Source: http://www.dphilpotlaw.com/html/section_504.html
Timestamp: 2015-05-30 02:12:39
Document Index: 639482736

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 504', '§ 504', '§ 504', '§ 504', '§ 504', '§ 504', '§ 504', '§ 504']

Special Education Law - Section 504
You have the right to be informed by the school district of your rights under § 504. See 34 CFR 104.32. Your child has the right to an appropriate education designed to meet his/her individual educational needs as adequately as the needs of nondisabled students are met. See 34 CFR 104.33. Your child has the right to free educational services, except for those fees that are imposed on nondisabled students or their parents. See 34 CFR 104.33. You child has a right to placement to the least restrictive environment. 34 CFR 104.34. You child has a right to facilities, services, and activities that are comparable to those provided for nondisabled students. See 34 CFR 104.34. You child has a right to an evaluation prior to an initial § 504 placement and any subsequent significant change in placement. See 34 CFR 104.35. Testing and other evaluation procedures must meet the requirements of 34 CFR 104.35 as to validation, administration, areas of evaluation, etc. The district shall consider information from several courses, not just one, including aptitude and achievement tests, teacher recommendations, physical condition, social and cultural background, adaptive behavior, physical or medical reports, students grades, progress reports, parent observations, anecdotal reports, and TEAMS/TAAS scores. See 34 CFR 104.35. Placement decisions must be made by a group of persons (i.e., the § 504 Committee), including persons knowledgeable about your child, the meaning of the evaluation data, the placement options, and the legal requirements for least restrictive environment and comparable facilities. See 34 CFR 104.35 If eligible under § 504, your child has a right to periodic reevaluations, generally every three years. See 34 CFR 104.35. You have the right to notice prior to any action by the district in regard to the identification, evaluation, or placement of your child. See 34 CFR 104.36. You have the right to examine relevant records. See 34 CFR 104.36 You have the right to an impartial hearing with respect to the district’s actions regarding your child’s identification, evaluation, or educational placement, with opportunity for parental participation in the hearing and representation by an attorney. See 34 CFR 104.36. If you wish to challenge the actions of the district’s § 504 Committee in regard to your child’s identification, evaluation, or educational placement, you should immediately file a written Notice of Appeal with the district’s § 504 Coordinator. A hearing will be scheduled before a Hearing Officer and you will be notified in writing of the date, time, and place for the hearing. If you disagree with the decision of the Hearing Officer, you have a right to a review of that decision by a court. 34 CFR 104.36 On § 504 matters other than your child’s identification, evaluation, and placement, you have a right to file a complaint with the district’s § 504 Coordinator (or a designee), who will investigate the allegations to the extent warranted by the nature of the complaint in an effort to reach a prompt and equitable resolution.
Request mediation, an impartial hearing, and an appeal of any decisions or actions taken by the school corporation regarding your child’s identification, evaluation, educational program or placement. You and your student may take part in these proceedings and have an attorney represent you. Requests for due process must be made to the superintendent of the Section 504 coordinator. The following details the procedures: If the parent/guardian disagrees with the identification, evaluation, educational placement, or with the provisions of a free appropriate public education for his/her child. The parent/guardian may make a written request for a hearing to the superintendent, indicating the specific reason(s) for the request.
How time much is enough information to document that a student has a disability for purposes of providing a 504 plan to a student? The amount of information required is determined by the multi-disciplinary committee gathered to evaluate the student. The committee should include persons knowledgeable about the student, the meaning of the evaluation data, and the placement options.
In evaluating a student suspected of having a disability, it is unacceptable to rely on presumptions and stereotypes regarding persons with disabilities or classes of such persons. Compliance with the IDEA regarding the group of persons present when an evaluation or placement decision is made is satisfactory under Section 504. What process should a school district use to identify students eligible for services under Section 504? Is it the same process as that employed in identifying students eligible for services under the IDEA? School districts may use the same process initially to evaluate the needs of students under Section 504 as they use to evaluate the needs of students under the IDEA. If school districts choose to adopt a separate process for evaluating the needs of students under Section 504, they must follow the requirements for evaluation specified in the Section 504 regulation at 34 C.F.R. 104.35. What process should a school district use to identify students eligible for services under Section 504? Is it the same process as that employed in identifying students eligible for services under the IDEA? School districts may use the same process initially to evaluate the needs of students under Section 504 as they use to evaluate the needs of students under the IDEA. If school districts choose to adopt a separate process for evaluating the needs of students under Section 504, they must follow the requirements for evaluation specified in the Section 504 regulation at 34 C.F.R. 104.35. Can a medical diagnosis suffice as an evaluation for the purpose of providing FAPE? No. A physician's medical diagnosis may be considered among other sources in evaluating a student with a disability or believed to have a disability that substantially limits a major life activity. Other sources to be considered, along with the medical diagnosis, include aptitude and achievement tests, teacher recommendations, physical condition, social and cultural background, and adaptive behavior. Once a student is identified as eligible for services under Section 504, is there an annual or triennial review requirement? If so, what is the appropriate process to be used? Or is it appropriate to keep the same Section 504 plan in place indefinitely after a student has been identified? Periodic re-evaluation is required. This may be conducted in accordance with the IDEA regulation, which requires re-evaluation at three-year intervals or more frequently if conditions warrant, or if the child's parent or teacher requests a re-evaluation. Is a Section 504 re-evaluation similar to an IDEA re-evaluation? How often should it be done? Yes. Section 504 specifies that re-evaluations in accordance with the IDEA comply with Section 504. The Section 504 regulation requires that re-evaluations be conducted periodically. Section 504 also requires a school district to conduct a re-evaluation prior to a significant change of placement. OCR considers an exclusion from the educational program of more than 10 school days a significant change of placement. OCR would also consider transferring a student from one type of program to another or terminating or significantly reducing a related service a significant change in placement. The eligibility decision must be based on information from a variety of sources, such as teacher reports, reports of physical or mental condition, observations, adaptive behavior, and aptitude and
Yes. If the student qualifies for 504, doing the modifications without providing the procedural protections is a violation. That was the case where a school district provided a student who had undergone hip surgery with appropriate modifications, but failed to have procedures in place to document the deliberation of, or provision of accommodations [the regulations require no such documentation], or to inform parents of the procedure to follow should their student become disabled. Temple (TX) ISD, 25 IDELR 232 (OCR 1996). There can be few results as unpalatable as one where the district provides sufficient modifications to a qualified disabled student, but nevertheless is found in violation for not jumping through the procedural hoops. What is a 504 reevaluation?
The reevaluation is simply a re-gathering of information from a variety of sources to verify eligibility and to determine if additional changes are needed in the child's program. While the regulations require reevaluation every three years, the better practice is to conduct one at least at the end of every school year, looking forward to the next school year and changes to the child's schedule, teachers, and other issues that may require tinkering with the modifications and/or behavior management plan. Note that the manifestation determination meeting conducted by the 504 committee prior to a change of placement for disciplinary reasons of greater that 10 days, or when removals total 10 days during a school year is also a reevaluation. Can a student's absences trigger a 504 referral and evaluation? Absolutely. If a district suspects that a significant number of absences is due to a disability that substantially limits a major life activity (for example, when the number of absences threatens the student's ability to receive credit for coursework or when it impacts significantly on grades), the district ought to refer and evaluate. For example, a junior high school student with severe allergies, asthma, and migraine headaches had a lengthy history of missing school due to her medical problems. In seventh grade, she was absent 132 times, and in eighth grade attended classes only three to ten times from September to November. The parents argue that the school failed to accommodate the student's absences. The only evaluations conducted by the district with respect to the child's absences were very recent attempts to find psychological causes, even though the district was aware for the past five years of the student's medical problems (the allergies, headaches, and asthma). OCR finds that the district failed to properly evaluate given the information that it had on the medical related absences. Grafton (ND) Public School, 20 IDELR 82 (OCR 1993). What's all the hoopla over the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines on diagnosis of ADHD? An ongoing struggle for many educators is the realization that no medical diagnosis is required for 504 eligibility. "Section 504 does not require that a school district conduct a medical assessment of a student who has or is suspected of having ADHD unless the district determines it is necessary in order to determine if the student has a disability." Williamson County (TN) School District, 32 IDELR 261 (OCR 2000). In fact, the regulations do not require medical evaluations for any disability to qualify under 504. Of course, if the parents present the school with an outside medical evaluation, it must be considered as part of the district's evaluation process. This requirement has also been a concern to some educators, especially when the diagnostic practices of a local doctor result in a high number of ADD/ADHD students. Some relief arrived on that front last year.