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Construction is set to begin on a first-of-its-kind hotel where teaching and employing people with disabilities will be just as important as accommodating overnight guests.
At least 20 percent of workers at the 150-room Courtyard by Marriott being built in Muncie, Ind. will be individuals with developmental and other types of disabilities, project organizers with The Arc of Indiana said. These employees will be working in all types of positions, including management.
In addition, the hotel will offer postsecondary educational opportunities for individuals to learn about the hospitality and food service industries and will serve as a training ground for human resources professionals to better understand how to hire people with special needs.
There are also plans for two businesses owned by people with disabilities to be located in the hotel lobby.
“As far as the typical guest experience, this Courtyard will be no different,” said Sally Morris of The Arc of Indiana. “That said, this hotel will not just meet ADA standards, it will exceed them. Every decision we are making is meant to enhance the guest experience for all of our guests.”
Morris said that the idea for the project came from Jeff Huffman, a dad who was frustrated by the lack of postsecondary opportunities for his son Nash, who has Down syndrome, and others like him.
Construction is set to begin later this year on the hotel, which will include a restaurant and parking garage, all attached to the Horizon Convention Center in Muncie. The property is expected to open in summer 2015.
The state of Indiana has committed up to $5 million to help fund the hospitality training institute and teaching hotel.
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Now, the bad news--studies show that in schools, harsh discipline is more often handed out to kids with disabilities and special needs. It just shows the need for more awareness; read more about it:
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Federal officials say schools are restraining and
secluding kids with disabilities far more often than other children and
are disproportionately referring them to law enforcement.
Statistics released Friday from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights reveal widespread disparities in discipline between students in special education and their typically-developing peers.
Kids with disabilities represent three-quarters of children physically restrained and 58 percent of those placed in seclusion or some other form of involuntary confinement at school, the Education Department said. Such children are also more than twice as likely to receive an out-of-school suspension.
What’s more, federal officials found that children served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act account for a quarter of all students who are arrested and referred to law enforcement by schools.
Meanwhile, kids with disabilities represent just 12 percent of the nation’s students.
The findings come from the Education Department’s most comprehensive civil rights data release since 2000. For the report, officials with the agency’s Office of Civil Rights looked at information gathered from all of the nation’s 97,000 public schools related to the 2011-2012 school year.
The routine reporting is intended to assess whether students have equal access to education and offers federal agencies information so they can better enforce civil rights laws.
“This data collection shines a clear, unbiased light on places that are delivering on the promise of an equal education for every child and places where the largest gaps remain. In all, it is clear that the United States has a great distance to go to meet our goal of providing opportunities for every student to succeed,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
Beyond discipline, the report indicates that students with disabilities are more commonly held back a grade, less likely to have access to a full range of math and science courses at their high school and are more likely to attend schools with high rates of teacher absenteeism.
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Statistics released Friday from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights reveal widespread disparities in discipline between students in special education and their typically-developing peers.
Kids with disabilities represent three-quarters of children physically restrained and 58 percent of those placed in seclusion or some other form of involuntary confinement at school, the Education Department said. Such children are also more than twice as likely to receive an out-of-school suspension.
What’s more, federal officials found that children served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act account for a quarter of all students who are arrested and referred to law enforcement by schools.
Meanwhile, kids with disabilities represent just 12 percent of the nation’s students.
The findings come from the Education Department’s most comprehensive civil rights data release since 2000. For the report, officials with the agency’s Office of Civil Rights looked at information gathered from all of the nation’s 97,000 public schools related to the 2011-2012 school year.
The routine reporting is intended to assess whether students have equal access to education and offers federal agencies information so they can better enforce civil rights laws.
“This data collection shines a clear, unbiased light on places that are delivering on the promise of an equal education for every child and places where the largest gaps remain. In all, it is clear that the United States has a great distance to go to meet our goal of providing opportunities for every student to succeed,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
Beyond discipline, the report indicates that students with disabilities are more commonly held back a grade, less likely to have access to a full range of math and science courses at their high school and are more likely to attend schools with high rates of teacher absenteeism.
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