award last night! Here's the video from CCTV... start watching just shy of 50% into the piece. A clip from the newspaper's account too...

Champions of diversity in education honored in Burlington
By Molly Walsh
Burlington Free Press
June 4, 2009

When Somali refugee children needed financial assistance to attend summer camp, Nancy Zahniser stepped up to establish a scholarship fund. When Patrick Brown arrived in Burlington 26 years ago, he began a long career of community service designed to reduce racism and increase equal opportunity.

Both received standing ovations and lifetime achievement awards at the first Champions of Diversity and Equity program at Burlington City Hall on Wednesday. More than 100 people attended the awards ceremony designed to honor Vermonters who have worked to affirm social and cultural diversity in Burlington public schools, build bridges across differences in the community and create a culture for leadership and social change...

The awards were sponsored jointly by city government, the school district and the Social Equity Investment Project...

Other champions award recipients included student Nicole Murphy of Burlington High School; Joy Kipp, an art teacher at Hunt Middle School; Michael Wood-Lewis, a Burlington parent who is leading a drive to make Edmunds Middle School handicapped accessible; Denise Dunbar, coordinator of Reading to End Racism of Chittenden County; and Nimo Girreh, a Burlington school district bilingual/bicultural home school liaison...