Section 504

The Section 504 Team will change with each individual student. The building principal and the school nurse should always be at the Section 504 conference.  A classroom teacher and possibly a school counselor should attend.  As the student enters the intermediate or high school level, all classroom teachers should be a part of the conference or aware of the student’s health condition and the plan reviewed to address classroom needs of the student.

The building principal will be in charge of completing the paperwork except for the Accommodation Plan/ Health Plan for Diabetes which will be completed by the school nurse.  Release of Information must be signed before the any medical requests are sent to the doctor’s office.  Questionnaire for the Physician will be mailed or FAXED from the school to the doctor’s office.  A conference will be scheduled by the principal or school office.  Signatures approved for consideration of eligibility for Section 504 will be a medical doctor, nurse practitioner and/or psychologist.

The school nurse, once contacted by the building principal or parent, should work closely with the building principal to complete the Accommodation Plan/ Health Plan for Diabetes.  Any medical information from the physician’s questionnaire shall be shared with the school nurse.

The decision of Section 504 eligibility will be determined by the Section 504 conference committee members.  (“Physical or mental impairments” and “substantially limits one or more major life activities” are terms of art for Section 504.  Reminder; a student cannot be under Section 504 and have an Individual Education Program. (IEP)  It must be determined which is more significant in affecting the student’s education.

A student receiving services under a Section 504 plan cannot be expelled from school without holding a manifestation meeting to see if the discipline issues are related the student’s health disability.  The Director of Exceptional Student Education needs to be contacted to set up a meeting for the manifestation to be held.  Suspension of days out of school for the student should not go beyond 10 school days.  If the manifestation proves the behavior issues are not related to the student’s disability, then the school  can suspend for more than 10 days or expel the student altogether.

Just as a student can be dismissed from special education, so too can he/she be dismissed from Section 504 services.  Dismissal is the process that is a result of a reevaluation review.

Dismissal may occur as a result of district implementation of one of two processes:  1.) A student may qualify for Exceptional Student Education (ESE) services; therefore the Section 504 Plan would be dismissed at the eligibility staffing. 2) A student may have a temporary impairment (i.e., broken arm), which when healed would need to be dismissed, not to exceed 6 months.

In the cases mentioned above, a Section 504 Dismissal Team Meeting would not need to occur.  Parental consent is not required for dismissal.

Intervention alternatives: When a student is reevaluated and recommended for dismissal from Section 504, it is important to offer alternatives to parents. The team may ease parents' concerns by coming up with an intervention plan and agreeing to evaluate the student's process in six to eight weeks. Ask parents to monitor the student's success during this period by checking grades and homework.

Any type of parent request to dismiss with documentation or doctor recommendation to dismiss should be in written form and attached to the student's Section 504 Plan and student's name removed from the Section 504 of PowerSchool.

There are no dismissal forms on the RCS Section 504 site due to many students who are eligible under Section 504 having a physical or mental impairment which are never dismissed.  Many students graduate from high school and then can be placed on Section 504 at a post-secondary education facility.

If students are dismissed, it should be the decision of either the doctor or parents.  Documentation from the doctor or parents requesting the student be removed from the Section 504 and is no longer in need of the health disability is required. The documentation should be placed in the student’s permanent file to indicate removal from Section 504 status.