Kacey: Child is 7th grader in CA, has had multiple diagnosis, but District says he does not qualify for spec ed. They gave him a 504 plan, then took away more than half his accommodations. They gave him an assessment and said he does not qualify for Spec Ed. I filed for an IEE and the District filed due process (coming up soon). Our child had an IEP (speech and Lang) but the district strong armed us in giving it up in exchange for an extensive 504 plan then takes away the 504 plan except for a few accommodations. How do we get the district to give him services? I did file a complaint with OCR but they take years to investigate a matter. The District recently created their own 504 plan without our consent and implemented it, they claim they do not need parents consent – is this true? They also claim that our child does not need services since our child is an A-B student, is that true?
Kacey: Please go to the front page of our website and download both the 504 Regulations and the 504 Guidance Manual. When you search the regulations you will see that there is no such thing as a 504 plan described in the regs. There is no discussion as to who must participate nor whether parent consent for a plan is required. (Parent consent is required for an evaluation.) You will see your child may well have all of the rights and protections of a child with a disability under both 504 and ADA regardless as to whether there is or is not a “504 plan”.
In the Guidance Manual you will see that it does not really address your question. However, if you go to our Law Book and look at 1401(3) at page 49-50, you will see in footnote 16 “A child can advance steadily from grade to grade without failing grades and still be classified as a child with a disability” under IDEA. So an IDEA child also has the protections of a 504 child.
I checked with Pete and he said that it’s best that you go forward and push for your child being eligible under IDEA, and then your fall back can be a 504 plan.
https://www.wrightslaw.com/law/504/sec504.regs.linked.pdf
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/504-resource-guide-201612.pdf
https://www.wrightslaw.com/store/selaw2.store.html
Wow!! I am going to take a shot at this. They should not have created the 504 without you being involved.Have your daughter reevaluated for a new IEP and hopefully the school will back down and give you the IEP. The new evaluation may even show that he has grown in certain areas that you mention. Do not let the school strong arm you again if a new IEP is recommended you have got to fight and advocate for your child. School personnel should know by now that they always need a parent consent to create and implement a 504 plan. If you don’t agree it should not go through and make sure that you notify the school and let them know that you don’t agree and that you are revoking your consent to this 504 because you were not included in the process. He maybe an A-B student but he needs services.