School Facilities: Accessibility for the Disabled 


 
                   Money Reported Needed and Spent on
                Accessibility in the Last 3 Years, State
                                Analyses 
 
 
                                                Below\   Above
                                Number          averag  averag
                                    of      No     e\a       e      No
                                school   money  spendi  spendi   money
State                                s   spent      ng      ng  needed
------------------------------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------
Colorado                         1,321    40.9    36.4    10.7    12.0
 
 Average = $40,000 per school. 


                 Money Estimated Needed for Accessibility
                  in the Next 3 Years, State Analyses 
 
                                                 Below   Above
                                Number          averag  averag  Amount
                                    of      No     e\a       e  needed
                                school   money  spendi  spendi  unknow
State                                s  needed      ng      ng       n
------------------------------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------
Colorado                         1,329    18.1    52.1    17.3    12.6
 
 Average = $124,000 per school.
 

Notes: GAO found that: (1) while schools receiving federal financial assistance have been required to be accessible to the disabled since 1970, schools' accessibility to the disabled has not been comprehensively evaluated; (2) the Americans with Disabilities Act has further highlighted the need to improve schools' accessibility; (3) while over half of the schools nationwide have spent a total of $1.5 billion in the last 3 years to improve accessibility, about 20 percent of schools reported that such spending is not needed; (4) 56 percent of schools estimated that they would need an additional $5.2 billion for accessibility in the next 3 years; and (5) school districts are not required by law to make each facility fully accessible to the disabled, as funding may not be available to make necessary improvements.

Source: School Facilities: Accessibility for the Disabled Still an Issue General Accounting Office. (Letter Report, 12/29/95, GAO/HEHS-96-73). Full text of report available from General Accounting Office (GAO) Reports.

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