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Accessibility Policy

In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology (EIT) accessible to people with disabilities. The law (29 U.S.C § 794 (d)) applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology. Under Section 508, agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public access to information comparable to the access available to others. The following grievance process is intended to provide for the prompt and equitable resolution of complaints regarding the website involving discrimination or access on the basis of disability.
 
 
 

Grievance Policy relating to Section 508

Lawrence Public Schools is committed to protecting and ensuring the right of students with disabilities. The website follows section 508, and its guidelines for telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment covered by Section 255 of the Communications Act of 1934.  The proposed revisions and updates to the section 508-based standards and section 255-based guidelines are intended to ensure that information and communication technology covered by the respective statutes is accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.
 
Lawrence Public Schools investigates and processes program complaints concerning Section 508. Individuals with disabilities may file an administrative complaint with the Lawrence Public Schools requesting that existing electronic and information technology (E&IT), such as a Lawrence Public Schools branded website or non-accessible document that does not conform to the Section 508 standards, be reviewed and brought into compliance with the provisions of Section 508.
 

Lawrence Public Schools Grievance Procedures for Section 508

Individuals or groups who believe they have been subjected to unlawful discrimination on the basis of disability, or have been denied access to services or accommodations required by law under Section 508, are encouraged to use these grievance procedures. 
 
The grievance must be in the form of a detailed written complaint and it must include the following: 
 
  1. A full description of the allegations of the complaint and any relevant facts, including relevant dates
  2. A summary of the steps the complainant has already taken in attempt to resolve the problem, including the names of persons involved and if alternative means of providing the services were utilized
  3. A statement of the requested resolution and the complainant’s rationale for the requested accommodations for each perceived violation
  4. Any supporting documentation and screen shots of the issue
  5. The name and contact information (address, email address and phone number) of the person initiating the complaint
 
After completing the written Section 508 complaint the grievance should be sent to:
 
Chris Markuns
Manager of Communications
Lawrence Public Schools
237 Essex Street
Lawrence, MA 01840
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 
A grievant must notify Lawrence Public Schools of his or her informal Section 508 Grievance within ten (10) days of the occurrence. 
 
A copy of the grievance may, as appropriate, be sent to the Lawrence Pubic Schools Media, IS&T, and to those to whom are involved for review and discussion to seek the best alternative and solution for the grievance.
 
If the Deputy Superintendent believes the Complaint, in part or in full, is valid, to the extent permitted under applicable law, the Deputy Superintendent will direct a resolution of the Complaint and notify the Complainant of that resolution.
 

Confidentiality

Lawrence Public Schools will strive to maintain the confidentiality of information shared throughout the grievance process. However, disclosures may be required for the purpose of fact-finding or efforts to resolve the grievance. In the limited instances where disclosures must be made, disclosures will be limited to those persons necessary to proceed in the fact-finding process or to otherwise address the grievance. All persons involved in the grievance will be advised of the importance of confidentiality in the process and asked to maintain the confidentiality of the information discussed during the fact-finding process and the identity of the grievant. 
 
A grievant should understand that where a grievance is specifically directed against one or more specific electronic and information technology (E&IT), the grievance itself or portions of the grievance will be disclosed to those department(s) and individual(s) for purposes of response.
 
A grievant should also understand that where a grievance is specifically directed against one or more specific individual(s), the grievance itself or portions of the grievance will be disclosed to those individual(s) for purposes of response.
 

Accessibility Remedies

The Lawrence Public Schools will impose remedies intended to correct the discriminatory effects on the grievant to prevent the recurrence of any prohibited acts.
 
Possible remedies under this grievance procedure include corrective steps, actions to reverse the effects of discrimination, and measures to provide a reasonable solution for the grievance. 
 

Formal Federal Agency Grievance Procedures

 
Individuals or groups are encouraged to utilize Lawrence Public Schools process towards resolving disability-related grievances. However, individuals or groups with grievances or complaints against the Lawrence Public Schools based on the violations of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act as Amended (ADAAA) also have the right to file a complaint with a designated federal agency.
 
Office of Civil Rights (OCR)
U.S. Department of Education
8th Floor
5 Post Office Square
Boston, MA 02109-3921
Telephone: (617) 289-0111
TDD: 800-877-8339
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 

Records

The Lawrence Public Schools will retain the files and records related to Complaints and will ensure the confidentiality of such files and records in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
 

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This privacy policy applies only to the use of this website. As you navigate this website, you may see links that, when clicked, will take you to other websites operated by other state agencies and, in certain rare instances, websites that are external to Lawrence Public Schools. These other websites have individual privacy policies tailored to the interactions available through those sites. We strongly suggest that you read the privacy policies for each website that you visit through any link appearing on this site.

At this website, we do our best to protect your privacy to the maximum extent possible. However, because some of the information that we receive through this website is subject to the Public Records Law, Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 66, Section 10, we cannot ensure absolute privacy. Information that you provide to us through this site may be made available to members of the public under that law. This policy informs you of the information that we collect from you at this site and what we do with it. Based on this information, you can make an informed choice about your use of this site.

Information Automatically Collected and Stored by this Site

This site also collects and stores your “Internet Protocol (IP) address” (which does not identify you as an individual) indefinitely, as well as information about the date and time of your visit, whether a file you have requested exists, and how many "bytes" of information were transmitted to you over the Web from this site. We use this data to assess the frequency of visits to this site and the popularity of its various pages and functions.

In addition, we may use third-party analytics tools to collect information about use of this site. These tools collect information such as how often users visit this site, what pages they visit when they do so, and what other sites they used prior to coming to this site. We use the information we get from these tools only to improve this site. The analytics tools we use collect only the IP address assigned to you on the date you visit this site, rather than your name or other identifying information. We do not combine the information collected through the use of the analytics tools with personally identifiable information. Although the analytics tools plant a persistent cookie on your web browser to identify you as a unique user the next time you visit this site, the cookie cannot be used by anyone but the third-party analytics provider. You can prevent the analytics provider from recognizing you on return visits to this site by disabling cookies on your browser.

Cookies

Lawrence Public Schools utilizes "cookies" to enhance the experience on our Site and to gather analytical data. Cookies are text files we place in your computer's, mobile device’s, tablet’s or other device’s browser to help us improve our access to our Site and identify repeat visitors to our Site. Cookies can also enable us to track and target the interests of visitors to our Site to enhance the experience on our Site. We us cookies to understand Site usage and to improve the content on our Site. In addition, we may use the services of third parties to collect and use anonymous information about your visits to and interactions with our Site through the use of technologies such as cookies to personalize experience. Cookies do not store personal information about you, unless you voluntarily provide it. 
Lawrence Public Schools does not collect any personal information about you unless you provide that information voluntarily by sending an email, completing a request or event registration form, or completing an online application.
The Lawrence Public Schools site uses temporary “session cookies” to create an enhanced visitor experience. For example, the Lawrence Public Schools website uses session cookies to support its accessibility features, which allow all our users to have equal opportunities access for navigating our site whom may, or may not find it hard to view or navigate the Lawrence Public Schools site. These cookies are stored only in memory and are deleted when the user's browser is shut down.

The Lawrence Public Schools site also uses “persistent cookies.” The purpose of these persistent cookies is to collect and aggregate data regarding the site’s visitor activity, which allows us to continuously evaluate and improve our website services. For example, the Lawrence Public Schools site uses “persistent cookies” to support keep a visitor log on who is uses the Lawrence Public Schools site. You may elect to disable the persistent cookies. Please be advised, however, that disabling the persistent cookies may affect your ability to view or interact with certain features of this website.

You may refuse cookies by turning them off in your browser. Your browser may also be set not to accept cookies.

Dissemination of Your Personally Identifiable Information

We do not sell any personally identifiable information collected through this website or submitted to the Lawrence Public Schools website through the use of this website. However, once you voluntarily submit personally identifiable information through this website, the Lawrence Public Schools may, at its discretion, share your information with third parties. Although the Lawrence Public Schools does not generally disclose such information to third parties, it may do so at its discretion. In addition, the information that you voluntarily submit will also be disclosed to Lawrence Public Schools employees or officials, or those under contract with the Lawrence Public Schools, who have a "need to know" your information for the purposes of fulfilling their job responsibilities and responding to your requests.

Links to Other Sites

This Site contains links to other sites. The Lawrence Public Schools is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such other websites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave this Site to read the privacy statements to other websites.

Limitation of Liability

The user assumes all responsibility and risk for the use of this Site and the Internet in general.  Under no circumstances shall the Lawrence Public Schools, or anyone involved in creating or maintaining this Site be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, lost profits, or other damages whatsoever including, without limitation, damages that result from; the use or inability to use or access to the Site and/or any other websites which are linked to this Site; reliance by a visitor on any information obtained via the Site; or mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion of files, viruses, errors, defects, or any failure of performance, communications failure, theft, destruction or unauthorized access. In states which do not allow the above limitations of liability, liability shall be limited to the greatest extent permitted by law.

Policy Changes

Any information we collect under the current privacy policy will remain subject to the terms of this policy. After any changes take effect, all new information we collect, if any, will be subject to the new policy.

Contact Information

For questions about your privacy while using this website, please contact the LPS Media, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.