SECTION 504 RESPONSIBILITIES

• Give Access (Provide Accommodation)
  Ensure that no otherwise qualified individual with disabilities shall solely by reason of his/her disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program activity. 

QUALIFIED STUDENT UNDER SECTION 504

• Must have a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits a major life activity (e.g., learning).
• Experiences difficulty learning as compared to the average student in national population.
• Must be provided accommodations with the goal of diminishing the deficit between performance and ability.

504 MAY NOT BE DETERMINED BY

• Age
• Culture
• Environment
• Economic factors
• Deficits that can be accommodated by regularly available implementations provided by the classroom teacher.

PHYSICAL OR MENTAL IMPAIRMENT includes, but is not limited to the following conditions:

HOW SECTION 504 DIFFERS FROM IDEA  (Special Education)

• Accommodation plan, not IEP.
• Parents not required but are preferred to be part of accommodation plan development.
• Accommodations are generally provided by regular education.
• No right to independent evaluation.

PARENT RIGHTS

• Parent/guardians should be provided notification of their rights under Section 504:

  when eligibility is determined
  when a plan is developed
  before there is a significant change in the plan for services

• Parents may:

  file a Section 504 grievance
  request a due process hearing
  file an OCR complaint

SECTION 504 ACCOMMODATION PROCESS

WHAT ARE REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS?

Reasonable accommodations include any adjustments or modifications which enable a student to benefit from his/her education.

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