1. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Section 504 is a brief section of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
It is a powerful law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities, so it is a civil rights law.
Since public school districts receive federal funding, Section 504 protects students with disabilities from discrimination in public schools throughout the U.S.
Unlike the IDEA, no federal funds are available under Section 504 to help school districts meet the requirements of the law.
It seems that educators have only taken notice of Section 504 in the last few years.
Parents and advocates for children and youth with disabilities began requesting that schools provide their children with educational services and protection under Section 504.
Children may have had disabilities that were not included under the IDEA but were covered under Section 504.

2. The Development of Section 504
In 1973, the first major effort to protect persons with disabilities against discrimination based on their disabilities took place when Congress passed Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Section 504 was originally proposed in 1972 as an amendment to the Civil Rights Act of
Section 504 was originally written in the same antidiscrimination language as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
It was not clear what protections were actually extended to persons with disabilities through the statute.
Amendments to Section 504 in 1974 clarified the ambiguities, by extending civil rights protection to persons with disabilities by including all the remedies, procedures, and rights contained in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
There was a 4 year delay in issuing regulations to implement and enforce Section 504, due to confusion and stalling.

3. The Purpose and Structure of Section 504
The Purpose of Section 504:
Section 504 is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in program and activities that receive federal financial assistance.
Section 504 extends these protections only in programs or services that receive federal financial assistance.
Schools or programs that receive indirect financial aid are also covered under the statute.
Who Is Protected?
The original definition of persons protected under Section 504 was extremely narrow.
Section 504 only protects persons who are disabled as defined in the law.

4. The Purpose and Structure of Section 504
Part 1 of the Definition: A Person Who Has a Physical or Mental Disability
Part 1 defines a person as disabled if that person has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
The impairment must be physical or mental, affect a major life activity, and be substantial.
Physical Impairment:
The scope of physical impairment has been recognized as including those disabilities that substantially impair physical performance.
Physical characteristics or conditions have generally not been considered to be covered under Section 504.

5. The Purpose and Structure of Section 504
Part 1, cont.
Mental Impairment:
Mental impairments includes mental illness, mental retardation, and learning disabilities.
Persons with psychological conditions tend to be protected under Section 504 if the conditions are recognized by medical authorities as constituting a mental impairment.
Mental impairments do not extend to undesirable personality traits.
In the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1992, Congress added exclusions to Section 504.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) further narrowed the definition to exclude persons currently engaging in the illegal use or possession of drugs or alcohol.

6. The Purpose and Structure of Section 504
Part 1, cont.
Substantial Limitation of a Major Life Activity:
The question of what constitutes a substantial limitation of a major life activity has been the subject of considerable litigation and numerous guidelines from the Office of Civil Rights (OCR)
A major life activity means “functions such as caring for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, breathing, learning, and working.”
Substantially limits means that an individual is unable to perform a major life activity that the average person in the general population can perform.
To determine if a limitation is substantial, school personnel should examine the nature and severity of the impairment, the duration or expected duration of the impairment, and the permanent or long-lasting effects resulting from the impairment.

7. The Purpose and Structure of Section 504
Part 2 and 3 of the Definition: A Person Who Has a Record of Such an Impairment or Who Is Regarded as Having Such an Impairment
Part 2 of the definition protects persons who have a record of impairment.
A student who once had a disability but no longer does may not be discriminated against because of the past disability.
Part 3 protects who are regarded as being disabled.
The purpose of this is to protect persons who may have only minor disabilities or no disabilities at all from being discriminated against because of the stereotypical beliefs or negative reactions of others.
These two parts of the definition are frequently misunderstood.
The second and third parts of the definition can’t serve as the basis of a FAPE under Section 504.
Students with temporary disabilities may also be covered under Section 504.
The definition of disability under Section 504 is broader than that under the IDEA.

8. The Purpose and Structure of Section 504
Otherwise Qualified:
Section 504 protects only otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities from discrimination based solely on their disability.
Persons who are not otherwise qualified are not protected.
Persons would have to be qualified in spite of their handicap.
Elementary and Secondary Schools:
A state is not required to provide services to students who do not meet the school’s age requirements.
All students of school age are by definition qualified.
The otherwise qualified provision also applies to a school’s extracurricular activities, when students with disabilities try out for such activities.

9. The Purpose and Structure of Section 504
Postsecondary and Vocational Schools:
Students must meet the academic and technical standards requisite to admission or to participation in the educational program.
A student who is otherwise qualified is one who can meet program requirements, academic and technical, if provided with reasonable accommodations.
Reasonable accommodations refers to the modifications of educational programs or facilities to make them accessible to persons with disabilities.
Summary of Section 504 Coverage:
The definition of a disability in Section 504 is broad.
It covers many types of disabilities as long as they affect a major life activity.
Section 504 covers those protected under the IDEA, individuals who meet the definition of having an impairment, and facilities, extracurricular activities, parents, and employees.

10. The Purpose and Structure of Section 504
The Structure of Section 504:
The federal regulations for Section 504 are divided into seven subchapters.
Subpart A: covers purposes and definitions
Subpart B: prohibits discrimination in employment practices
Subpart C: covers accessibility and usability of facilities
Subpart D: prohibits discrimination in preschool, elementary, and secondary programs receiving federal financial assistance

11. The Purpose and Structure of Section 504
The Structure of Section 504, cont.
Subpart E: prohibits discrimination in postsecondary programs receiving federal financial assistance
Subpart F: prohibits discrimination in health, welfare, and social services receiving federal financial assistance
Subpart G: procedures for ensuring compliance with Section 504

12. Major Principles of Section 504
The regulations for Section 504 detail criteria for schools to follow.
Section 504 regulations are specific with respect to postsecondary education.
Protection from Discrimination
All students with disabilities are protected from discrimination in elementary, secondary, and postsecondary schools.
Discrimination refers to unequal treatment of students with disabilities on the basis of their disability.
Section 504 requires that individuals with disabilities have an equal opportunity to benefit from a school’s academic or nonacademic programs or services as do their nondisabled peers.
The concept of equivalency does not mean that services and benefits must be identical.

13. Major Principles of Section 504
Physical Accessibility:
School academic and nonacademic programs, structures, and activities must be physically accessible to students with disabilities.
Section 504 prohibits the exclusion of students with disabilities from programs because a school’s facilities are inaccessible or unusable.
Regulations state that “when viewed in its entirety”, the program must be readily accessible and usable.
School districts must meet the accessibility requirements of Section 504 even if they do not have students with mobility impairments.

14. Major Principles of Section 504
Physical Accessibility, cont.
The requirement of accessibility applies to all facilities within a school.
In school facilities that were built prior to 1977, programs and activities must be made accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities.
Facilities constructed after 1977 must be in compliance with the American National Institute’s accessibility standards.
Schools constructed after January 1991 must meet the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards.

15. Major Principles of Section 504
Program Accessibility:
It may be necessary to make modifications or accommodations to programs so that students with disabilities may benefit from them.
Reasonable Accommodations:
A program receiving federal financial assistance is required to provide reasonable accommodations to otherwise qualified persons with disabilities.
Section 504 regulations only define reasonable accommodation as it applies to employment, not educational institutions.
Determining what constitutes a reasonable accommodation, as opposed to substantial accommodation, is difficult and subjective.

16. Major Principles of Section 504
Court Decisions Regarding Reasonable Accommodations:
In Southeastern Community College v. Davis (1979), the U.S. Supreme Court held that reasonable accommodations are those that do not impose excessive financial and administrative burdens or require a fundamental alteration in the program.
In Pinkerton v. Moye (1981), a federal district court held that a school district did not have to establish a self-contained program for students with learning disabilities because that would have required a substantial modification to the district’s programs.
In William S. v. Gill (1983), the court ruled that a school district was not required to send a student to a private residential school if the costs at the private school far exceeded the costs at the public school.

17. Major Principles of Section 504
Reasonable Accommodations in Schools:
The Department of Education’s regulations to Section 504 suggest reasonable accommodations that might be made by postsecondary institutions to assist students with disabilities in obtaining an education.
Academic adjustments are a category of accommodations, and they could include modifying methods of instruction, modifying materials, and altering environmental conditions.
Regulations also address the modification of examinations, which should be made if a student’s disability will impair the student’s performance on the test.

18. Major Principles of Section 504
Comparable Facilities:
When a school operates a facility for students with disabilities, the facilities and services must be comparable to regular education facilities and services.
Facilities do not have to be identical.
The placement of students with disabilities in portable units that were designated solely for use by students with disabilities would be a violation of Section 504.
Discrimination versus Legitimate Considerations Regarding Disabilities:
Protection from discrimination does not mean that the disabling condition cannot be considered by school administrators.
Disabilities may affect an individual’s ability to perform in a program or job by impairing functioning.
A school administrator may consider a disability if it is a relevant factor.

19. Major Principles of Section 504
Avoiding Discrimination:
Regulations to Section 504 list actions that schools may take to avoid discriminating against students with disabilities.
These actions include: altering structure, redesigning equipment, reassigning classes, assigning paraprofessionals, conduction interventions in the general education classroom, and modifying classroom methods, materials, and methods.
Discrimination in Postsecondary Education:
Colleges, universities, and vocational or technical schools may not exclude a qualified person with a disability from any aspect of the educational program or activities conducted by the school.
Section 504 claims most likely to arise in postsecondary education are in the areas of admissions and access to nonacademic programs or activities.

20. Major Principles of Section 504
Discrimination in Postsecondary Education, cont.
Qualified students with disabilities are protected from being denied admission or discriminated against solely because of their disability.
Postsecondary institutions can not administer admission tests that may reflect adversely on students with disabilities.
Discrimination and Access to Nonacademic Programs and Services:
Postsecondary institutions that provide housing to students without disabilities must provide comparable housing for students with disabilities.
In physical education, athletics, intramural activities, and clubs the postsecondary institution must provide qualified students with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate.
Counseling, vocational, and placement services must be provided to students with disabilities to the same extent as provided to students without disabilities.
If postsecondary institutions provide assistance to organizations, they must ensure that these organizations do not discriminate against or permit discrimination based on a disability.

21. Major Principles of Section 504
Free Appropriate Public Education
Students with disabilities in elementary and secondary school are entitled to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) under Section 504 regardless of the nature or severity of their disabilities.
A FAPE is required to protect persons with disabilities from discrimination.
A free education as educational and related services that are provided at no cost to a student with disability, excluding fees charged to all students.
An appropriate education must be individualized.
Related services must be provided to students with disabilities in the general education classroom as well as to students in a special classroom when necessary.

22. Major Principles of Section 504
Free Appropriate Public Education, cont.
The definition of appropriate education is one of equivalency.
The educational services designed to meet the needs of students with disabilities must do so as adequately as services designed to meet the needs of students without disabilities.
The equivalency requirement also applies to nonacademic activities.
The FAPE requirement under Section 504 is more broadly defined than the FAPE requirement under the IDEA.
There has been controversy over whether FAPE under Section 504 requires less than does a FAPE under the IDEA.
Many different elements comprise a FAPE, including nondiscriminatory evaluation requirements, placement requirements, and periodic reevaluation of students served under Section 504.

23. Major Principles of Section 504
Evaluation and Placement Procedures
The purpose of the Section 504 evaluation and placement requirements is to prevent misclassification and misplacement.
When determining placement for a student, the school must convene a group of persons knowledgeable about the student, the meaning of the evaluation data, and the placement options.
The team must draw upon a variety of sources, and make decisions based on a student’s individual needs.

24. Major Principles of Section 504
Procedural Safeguards
Schools must establish a system of due process procedures to be afforded to parents or guardians prior to taking any action regarding the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of a student with a disability who is believed to need educational services.
Notice must precede any identification, evaluation, or placement action taken by the school.
Parents must also be notified of their right to examine educational records.
In the due process hearing, the parents have the opportunity to participate, present evidence, produce outside expert testimony, and be represented by counsel.
The decision of the hearing officer is binding on all parties but may be appealed to federal court.

25. School District Responsibilities Under Section 504
Administrative Responsibilities:
Appointing a Section 504 Coordinator:
School districts with 15 or more employees must appoint a Section 504 Coordinator.
The coordinator keeps the school district in compliance with the mandates of Section 504
It is important that the school district ensures the coordinator’s thorough training.
Notifying the Public of a School District’s Responsibilities Under Section 504:
The coordinator must keep the public and internal staff notified that the district does not discriminate on the basis of disability in employment, educational services, or treatment.
Ensuring That Procedural Safeguards Are Afforded to Students and Their Parents:
School districts must establish and implement a system of procedural safeguards.

26. School District Responsibilities Under Section 504
Establishing Grievance Procedures:
School districts are required to set up grievance procedures and notify parents and guardians of those procedures.
The Section 504 coordinator is responsible for establishing grievance procedures, because no procedures are set forth in Section 504.
Conducting a Self-Evaluation:
The coordinator should conduct periodic self-evaluations of the school district to ensure that all Section 504 mandates are followed.
If the self-evaluation finds discrimination, the school district must take steps to correct the situation.
The school district should keep records of the self-evaluation process.

27. School District Responsibilities Under Section 504
Training Staff Regarding Their Responsibilities Under Section 504:
Many general education teachers are unaware of Section 504’s existence and/or requirements.
So, the coordinator has the task of training staff in the meaning and requirements of the law.
Developing a Child Find System:
Schools must annually take steps to identify and locate children with disabilities who are not receiving an appropriate education and to publicize parental and student rights under the law.
These duties are referred to as child find.
It is the responsibility of the school to identify and evaluate students who may qualify for special services under Section 504.

28. School District Responsibilities Under Section 504
Educational Obligations
Identification:
Most students who may be eligible for services under Section 504 are identified through a referral process.
School district officials need to know and define what will trigger a referral for a Section 504 evaluation.
It is important that school district personnel and teachers understand that students may be eligible for services under Section 504 even if they do not qualify for special education under the IDEA.

29. School District Responsibilities Under Section 504
Identification and Evaluation:
Following a referral, school personnel must decide if an evaluation for services under Section 504 is warranted.
An evaluation must be completed and an eligibility decision made before a student can receive services under Section 504.
Schools must convene a multidisciplinary team to interpret evaluation data and make programming and placement decisions.
The two primary purposes of the evaluation are to determine if a student is eligible for services under Section 504, and what educational programming will be required to ensure that the student receives a FAPE.

30. School District Responsibilities Under Section 504
Identification and Evaluation, cont.
The evaluation must meet the following criteria:
the evaluation team must use a variety of assessment procedures and instruments
schools should establish procedures to ensure that all information is documented and fully considered
schools must ensure that the evaluation is made by a team of persons, including persons knowledgeable about the student, the meaning of the evaluation data, and the placement options.
School personnel are not required to conduct an evaluation if they believe a student will not qualify under Section 504, but the parent refers the student for an evaluation under Section 504.
A medical diagnosis is not required as part of an evaluation.

31. School District Responsibilities Under Section 504
Identification and Evaluation, cont.
Section 504 does not give parents the right to obtain an independent educational evaluation at public expense if they disagree with the school district’s evaluation.
If an evaluation will be conducted, it must be completed in a timely manner, but there are no specific timelines for conducting an evaluation.
Educational Programming:
Based on the evaluation data, the team should design the services that a student will receive.
A school provides a FAPE through regular education or special education programming or related aids and services.

32. School District Responsibilities Under Section 504
Educational Programming, cont.
Section 504 requires that school districts provide a FAPE to all eligible students, and there are sanctions when school districts fail to meet these obligations.
If an evaluation finds that a student has a disability under Section 504, a multidisciplinary team should develop an IEP that provides a FAPE for that student.
The Section 504 plan is sometimes called an individualized accommodation plan, and should document the nature of the student’s disability and the major life activity it limits, the basis for determining the disability, the educational impact of the disability, necessary accommodations, and placement.
The Section 504 plan should include accommodations and modifications to a student’s educational program.

33. School District Responsibilities Under Section 504
Placement:
The Section 504 team must also decide where students can receive their educational services.
Placement options may include regular classrooms, regular classrooms with related services, or special education and related services.
If the school district cannot provide the appropriate placement, it must assume the cost of alternative placements.

34. School District Responsibilities Under Section 504
Least Restrictive Environment:
Regulations to Section 504 require that students with disabilities be educated along with students without disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate to the needs of the student.
Districts must document the reasons why more restrictive placements are needed when the student is removed from the general education classroom or a less restrictive setting.
In making placement decisions to move students with disabilities to more restrictive settings, schools may take into account the effect of a student’s behavior on students without disabilities if the effect is deleterious.

35. School District Responsibilities Under Section 504
Neighborhood Schools:
When a student with disabilities is placed in a setting other than the general education classroom, the school must take into account the proximity of the alternative setting to the student’s home.
Schools are not required to place students in schools closest to their homes.
Schools must also ensure that in nonacademic and extracurricular activities, students with disabilities participate with students without disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate to their needs.

36. School District Responsibilities Under Section 504
Reevaluation:
Section 504 requires that students be reevaluated periodically or before a significant change in placement is made.
If a school proposes a significant change in placement, the student must be reevaluated in a manner similar to the initial evaluation.
No timeline for reevaluations is provided.

37. Enforcement of Section 504
Parents can bring actions against a school district through many methods.
Filing a Grievance:
Grievances can be filed with a school district’s Section 504 coordinator if a parent, student, community member, or staff member believes that discrimination based on a disability has occurred.
Filing a Complaint with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR):
Any person may file a grievance with the regional OCR office against a school district within 180 days of an alleged discriminatory action.
All complaints filed with OCR are investigated as long as they have merit.

38. Enforcement of Section 504
Filing a Complaint with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), cont.
The Pre-Determination Settlement (PDS) Process:
OCR initiated the PDS process in an attempt to reduce its massive complaint load.
Through this process the school can avoid an on-site investigation and essentially close the matter without admitting to a violation by agreeing to actions that resolve the complainant’s issues to the satisfaction of OCR.
The advantage of the PDS process is that it saves an enormous amount of time and expense for both the school district and OCR.
Disadvantages are that if the allegations are unfounded, there is no opportunity to dispute them, and that the school must develop a reporting and monitoring timeline to assist OCR in determining if the school district is fulfilling its commitment.

39. Enforcement of Section 504
Filing a Complaint with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), cont.
On-Site Investigation:
If the PDS process is not successful, OCR will then go to the one-site investigation option.
In the investigative process, OCR will request pertinent documentation and conduct staff interviews.
These investigations are time-consuming and uncomfortable for school district staff.
Following the investigation, OCR will issue a verbal finding of violation or a finding of no violation.
If a violation is found to exist, the focus shifts to correction of the violation.
The school district can voluntarily comply to correct the complaint, or the district can attempt to negotiate appropriate corrective action.

40. Enforcement of Section 504
Filing for a Due Process Hearing:
Parents may also request a Section 504 hearing to challenge a school district’s actions.
Individual states have policies regarding how Section 504 hearing will be handled.
Filing a Suit in Federal Court:
Often parents who file IDEA claims in courts also file claims under Section 504.
In such situations, a court will first rule on the IDEA issue and then the Section 504 issue.
Although no private right of action is specifically mentioned in Section 504, case law holds that such a right exists.
This is especially significant if the student seeks reimbursement or monetary remedies.

41. Comparison of the IDEA and Section 504
The IDEA and Section 504 form much of the legal foundation of special education.
The IDEA is often considered the more relevant of the two laws to educators.
Section 504 has been viewed by many as the less detailed version of the IDEA.
Although there is a great deal of overlap between the two laws, there are also distinct differences.