This document provides an overview of Section 504 including its history, purpose, eligibility criteria, and implementation in Jefferson County Schools. Section 504 originated from the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities. It requires schools to provide appropriate accommodations and services to eligible students so they have equal access to the school's programs and activities. The document reviews key aspects of Section 504 such as comparisons to IDEA, eligibility determination, appropriate services and placements, and the roles and responsibilities of teachers.

1. Jefferson County Schools
2012
Section 504
Mandy Schneitman, Director of Student Support Services

2. History of Laws
• 1964 – Civil Rights Act
• 1965- Elementary & Secondary Educ. Act
• 1972- Title IX
• 1973- Section 504 of 1973 Rehab. Act
• 1976- P.L. 94-142 – Handicapped Children
• 1990 – Americans with Disabilities Act
• 2008 – ADA Amended

3. Goal
• To level the playing field
• Not to treat everyone equally
• Applies to all entities that receive federal
funding

4. Purpose
•Prohibit discrimination of
any program on the basis
of any disability
•Provide appropriate
educational services to the
same extent as needs of
non-disabled

5. Revisions of Section 504
• Due to the Amended “America with
Disabilities Act” of 2008
• Affects the meaning of “disability” as
defined in Section 504
• The Amendment Act broadens the
interpretation of “disability”

6. Comparisons
Title II and IDEA Section 504
Americans with
Disabilities Act
Facilities Curriculum Programs or
accessible accessible activities
accessible

7. IDEA and 504
One way to meet Section 504 requirements for
FAPE is to implement an IEP
• IDEA • 504
• FAPE • FAPE
• Eligibility – adversly • Eligibility – substantial
affects limitation
• All IDEA protected under • Some 5may also be IDEA
504
• Compliance for IDEA • NO funding
satisfies compliance for
504
• Procedural safeguards • Procedural Safeguards
• List of disabling • Broader eligibility
conditions

8. IDEA and 504
One way to meet Section 504 requirements for
FAPE is to implement an IEP
• IDEA • 504
• Stay put - no • Stay-put – yes until
• Services if eligible decision
• Suspensions over 10 days • Can be eligible for 504 but
requires services have no services
• Re-evaluations every 3 • No services while
years suspended or expelled
• IEP must include all • District determines re-
needed accommodations evaluation procedures
(no additional 504 Plan) • 504 Plan cannot substitute
for an IEP

9. Where do services take place?
• Regular classroom
• Regular classroom with supplemental
services
• Special education setting and related
services

10. Programs?
Any School Sanctioned Activity
• Instructional • Class Party
• Support • Extracurricular
• Field trip activity
• Athletics • Parent meeting
• Banquets • Adult education

11. Who Enforces?
• OCR has administrative authority to enforce
Section 504
• Voluntary compliance through negotiation
• Corrective action agreement
• May terminate “financial assistance” federal
funding
• Refer to Dept. of Justice for judicial
proceedings

12. Eligibility = 3 prongs
• Physical or mental impairment
• Substantially limits
• One or more major life activities

13. Physical or Mental Impairment
• Physiological disorder
• Cosmetic disfigurement
• Anatomical loss affecting body systems
(ex – speech, digestive, neurological, respiratory)
• Mental or psychological disorders
• Emotional or mental illness
• SLD
• Episodic (cancer, epilepsy, hypertension, MS,
asthma, diabetes, major depression, bipolar, severe
allergies) these may trigger consideration

14. Cultural, Environmental &
Economic Factors
Not by themselves covered by definition
•Homeless or migrant or transient
•ESL or poverty
•Divorce or death of family member
•Military deployments of family
•Lack of motivation or attendance problems

15. Major Life Activities
• Caring for one’s self
• Performing manual tasks
• Walking
• Seeing
• Breathing
• Learning
• Working
• Eating, Sleeping, Standing, Lifting, Bending
• Reading, Concentrating, Thinking,
Communicating – all added from Amended Act

16. Major Bodily Functions that are Major Life
Activities under Amended Act
• Immune system
• Normal cell growth
• Digestive
• Bowel
• Bladder
• Brain
• Circulatory
• Endocrine
• Reproductive

17. Substantial
• Consider the nature and severity of the
impairment
• Consider the duration or expected duration
• Consider the permanent or long range
impact

18. Assessment
• By committee of persons knowledgeable
about the student
• Assess from a variety of sources, not just
one: aptitude, achievement, teacher
recommendations, physical condition,
social and cultural background, adaptive
behavior
• Decision made by school team, parents may
agree or disagree

19. Any automatic qualifications?
• No, an impairment does not necessarily mean a
disability ; it must substantially limit one or more
major life activities
• A medical diagnosis may be considered as one of
the sources in the evaluation
• An illness must cause a substantial limitation in
the child’s ability to learn or other major life
activity
• No specific disease or disability automatically
qualifies but… many will qualify by nature of
impairment (bipolar, autisim)

20. Mitigating Measures
• Cannot consider mitigating measures for
eligibility (health care plan, meds, assistive
tech.)
• The requirement to screen out mitigating
measures only applies to the first step of
eligibility
• Mitigating measures could be used as
relevant to determining special education or
related services needs.

21. Other requirements
• Parent permission to evaluate, parental
safeguards
• Re-evaluation is required including prior to
a change of placement, termination or
significantly reducing services
• A manifestation determination is required
prior to disciplinary change of placement

22. Special Considerations
• Students actively using illegal drugs are
excluded form eligibility on that basis.
• Students actively using alcohol are NOT
excluded from eligibility on that basis.
• Former illegal drug users who have
completed a drug rehab program ARE
protected under Section 504
• ALL children infected with HIV are eligible
regardless of being symptomatic.

23. Not Covered Under Section 504
• Slow learners
• Non-English Proficient
• LGBT
• Affected by environment, cultural,
economic disadvantage

24. Teachers
• Participate in the development of the student’s Service
Plan.
• Request a meeting to review the plan if it is no longer is
appropriate.
• Implement the provisions of Section 504 plans
• Failure can cause the school district to be in
noncompliance with Section 504
• Ask for a copy of the plan’s accommodations to keep on
file
• Be sure your substitute teacher plans includes 504 or IEP
accommodations for eligible students

25. Referrals
Notify your counselor or principal to refer a
student who is:
•Under health care plans
•Students needing long-term academic or
behavioral interventions
•Chronic absentism
•Impairment suspected

26. Bullying and Discrimination
• Districts must investigate when they learn a
student may have been bullied because of
his / her disability.
• This is true even when the person reporting
the harassment gives no indication that it
was disability-related
• A “Parental Complaint Grievance Form” is
posted on the JCS website under the parent
tab.

27. Related School Board Policies
• 1.802 504 ADA Grievances
• 6.301 Rights and Responsibilities
• 6.302 Procedural Due Process
• 6.303 Interrogations and Searches
• 6.304 Student Discrimination / Harassment
• 6.305 Complaints and Grievances