Cindy: My son, who is a junior at a private Catholic school underwent a Psychoeducational Asessment in September of 2015. They determined he had a math disabiilty. The assessment was given to the Learning Specialist at the school, and a 504 plan was developed and signed by the school and by his parents. After many meetings with this Geometry teacher, and reviews of the accommodation plan, my son continued to do poorly in Geometry. We did not feel that the 504 was being followed, and expressed our concern to the school. My son received an “F” in Geometry and the school says in order for him to graduate next year he has to receive a passing mark in this class. Their solution was for him to take an online class over the summer through BYU. This does not meet any of the 504 plan, and we have expressed our concern and disappointment in the schools choice for helping him. What is the best way for us to proceed with the school at this point? We don’t feel that he will be able to pass the online program as there is no instruction by a teacher, it is 100% reading the lesson and doing the work and taking quizzes and tests.
Are private schools mandated to follow 504s? I work in a private school and we do not receive information on 504s from the LEA. As a matter of fact, our county has discontinued ISPs unless a student needs/receives speech services. ISPs never included any testing accommodations or SAS.
Is this something that’s happening at a national level?
Private schools are not mandated to follow 504 plans or rules unless they receive federal funding or the child is placed there by a public school. Public schools are required to make efforts to locate all children living in their district who have or might have a disability. This “Child Find” responsibility should involve communicating with private schools. In some cases a public school can provide services while a child still attends the private school.
P.S. Instructions for filing the complaint: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/howto.html
“We did not feel that the 504 was being followed.” You may want to file a non-compliance complaint with the Office for Civil Rights. You can ask for compensatory services.
Please don’t put all your eggs in one basket — OCR sometimes moves very slowly, and sometimes produces rather irrational results. However, filing a complaint can be a helpful step to take. You do not need to pay a lawyer to file such a complaint.
Have you tried to find a **good** math tutor? If you haven’t, suggest you contact the International Dyslexia Association and ask for their list of tutors in your area.