Ramp expense proper

James Levanduski's quest to have a handicap-accessible ramp installed at Amherst Memorial Stadium is coming to fruition this season. It should be ready in time for Levanduski to watch his son Tyler play in the Comets football team's home opener next week.

Levanduski was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1993, and has had progressively more and more trouble getting into the stands at the stadium to watch his son, now a senior. Ironically, Tyler was born the same year the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law, in part requiring government entities and other public places to make reasonable accommodations for handicap accessibility.

To their credit, the Amherst schools made those reasonable accommodations when athletic director Bill Miller allowed Levanduski to park his handicap accessible van at the end of the football field. But following the action of a football game is difficult at ground level, particularly when watching play at the far end of the field.

In order to allow Levanduski to enjoy his son's senior football campaign -- and other wheelchair-bound patrons to enjoy the games from the stands -- school officials agreed to build a ramp and platform. While some might balk at the cost of nearly $14,000, we feel it is a good investment in complying with the spirit of ADA, and not just the letter.

Spending $14,000 now to satisfy Levanduski could very well avoid a costly legal battle brought by a more litigiously-minded parent. Should the schools lose a lawsuit requiring them to install a ramp, they would have to spend the money on the ramp anyway, plus legal expenses.

Some would argue the schools have no business spending that kind of money when they have a 6.9-mill emergency levy on the ballot to meet expenses. The funds used to build the ramp come from permanent improvement funds, which can not be used for normal operating expenses to be paid by the levy.

We commend the schools for helping to make the stadium more accessible to handicapped residents, and urge voters not to hold the expense against them in November. The legal fees for that hypothetical law suit would have come from operating funds, but the handicap ramp would not.