Where do we begin? Will make progress, we anticipate in general education, but accommodations, functional accommodations, testing accommodations, accommodations for setting and otherwise in the classroom may be relevant. It involves any physical, any mental impairment. It’s important to hear from parents. Because of this lack of specific guidelines, your school should rely heavily on strong internal procedures and understand and apply best practices. We know who’s there. Under the ADAAA, 2008, the court notes that there’s a “less searching” analysis required of whether a plaintiff is substantially limited. Cases speak to reasonable accommodation as providing meaningful access. What is the Rehabilitation Act of 1973? If the answer’s yes, stop. Accommodations adjust duties. That data is crucial to plug into our criteria, to look at the consistency of our plans, and in truly answering the question of whether or not physical or mental impairment is substantially limiting major life activity. A case out of the Fifth Circuit 2015, involving the University of Texas Health Science Center, looking at otherwise qualified, again in the context of dental school participation. What do I mean by that? So, we have multiple diagnoses. When we speak to 504’s direction, we ought to be mindful that, similar to our best practices in IDEIA which focus on individual need, process and progress, 504 also focuses on individual need ― there has to be a need. We can step across the island and look at employment. Children with disabilities who do not qualify for special education but need accommodations or modifications to receive an appropriate education may be entitled to what is known as a “504 Plan.”  Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“Section 504”) is a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on disability in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance including public pre-schools, elementary, secondary and post-secondary schools. We’ll speak later somewhat to these concepts of, “regarded as” and “record of impairment.” But for best practice purposes, for making sure that we’re compliant in how we’re implementing Section 504, we need to consider, at the table, what the definition of disability is. Who’s on the Dream Team for 504? In this segment, we’re going to talk about this concept of “otherwise qualified,” and you will see, you’ll hear relevant university and college cases. When we take that diagnosis to our teachers, to our educators, are they surprised? In other segments we’ve spoken to the difference between 504 and IEP. Imbedded in the discussion of key provisions of Federal law, the resource guide repeatedly asks parents, teachers, and others to think about how they might respond in different scenarios. To me, clearly, today the best practice is to in panel a committee. What is it not? 504 cares whether Jack can walk down the hallway. That means that the principles that the court is looking at are the precise, same principles you need to be considering preschool to 12th grade. As a result, the lack of protections persisted, as did the isolation and marginalization of the disabled. Do you have Rehabilitation Act plans in your schools? To honor our code of conduct? Public-school students who, as we see in the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Endrew F., were tragically left aside, excluded, institutionalized, left to fail out, drop out, left to stagnate. It needs to explain what data we considered in looking at need, what data we plugged into our process to find eligibility, how we’re going to review progress, which accommodations we are providing to enable access and who’s responsible. There’s practice effect considerations. So, we could say no, right? Pertinent parts of the 1973 education act and how to put them into effect are analyzed here. It’s a recipe for failure. What does “substantially limit” mean? Thank you for tuning in. It speaks to access, to the same experience that other general education students enjoy. There’s a case at a Central District of California, that case is still pending, involving Compton Unified, an area of LA that’s plagued with violence and poverty. It’s not just medical, it may also be so-called educational. He brought an action against the university alleging violation of rights under ADA because the university had required a medical clearance to put that student back on the field. Class vs. Towson, in a case coming out of the Fourth Circuit in 2015 raises the interesting question of whether or not, under 504, we should be changing our expectations for medical clearance. We need to recognize that there is an eligibility criteria. //location.href = "/Contact_Us/Thank_You.html"; Our takeaway, though as we continue on in our discussion of the eligibility criteria, let’s remember, we need current, present, objective data as to physical or mental impairment in order to check off the first box of the eligibility criteria. DRC-NH Special Education Series: My Child is Struggling in School. So let’s ask, with regard to the student with ADHD, the teacher, what’s the typical focus? The first question, number one: “Was the misconduct caused by or did it have a direct and substantial relationship to the disability?” Billy ADHD who is off task and distracting his peers. We’re going to talk about how 504 addresses certain needs in a meaningful way, which are different than how IEP addresses needs. It prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in programs that receive federal financial assistance, and set the stage for enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act. 504 says enable access. An updated edition of the landmark book on disability policy. Now, just focusing on intent and purpose. And it turns out that he has not been reporting to group, and we have not been sending notes, we have not been providing the service. They have additional process requirements and rights and they’re eligible for manifestation determination hearings. For my purposes as a disability rights litigator, as an educator and educational law attorney, as an attorney representing primarily schools, that means that the diagnosis itself typically isn’t the issue. prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs run by federal agencies; That’s 504. We see, through the 1980s, a growing awareness that disabled persons, because private employers, private entities are not specifically bound by war, fall within the purview, the ambit of the Rehabilitation Act, that there’s a need to address the rights of disabled persons in the private sector. Please don’t think that the criteria only involves medical diagnosis. That type of discipline, that type of consequence or sanction, may constitute disability-based discrimination, because we may be failing to accommodate the difficulty, thus not providing access, or penalizing the student. Those acts of misconduct. We may not exclude or treat differently on the basis of that disability, which means, and this should be the overhanging principle when we talk about discipline and 504, we can’t discipline symptoms. Let’s remember that that eligibility criteria has two prongs. A vital resource for ensuring students with disabilities have access to appropriate, legal, and necessary accommodations Now in its second edition, this book on disability inclusion in the health sciences remains the most comprehensive, ... It’s obvious that Jack with a broken leg can’t walk down the hallway. We’re looking at impact in the general ed. Mindful that this consent is not required for subsequent plans, if we afford the parent the opportunity to participate and we don’t hear from them. Change sounds like modification. What is an adjustment? We’re going to talk about where 504 came from. What are our teachers seeing? There’s no dispute about whether or not the 504 Plan has been comprehensively and compliantly implemented. It says, don’t discriminate. In this 7-part video series, education law attorney John Comegno of the Comegno Law Group demystifies 504 by walking you through the seven core concepts of successful 504 implementation and compliance that can limit your potential liability. 504’s direction is: thou shall not discriminate. Take that into consideration when you’re considering discipline and an eligible student. “Can’t” is very different than what I suggest is the hardest thing that you do today. We see application of Section 504’s disability-based discrimination prohibition applied to students. Contact us if your think your rights have been violated or if you wish to speak with an attorney about a disability-related legal issue. Can’t engage in the major life activity, or significantly restricted enough. 504 speaks to impact of difficulty. There are no limits on our right to discipline? As we’ve discussed in other segments, ADA takes the same language, uses the same language of Section 504. The answer is yes. We are en loco parentis. How do we gauge the impact? Specifically, “To ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs.” — FAPE, free appropriate public education, through special education, designed to meet unique needs. It speaks to disparate treatment. How do we do that? A nationally-recognized lecturer on School Law who has lectured to thousands of educational professionals across the United States, John regularly presents to conventions, professional groups, associations, public and independent schools, and other audiences, A few years ago Dr. George Fiore, superintendent of Kutztown Area School… Read More, While teachers often teach because they love it, and administrators are frequently… Read More. The US Supreme Court recently in the Endrew decision, talked about tragic stagnation. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 1973, as we’ve discussed in another segment, looked to protect disabled veterans coming home from the Vietnam War. That’s what “otherwise qualified” means. It was discrimination against those persons that the US Congress stepped up to prohibit. A day-to-day basis? It’s considering impact throughout our educational environment. This legislation is relevant to schools because all schools receive federal funds. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (commonly referred to as Section 504) is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities. We’re going to talk about collecting data. In 1954, the US Supreme Court said in Brown, separate is not equal, we can’t treat differently. It prohibits disability-based discrimination. How do you decide if you should use a 504 plan or an IEP to address a student’s disability? the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 This handout is intended to give parents general information about Section 504, an antidiscrimination law. We’re going to define what that is. It was reasonable; it did not make changes, it did not impose undue financial or administrative burden. “Can’t” or “unable” equals substantial limitation. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (hereinafter “Section 504”) is a federal civil rights statute prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability. On account of the manifestation of my mental health impairment.”. ​, 100 N. 1st Street • Springfield, IL 62777 •, 100 W. Randolph, Suite 14-300 • Chicago, IL 60601 •, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. What’s the goal of 504? Thank you for tuning in. From a case before the Tenth Circuit in 1992, involving the city of Tulsa. We need to notify parents of those rights. That means the student is not eligible. What we’re legally obligated to do is look at that comprehensive data we have at the table. What is the eligibility criteria? What data do we have towards that? What about difficulties in computation and comprehension, those special ed-ish difficulties? When we speak very practically about the student that we consider now, we’ve evaluated, we’ve assessed and determine is no longer eligible for the IEP, there are certain students in a certain cohort were 504 may be relevant, may be valid. We’re looking at information that the parent brings in, like medical information or independent evaluation. It speaks to access and that’s because 504 is civil rights legislation, which as we’ve discussed, prohibits disability-based discrimination. However, in looking at objective, functional ability, one must be able to complete the essential tasks or duties of their position before we consider eligibility and accommodation. How were they addressed? An essential inquiry there is whether or not the individual is medically cleared. In fact, 504 regulations say very unhelpfully, “A recipient that employs 15 or more persons shall designate at least one to coordinate efforts under this part.” That has led to the unfortunate not best practice of a single building administrator, perhaps you — congratulations —making 504 determinations all on your own. So I suggest to you that you consider a definition of substantial limitation that has two different definitions. The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights has told us that we may look at eligibility every three years, similar to IDEA. The simple overarching principle is: you can’t discipline symptoms. What it requires is that you not discriminate as to performance, as to participation, by the provision of accommodation.