Parent and Educator Resource Guide to Section 504 in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools
Section 504 requires school districts to conduct periodic reevaluations of students with disabilities.74 Section 504 also requires school districts to conduct reevaluations prior to significant changes in placement.75
-
OCR considers an exclusion from the educational program (for example, an out-of-school suspension) of more than 10 consecutive school days to be a significant change in placement.76
-
OCR also considers a series of short-term exclusions (each 10 school days or fewer) from the educational program to be a significant change in placement, if the short-term exclusions total more than 10 school days and create a pattern of removal.77
-
OCR also considers a school’s transferring a student from one type of program to another (for example, from a general education class with pull-out special education services to a self-contained special education class) or terminating or significantly reducing a related service to be a significant change in placement.78
In addition, when addressing discipline for students with disabilities, it is important that schools comply with applicable legal requirements governing the discipline of a child for misconduct caused by, or related to, the child’s disability.79
74 34 C.F.R. § 104.35(d). A reevaluation procedure consistent with the IDEA is one means of meeting this Section 504 requirement.
75 34 C.F.R. § 104.35(a).
76 Id. That an exclusion from an educational program for more than 10 consecutive school days is a significant change in placement is in accord with a U.S. Supreme Court decision interpreting the law that preceded the IDEA and a U.S. Supreme Court decision under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court ruled that a suspension of more than 10 days constitutes a change of placement under the law that preceded the IDEA. Honig v. Doe, 484 U.S. 305, 325 n.8, 328-29 n.11 (1988). Also see the IDEA regulations, which provide that disciplinary removals from a child’s current placement for more than 10 consecutive school days, or a series of removals that cumulate to more than 10 school days and constitute a pattern of removal, are considered a change of placement and trigger a variety of safeguards under the IDEA. 34 C.F.R. §§ 300.536(a), 300.530 see also OCR, Protecting Students with Disabilities: Frequently Asked Questions About Section 504 and the Education of Children with Disabilities (FAQ 30) (last modified Oct. 16, 2015), www.ed.gov/ocr/504faq.html.
77 34 C.F.R. § 104.35(a); see OCR, Protecting Students with Disabilities: Frequently Asked Questions About Section 504 and the Education of Children with Disabilities (FAQ 30) (last modified Oct. 16, 2015), www.ed.gov/ocr/504faq.html. Under Section 504, OCR’s determination of whether a series of exclusions creates a pattern of removal is made on a case-by-case basis, and may include consideration of several factors including the length of each removal, the proximity of the removals to each other, and the total amount of time the child is excluded from school. See also 34 C.F.R. § 300.536 (IDEA regulations).
78 34 C.F.R. § 104.35(a); see also OCR, Protecting Students with Disabilities: Frequently Asked Questions About Section 504 and the Education of Children with Disabilities (FAQ 30) (last modified Oct. 16, 2015), www.ed.gov/ocr/504faq.html.
79 See 34 C.F.R. § 104.35. See generally 34 C.F.R. §§ 104.4, 104.32-36; OCR, Dear Colleague Letter: Charter Schools (May 14, 2014), www.ed.gov/ocr/letters/colleague-201405-charter.pdf. See also 34 C.F.R. § 300.530(e)-(f) (IDEA regulations).
User Comments/Questions
Add Comment/Question