Case Studies for Coordinators Revised 9/15/2017 Section 504 Case Studies for Coordinators Revised 9/15/2017

Extracurricular activities & field trips. Advanced courses & programs Extracurricular activities & field trips Advanced courses & programs Response to bullying Discipline

Extracurricular activities and field trips

Equal opportunity Under Section 504, participation in extracurricular activities and nonacademic services is an issue of accessibility and equal opportunity.

Equal Opportunity, slide 2 Districts must provide nonacademic services and athletics in the manner necessary to afford students with a disability an equal opportunity for participation in such services and activities.

What does this mean? Before excluding a student with a disability from a field trip, a student’s 504 team must demonstrate that even with the provision of accommodations, the student isn’t qualified to participate, that providing the accommodations would result in an undue burden or fundamental alteration of the program or activity, or that the field trip is otherwise inappropriate to the child’s needs.

Equal opportunity does not mean… does not mean a district must provide an accommodation that would constitute an undue burden or fundamental alteration to its program, and does not mean every student with a disability has the right to be on an athletic team, and does not mean school districts must create separate or different activities just for students with disabilities

Undue burden is more than increased cost… The mere fact that an accommodation will increase costs doesn’t make it unduly burdensome.

Lack of funding is not a valid excuse… Lack of funding is an inadequate reason for denying students with disabilities the opportunity to participate in field trips if such funding is provided to general education students.

Consider each student’s individual needs A district must conduct an individualized inquiry to determine whether reasonable modifications or necessary aids and services would provide a student with a disability with an equal opportunity to participate in an extracurricular activity. 

Districts may consider non-discriminatory selection criteria Districts may require a level of skill or ability of a student in order for that student to participate in a selective or competitive program or activity, so long as the selection or competition criteria are not discriminatory

Consider accommodations… Work with the team to identify reasonable accommodations that would enable the student to participate safely. If the student requires, for example, the support of an aide to facilitate his participation, the district must provide the aide at no cost to the parent.

Don’t compel parents to attend It’s OK to invite the parent of a student with a disability to join the trip. It’s not OK to condition the child’s participation on the parent accompanying him.

Does there always need to be a 504 team meeting? The 504 Plan may already identify accommodations necessary for participation in extracurricular activities. If not, it may be necessary to convene a team meeting. In some circumstances, however, the inquiry could amount to something as straightforward as school staff consulting with the student and student’s parents to determine what reasonable modifications could be provided to give the student an equal opportunity to participate in the activity.

Case studies

Exclusion for nondiscriminatory reason is allowed… The court held that the district did not discriminate against a student with ADHD when it excluded him from a field trip to a professional football team’s practice facility. The court noted that the district did not exclude the student because of his disability, but because the student allegedly planned to make disrespectful comments to one of the players.

Applying nondiscriminatory criteria for participation is allowed The district provided a legitimate reason for the student’s exclusion—he received two failing grades on his report card. According to school policy, students who received an “F” in two or more subjects on a single report card would be disqualified from the trip. Here, the district applied this policy in a nondiscriminatory manner because, among the 15 children who received to failing grades and were barred from the trip, nine did not have disabilities.

Cannot require parents to attend field trips… District violated 504 when it expected parents to attend field trips. Noting that the district didn’t ask parents of nondisabled students to attend field trips, OCR concluded that the district subjected students with diabetes to different treatment based on their disabilities. The district’s explanation that it only asked parents to attend when a nurse was unavailable wasn’t a legitimate reason for the different treatment.

Let the 504 Team decide and don’t exclude students “for their own good…” A teacher may have had good intentions when she decided not to send a permission slip to the parents of a student with autism for a class field trip, but excluding him raised issues about the district’s compliance with Section 504. Although the district may exclude a student from a field trip due to safety concerns, the district must let the student’s 504 team make that determination.

Additional staffing may be required The district must determine whether supports can be provided, including the support of an aide paid for by the district that would enable the student to safely participate. Here, the district told a parent that the child, who sometimes engaged in behavioral outbursts, could not participate in a trip to a candy factory unless she accompanied him. The district cited concerns that the student might harm someone or elope but didn’t offer to supply him with an aide to facilitate his participation.

Staff may need to be trained The parent claimed the district required her to monitor the student’s blood glucose levels when the school nurse was not available and required her to accompany the student on all field trips. She also alleged that the district refused to train anyone other than the nurse to administer glucagon to the student. The district revised the student’s Section 504 plan to permit self-monitoring of blood glucose and committed to training at least four adult staff members to serve as “Trained Diabetes Personnel.” Those staff members would accompany the student on field trips and provide diabetic care services in the nurse’s absence.

Be aware of field trips or activities funded by outside sources District engaged in discrimination because general education students went on a field trip with funds collected from parents while students in a self-contained program were not allowed to go because of funding restrictions faced by the school as a whole.

Document behavior concerns Progress reports or other records showing, for example, that a student’s conduct threatens her safety or that of others can be presented to help show that it was not the child’s disability that motivated the decision. Here, the autistic student’s progress notes outlining her behavioral incidents helped show a nondiscriminatory basis for the decision not to allow her to visit an aquarium with her nondisabled peers.

Scheduling

Advanced classes… A district does not have to provide an accommodation or modification that fundamentally alters the nature of an honors program.

Example… Washington district did not discriminate against a student with ADHD and a hearing impairment when it denied his request for less homework in a fast-paced gifted program that required participants to learn a significant portion of the material on their own.

Do not categorically exclude… Any policy that categorically excludes students with disabilities from advanced classes or precludes them from receiving accommodations in an honors curriculum is a red flag for disability discrimination. If a student qualifies for a gifted program, his Section 504 team should determine his participation.

Consider the request and discuss alternatives… The reasonableness of a particular accommodation or support may depend on the nature of the program or class. Team members should be prepared to discuss alternative accommodations if the requested supports are not reasonable.

Discuss with teachers… Some teachers may not realize that students with disabilities have a right to reasonable accommodations and supports in honors courses. It is critical to include in the plan the accommodations and supports needed to allow the student to access the course. It is also critical to share the student’s Section 504 plan with his teachers.

Response to bullying

Investigate for disability harassment Was the bullying based on the student’s impairment? Even if it was not, was there an impact on the student because of his impairment?

Take reasonable steps to end the harassment Discipline the bully Consider separating the students Discuss services for the bullied student Take broad measures to address systemic issues Notify parent

Hold a team meeting to discuss any impact on needs, FAPE Arrange for a team meeting if the student was a victim of any bullying, whether impairment-related or not. The team needs to discuss whether the bullying may have impacted the student’s receipt of free appropriate public education (FAPE).

Discipline

Discipline generally… Section 504 does not prohibit a district from disciplining a student with a disability who violates school rules. The district must conduct an appropriate manifestation determination review and impose the same penalty it would give to nondisabled students

Manifestation determination When the recommended disciplinary removal is for a period greater than 10 days, team should meet to determine whether or not misconduct was a manifestation of the disability.

MDR requirements… MDRs must be conducted by the district, the parent, and relevant members of the IEP team (as determined by the parent and district). Ensure the team includes school staffers with direct knowledge of the student and his disabilities before beginning an MDR.

What to consider in MDR… MDR teams are not entitled to focus solely on the student’s primary impairment classification in determining whether there is a connection between the impairment and the misconduct. They must consider all of the student’s impairments or suspected impairments, including especially, suspected behavior-related impairments.

Reevaluation required? If there hasn’t been a recent evaluation, staffers should reevaluate the student before determining whether there is a connection between the impairment and misconduct in order to make an appropriate determination. If the district suspects the student has another impairment that has not yet been identified, it should reevaluate the student before conducting the MDR.

What about illegal drugs? A student does not have the right to a manifestation determination review under Section 504 if he possesses illegal drugs on campus and currently engages in the illegal use of drugs. If the suspension is for drug possession, the district should conduct an MDR unless there is no question that the student was also engaged in the illegal use of drugs.

Questions? Matthew Teaford Section 504 Coordinator Matthew.Teaford@matsuk12.us Beccie Morino Section 504 Support Rebecca.Morino@matsuk12.us