Have you mastered the art of evaluating and developing a meaningful 504 Plan? Have you considered the need for 504 plans for students diagnosed with mental health disorders or considered your obligation outside of the school day? 

Due to Section 504 Plans being a legally binding document it is critical that school districts and their general education teachers provide the accommodations, supports, and services identified to provide accessibility within the school environment to meet the needs of students and prevent any discrimination. Districts can find themselves in a great deal of conflict with families when they have written accommodations into a plan that they don’t implement with fidelity or are unwilling or unable to provide. 

Tips for Meeting Section 504 Requirements

The following tips will help ensure that your district is meeting the requirements of Section 504 under the Civil Rights Act.

Tip #1:  Public schools have a legal obligation to locate and evaluate students with potential disabilities.

While many Section 504 evaluations are completed due to requests and/or evaluations provided by parents, it is the responsibility of the public school to locate or find students who are believed to have a disability.

Tip #2:  Section 504 eligibility does not require a medical diagnosis.

A medical diagnosis is not a prerequisite for a Section 504 disability. The Office of Civil Rights has ruled that requiring parents to obtain a medical diagnosis for their student prior to being considered for Section 504 is a violation of the law.

Tip #3: A Section 504 evaluation should be considered for students that are hospitalized due to a mental health condition.

When a district becomes aware that a student has been hospitalized for mental health conditions such as depression and/or anxiety, this awareness puts the district on notice under the Child Find mandate.

Tip #4: In a public school setting, there should, statistically, be more students with 504 Plans than IEP’s.

The scope of Section 504’s eligible disabilities is far greater than the scope of eligible disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  However, many students are being under-identified due to the difficulty in understanding the scope of Section 504.  One way to consider a districts obligation to Child Find is by reviewing students who have medical conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy, asthma, severe allergies, mental health diagnosis, or other health conditions for which they need an emergency or health plan, regular modification, or services provided by the school nurse.

Tip #5:  Section 504 Plans provide accommodations for all school sanctioned activities.

Section 504 provides accommodations in all school sponsored activities such as field trips, extracurricular activities, sports, clubs, events held on school grounds, and school provided transportation services.

Learn More About Section 504

Kent ISD’s Section 504: The Big Picture on December 2^nd is sold out! Click here to watch our website for future training’s on 504 and other Special Education topics at Kent ISD.

#504plan #SpecialEd #WeLeadLearning #KentISDpd

This blog post was written by Kirsten Myers, Director of Special Education for Kent ISD and edited by Amanda Walma, Professional Development Coordinator for Kent ISD.