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Columbia Public Schools Adjust Construction Plans to Accommodate Students with Disabilities

Columbia Public Schools officials are planning to install a new elevator at Jefferson Middle School to ensure that the magnet school is available to all students who want to attend it, CPS Superintendent Peter Stiepleman said Wednesday.

At a meeting of the school board’s long-range facilities planning committee, Stiepleman said the panel wants the public to hear as soon as possible about plans for the additional elevator at Jefferson, a victory for parents who worried that their children could not take advantage of the school’s innovative programs.

Earlier this year, the 108-year-old facility transitioned into a STEAM school: one that features science, technology, engineering, arts and math. But Kate Graham — whose child has a connective tissue disorder and joint conditions that require a wheelchair — cannot attend despite being districted in that school.

To read more, visit our partners at the Columbia Missourian.