High school teacher Richard Koenigsberg, with 40 years experience and who is partially hearing, took a legal case against the East Brunswick Board of Education in New Jersey after multiple requests for real-time captioning support via CART were ignored.
A settlement in January 2015 involving the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) required the Board of Education to provide a CART (Computer Assisted Real-Time Translation) reporter, for Koenigsberg to better participate in meetings and training.
CART Provision For Student Graduations
Failing to secure CART support for student graduations in 2015, Koenigsberg began preparing for the 2016 events with multiple requests for CART. The district supervisor replied:
Although the district provides CART services for professional development and meetings as specified in the agreement, there is no requirement to provide CART services for the graduation ceremony
At Koenigsberg’s request, a local media entity, NJ.com, sent an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request to the education district for copies of emails and letters regarding their CART request policies about how teachers are selected to attend graduation ceremonies.
Ultimately, the district board said closed captioning for the 2016 graduation ceremony was being evaluated, with the venue having an outsize video screen to deliver live captions for multiple attendees with hearing issues. The final outcome is still to be conveyed.
