Within the 504 Plan, specific accommodations, modifications, and related services will be listed as the measures necessary to level the playing field for your child and students without your child’s disability. Although not all families need a lawyer at this stage, having the guidance of an experienced education attorney as early as possible in the process will often help establish a strong educational program. Many schools in New Jersey have their Guidance Department handle the administration and implementation of 504 Plans, so a guidance counselor will likely be your point person at the school to address questions and needs as they arise.
If the school district evaluates the student, or accepts a private provider’s recommendations to develop a 504 Plan, a team of school personnel and the student’s parents will convene to discuss the student’s needs. 504 Plans are based on a disability, so having some form of medical diagnosis or recommendation from a private provider will be helpful in securing a 504 Plan for your child. The first step in identifying a child as a student with a disability under Section 504 could be a medical diagnosis from a private provider, concerns expressed by parents to a teacher or guidance counselor, or a teacher’s recommendation that a student be evaluated to determine the need for support and accommodations. Under Section 504, a school district can meet its obligation to provide a FAPE by providing either general education or special education along with related supports and services that are designed to meet the disabled student’s needs as adequately as the needs of nondisabled students. When a student qualifies as a student with a disability under Section 504’s broad definition, school districts are required to provide them with a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) alongside their peers without disabilities to the greatest extent possible. Our experienced New Jersey education attorneys can help you navigate this process. Other major life activities impacted by disabilities can be walking, breathing, thinking, planning, or eating. The major life activity impaired by the disability does not need to be learning, although it certainly can be and often is. Qualifying students are those who either (1) have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities or (2) have a record of such an impairment or (3) are regarded as having such an impairment.
Section 504 protects qualifying students with disabilities in all programs that receive federal funding, which includes all public schools and the vast majority of private schools in New Jersey.
A 504 Plan is an anti-discrimination measure that schools can use to ensure that students with disabilities have equal access to their education and the school environment under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504).
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