Incline Village Schools

SnowFest, the celebration of all things winter in North Lake Tahoe and Truckee, starts Friday and is scheduled to run through March 14.

While an extensive listing of events is posted at www.tahoesnowfestival.com, here are a few of the larger ones scheduled for this weekend.

• Opening night ceremonies: Head to Squaw Valley USA at 6:30 p.m. Friday to see the sky light up with a laser show, torch light parade and fireworks.
• The North Tahoe Firefighter's Association pancake breakfast is scheduled from 7 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the Tahoe City Fire Station, 300 N. Lake Blvd. People 12 and older are $7, 5 to 12 are $4, and children younger than 5 are free. Proceeds benefit the North Tahoe Firefighter's Association.
• Participate in the amateur TransWorld Snowboard TransAm fun jam at Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort on Saturday. Registration starts at 8 a.m. A minipark will be loaded with features brought to riders by Oakley, DaKine, Giro and more. Details: www.transam.transworld.net.
• Toyota's Sick-n-Twisted Freestyle Tour Rail Jam will be at Sugar Bowl Resort on Saturday. Register between 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Details: www.snowbomb.com.
• Tahoe City's Snowfest parade starts at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Parking is limited because the main road will be closed, so park on the edge of town. Details: www.visittahoecity.com.
• Boreal Mountain Resort's Snowfest is scheduled from 2 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and features the live music of the Truckee Tribe. Raffle prizes include two snowboards.
• The Gar Woods annual polar bear swim is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Gar Woods, 5000 North Lake Blvd., Carnelian Bay. Participants compete in a swimming race in Lake Tahoe. Hundreds gather to watch. The cost is $35 to register the day of the event. Details: 530-546-3366.
• The 33rd annual Great Ski Race for cross-country skiers is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Sunday at the Tahoe Cross Country Center in Tahoe City. The cost for adults is $45. The event is a fundraiser for the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue Team. Details: www.thegreatskirace.com.
• Wacky Winter Human Bowling is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Tahoe City Golf Course behind the Bank of America in Tahoe City. People on saucers take out as many blown-up bowling pins as they can. Helmets required. Saucers provided. Registration is at 10 a.m. Details: www.visittahoecity.com or 530-583-3348.
• Tahoe City Golf Course's third annual dog pull is scheduled to start at noon on Sunday. Watch a variety of dogs pull on a 75-foot-long snow track. Cost: $20 entry fee. Some proceeds will benefit the Pet Network of Incline Village. Details: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Try foods from around the world in this free contest scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Mamasake Patio at the Village at Squaw Valley. Details: www.mamasake.com or 530-584-0110.

The civil rights office of the U.S. Department of Education has ruled the Washoe County School District discriminated against disabled students by paying their families less for transportation than was paid to non-disabled students who were eligible for mileage costs.

Under a settlement reached last week, the district agreed to pay its standard mileage rate to families of disabled students and reimburse parents for previous shortfalls.

The school board is scheduled to vote March 23 on the policy change.

Steve Mulvenon, district spokesman, said the inequity should have been resolved a long time ago. He speculated that while standard mileage rates had been automatically adjusted upward over the years, district officials neglected to do the same with the rates for disabled students covered by a separate policy.

Advocates for disabled children said the district declined to settle the matter internally, and that's why a federal civil rights complaint was filed.

The rates

Disabled students had been allowed 18 cents a mile for one round-trip a day, an effective rate of 9 cents a mile for parents who dropped off students in the morning and picked up them up in the afternoon, while district employees and families of non-disabled students who were eligible for reimbursement were paid 50 cents per mile for two round trips per day.

The Education Department ruled that the district violated the law because it "failed to provide educational and related services free of cost to the parents of these disabled students" and "failed to provide these students with a free appropriate education."

The complaint was filed by parents of disabled students assisted by the Center for Self Determination, Children's Advocacy Project of Reno.

Reaction

"This complaint goes to the culture of the district in that it treats disabled students in a lesser kind of way than it treats non-disabled students and employees," said Deidre Hammon of the Advocacy Project. "The ruling only affected the 2007-08 school year, but we've had 10 years of this policy in Washoe County."

Hammon said the family who initially complained about the policy was required to transport their child to school because the district wanted to avoid the expense of the handicapped bus service.

"The parents were driving the child to school for the convenience of the district, and then the district paid that family less than it paid others," she said.

6 families affected

She said six families will receive reimbursement, but many more families were affected over the past decade.  "It's not a lot of money, but it's a matter of equal treatment," she said.

Families are eligible for mileage when the district is unable or unwilling to provide transportation for students.