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Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accommodations

The American Disability Act (ADA) mandates that adequate, reasonable accommodations be provided to qualified persons with disabilities, as defined by law, to ensure benefits and privileges of employment are applied to everyone. We require all employees to complete the ADA Accommodation Request Form and submit it to adarequest@rvaschools. 

If you have concerns or questions about your ADA Packet, please contact Betty Stephens (804) 780-8495.

Response Time

You should receive notification of the Office of Equity and Employee Relations findings and recommendations within 30 days upon receipt of the completed request.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is reasonable accommodation? 

Reasonable accommodations are changes made to a job or the workplace to enable an employee or job applicant to successfully perform the position’s primary duties and/or protect their health. A reasonable accommodation does not change the essential functions of the job. Whether a particular accommodation request is appropriate depends upon the situation and the type of job. The accommodation cannot be extremely costly or disruptive for the employer.

2. What is the definition of a qualified individual with a disability?

  • A person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities;

  • A person who has a record of such an impairment; or

  • A person who is regarded as having such an impairment.

Major Life Activities include, but are not limited to, functions such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working.

3. What are essential job functions? 

Those job duties are so fundamental to the position that one cannot do the job without performing the tasks. A function can be essential if, among other things: the position exists specifically for the performance of that function; there are a limited number of other individuals who could perform the process, or the function is specialized, and the individual is hired based on their ability to complete the process. The determination of the essential functions of a position must be done on a case-by-case basis so that the decision reflects not simply the components of a generic position description but the job as it is performed.

4. What does the term “undue hardship” mean? 

Undue hardship means that a specific accommodation would require significant difficulty or expense. Undue hardship is always determined on a case-by-case basis, considering factors that include the nature and cost of the accommodation requested and the impact of the accommodation on the operations of the Division.

5. Will I be considered for transfer? 

A transfer is considered a “last resort”; it is a form of reasonable accommodation provided to employees who, because of a disability, can no longer perform the essential functions of their jobs, with or without reasonable accommodation.  In addition, an employer is not required to create a new job or “bump” another employee from a position to provide a reasonable accommodation; nor is an employer required to promote an individual with a disability to make such an accommodation. If a transfer is approved as an accommodation, the employee will be given a “reasonable amount of time” to seek alternate employment with the District. Transfers are made only to vacant funded positions and only to qualified employees for the new position.

6. What is an impairment? 

Physical impairments can range from neurological or respiratory conditions to cosmetic disfigurements or anatomical losses. Mental impairments include emotional or mental illness and can consist of specific learning disabilities or other conditions. Virtually always disabling conditions, EEOC regulations list impairments that will almost always be considered disabling, although employers will still need to assess whether a specific individual’s impairment is a disability.