The Equal Educational Opportunities/ADA Compliance Department was established in July, 1975 and charged with the responsibility of monitoring, coordinating, and recommending action aimed toward the Board's policy of equal opportunity in education and employment.

The primary functions/programs of the EEO/ADA Compliance Department are:

Monitoring the District's Equal Access/Equal Opportunities (EA/EO) Initiatives

• Monitors students' participation in academic and other program areas and recommends strategies to improve areas of disproportionate student enrollment/participation.
• Monitors the District's hiring and promotion practices through policy review/revisions and participation in the screening and interviewing of applicants.
• Coordinates the development of the District's Educational Equity Act Plan, which is a state mandated report submitted annually to the Department of Education.
• Distributes the District's Educational Equity Act Plan to school principals and guidance counselors as a tool to equitable student placement in various courses and activities.
• Investigate and resolve complaints of discrimination and harassment in employment and education.
• Assists in providing reasonable accommodations to students and staff, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other statutes.
• Reviews inquiries and concerns related to equal opportunities and equal access.
• Provides data input into and maintains the EEO-5 Report which is a federally mandated report of all employees by job classification, race, and gender.

Keeping the District Informed of EA/EO Laws, Policies, Etc.

• Conducts workshops through Human Resource Development as well as request from District departments or school sites
• Assuring the district's compliance with Federal, State and Board regulations pertaining to equal opportunity and equal access.
• Coordinating, implementing and monitoring State equal opportunity reports/audits.

COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL, STATE & BOARD REGULATIONS

Discrimination Complaints
The EEO/ADA Compliance Department investigates internal charges of discrimination filed by students, applicants or employees. In addition, charges of discrimination against the District, which are filed through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the Broward Human Rights Division, or other discrimination regulatory agencies, are also investigated/resolved through the EEO/ADA Compliance Department.

TRAINING/WORKSHOPS

The EEO/ADA Compliance Department conducts in-service training and workshops designed to increase the district's knowledge and understanding of applicable equal opportunity laws. Training on the Americans with Disabilities Act and Sexual Harassment has been incorporated as a requirement for the Interim Assistant Principal Program. The EEO/ADA Compliance department has developed a Sexual Harassment Implementation Plan designed to train all district personnel and students. School/Department EEO Liaisons have received Sexual Harassment training to assist in the delivery of the training.

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA) COMPLIANCE PROJECT

In 1997, the EEO/ADA Compliance Department coordinated the ADA Compliance Project. This initiative was geared towards assuring that the district is in full compliance with the ADA. A comprehensive, self-evaluation revealed that the district has done an outstanding job in ensuring that programs, services, activities and facilities are accessible to the disabled. The ADA Self-Evaluation Report Implementation Plan was presented to the Board on March 31, 1998.

The Equal Educational Opportunities/ADA Compliance Department is currently working with individual schools, departments and the ADA Compliance Project Committee to assure compliance with the ADA Implementation Plan. This includes a five-year transition plan for structural accessibility projects. In addition, the department coordinates all requests for Reasonable Accommodation for disabled employees.

STATE REPORTS

Annual Educational Equity Act Plan
The Florida Educational Equity Act (FEEA) of 1984 prohibits discrimination in all educational programs and activities operated by public educational institutions. The FEEA requires that state educational institutions develop and implement a three-year plan to increase students and staff participation in traditionally underrepresented areas of study and employment.
View the Annual Educational Equity Act Plan