504 Rights

<p>In order to be eligible for 504 rights, does a student have to be evaluated and confirmed with a disability? What if the student is "disabled" and the school does not promptly act to evaluate, but knows about the disability and acknowledges it by giving the student some "privileges".
Is the student eligible to the rights under 504?</p>

<p>Documentation that a disability exists is essential. A 504 team meeting will be called (parents are part of the team, and the student should be encouraged to attend). There will be a review of documentation of the disability, teacher progress reports, and any other pertinent information. The team will agree or not that the student has a disability. If the team agrees, accommodations are identified and detailed in a 504 plan.</p>

<p>The school district has a legal duty to act promptly. You might try reaching the special education coordinator for the district if the school is not responsive.</p>

<p>This happened a few months ago but I just wanted to seek advice on whether or not they took the proper steps. A doctor’s note was provided and she was having some trouble in school and it continued for a few months.</p>

<p>An evaluation was done a few months after receiving the doctors note; long after her troubles in class intensified. At this recent meeting, they concluded that she was not eligible to have a 504 plan. HOWEVER, the school staff did say that had this meeting happened months ago (i.e. when the doctor’s note was received), she would have been eligible for rights under 504 (they knew about the disability). Between the time of receiving the doctors paper and the evaluation, they gave her some privileges that are only given to students with a disability at this school.</p>

<p>The fact that she was REGARDED as having a disability by the school, would she have been entitled to the rights under 504? The school waited for evaluation until just recently and throughout this time, D was exposed to what we feel – discrimination in some of the programs offered by the school.</p>

<p>I have been reading about this online and found a similar situation in the link below (not sure how credible this website is):</p>

<p>[Section</a> 504: Accommodations & After-School Programs by Robert Crabtree, Esq. - Wrightslaw](<a href=“http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/sec504.afterschool.crabtree.htm]Section”>Section 504: Accommodations & After-School Programs by Robert Crabtree, Esq. - Wrightslaw)</p>

<p>In the link, I am emphasizing what is being said in the red subtitle: “Protection against discrimination”, paragraph three. Based on your interpretation/knowledge of the laws governing 504, how true is this statement?</p>