AUSTIN, Texas — Austin ISD is allowing teachers who were denied medical accommodations to appeal the process.
KVUE previously reported that, of the 1,156 total medical accommodations requests received from teachers for the spring 2021 semester, Austin ISD approved 49. One teacher with a rare heart disease said she was one of those who were denied.
Austin High School teacher Annie Dragoo wrote in a public Facebook post that she has had ADA accommodations for several years due to a rare heart disease.
"This semester, I have managed to teach my classes, undergo chemo, teach from the hospital & cardiac heart failure clinic, make four trips to Houston's Medical Center for special testing and surgery, all while keeping it together. Teaching from home has not stopped me from doing my job," her Nov. 30 post said.
The district told KVUE that in the fall semester, 1,244 medical accommodations were approved, 66 were denied and 74 were labeled as pending. Austin ISD released the following statement on Dec. 1:
"AISD cannot comment on specific employee matters. AISD developed a Benefits Review Committee to review all remote work accommodation requests for the Spring semester. The committee individually reviewed each request – minus identifying information to protect employee privacy – and determined if a remote work arrangement was feasible based on medical risk, if the position was deemed as essential to district function or directly impacts high-needs students or populations, and the needs of the campus or department."
That teacher can now appeal her denied request.
According to Austin ISD's website, teachers who were denied can email covid19accommodation@austinisd.org "to continue in the interactive process" and to submit more detailed medical information for the district's consideration. The district said teachers and employees may also request additional accommodations such as higher-grade PPE or modifications to their workspace and duties.
For those who are approved for medical accommodations in the spring semester, the district said the committee will review the request on March 1 and if the "remote work accommodation is still feasible, there will be no need to reapply."
KVUE reached out to Dragoo to confirm that she is appealing her denied request. She told KVUE that she has appealed her denied ADA request, but she has "heard nothing back from the district."
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