Parent and Educator Resource Guide to Section 504 in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools

Bullying and Harassment

Section 504 prohibits disability-based harassment by peers that is sufficiently serious to deny or limit a student’s ability to participate in or benefit from the school’s education programs and activities (in other words, creates a hostile environment).¹²¹ When a school district knows or reasonably should know of possible disability-based harassment, it must take immediate and appropriate steps to investigate or otherwise determine what occurred.¹²² If an investigation reveals that the harassment created a hostile environment, the recipient must take prompt and effective steps reasonably calculated to end the harassment, eliminate the hostile environment, prevent the harassment from recurring, and, as appropriate, remedy its effects. ¹²³

Bullying and harassment¹²⁴ of a student by his or her peers, based on disability, may deny a student equal educational opportunities.¹²⁵ Note, however, that the label used to describe an incident (for example, bullying, hazing, teasing) does not determine how a school is obligated to respond. Rather, the nature of the conduct itself must be assessed for civil rights implications.¹²⁶

Harassment of a student by another student (peer-on-peer) on the basis of his or her disability may take many forms, such as a student remarking out loud to other students during class that a student with dyslexia is retarded or dumb and does not belong in the class, or students repeatedly placing classroom furniture or other objects in the path of a classmate who uses a wheelchair, impeding the classmate’s ability to enter the classroom. Note that harassment does not have to include intent to harm, be directed at a specific targeted student, or involve repeated incidents in order for it to be considered discriminatory.  

A school is responsible for promptly and effectively addressing harassment about which it knows, or reasonably should have known.¹²⁷ In some situations, harassment may be in plain sight, widespread, or well-known to students and staff, such as harassment occurring in hallways, during academic or physical education classes, during extracurricular activities, at recess, during lunch, on a school bus, or through graffiti in public areas. In these cases, the obvious signs of the harassment are sufficient to put the school on notice. In other situations, the school may become aware of a single incident of misconduct that triggers an investigation that could lead to the discovery of additional incidents that, taken together, may contribute to the creation of a hostile environment. In all cases, schools must provide notice of their policies prohibiting harassment and procedures for reporting and resolving complaints that will alert the school to incidents of harassment.¹²⁸

For example, any separation of the targeted student from an alleged harasser should be designed to minimize the burden on the targeted student’s educational program (for example, not requiring the targeted student to change his or her class schedule). In addition, depending on the extent of the harassment, the school may need to provide training or other interventions not only for the perpetrators, but also for the larger school community, to ensure that all students, their families, and school staff can recognize harassment if it recurs and know how to respond.¹²⁹

Schools also have responsibilities under Section 504’s FAPE requirements when a student with a disability is harassed or bullied on any basis (for example, bullied based on disability, or national origin, or homelessness, or appearance). This is because the bullying or harassment can result in a denial of FAPE under Section 504 and, if that occurs, it must be remedied. FAPE may be denied to a student when, for example, the effects of the bullying include adverse changes in the student’s academic performance or behavior.¹³⁰

If the school has reason to suspect the student’s needs have changed, the Section 504 team must determine the extent to which additional or different services are needed,¹³¹ ensure that any needed changes are made promptly, and safeguard against putting the onus on the student with the disability to avoid or handle the bullying.