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Section 504 Essay

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When we spoke last week we discussed the school district’s concerns regarding child find under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 for students who have an individual health plan (“IHP”).

This is a concern for many school districts. Fortunately, the answer to the question is well established. For example, below is a quote from LRP Q&A: Best practices to guard against Section 504 procedural errors.
Q: Should 504 coordinators contact school nurses to obtain a list of students identified as having an allergy, ADD, ADHD, asthma, as well as those receiving medication during the school day?
A: Yes. Those can be big triggers for your child find obligations under Section 504. Schools all over the country often serve children with medical …show more content…

Though we did not get into the specific requirements of the letter, it should include, among other things, a statement that their child has an IHP and may qualify for disability protections, offer to a meeting to discuss evaluations, and include a copy of their Section 504 procedural safeguards.

As I explained, due to 2008 changes to the eligibility language, students with life-threatening allergies (e.g., to peanuts, shellfish, or bee stings) and other health concerns are now considered individuals with a disability under Section 504. From our conversation I understand that due to the number of students affected, to hold meetings and evaluate all students with IHP who we suspect may be eligible for Section 504 protections at the same time may not be feasible. If we are forced to take a systematic approach to contacting families I recommend that students with IHP for allergies are among the first students contacted because we know that student with such allergies are eligible under Section 504.

We also discussed, reviewing your policies and internal procedures, and if necessary developing internal procedures for nurses, principals, or administrative staff at the local level to use so that they can determine if a referral for Section 504 is necessary when a student receives an

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