Homebound Student May Use 504 and the ADA to Challenge School District’s Policy Excluding Him from the Senior Graduation Party and Dance

 In Mowry v. Logan County Board of Education, 58 IDELR 192 (S.D. W. Va. 2012), a West Virginia high school student who was placed on a homebound program due to having Fabry’s disease (a hereditary metabolic disorder) was told if he was “too sick” to attend school, he was “too sick” to attend extracurricular activities [...]

Justice Department Settles Complaints with Health Care Providers Regarding HIV Discrimination

The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) announced last Friday that it has settled two complaints involving claims that health care providers refused to serve people with HIV in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The first complaint was filed by a man with HIV who sought treatment at the Mercy Medical Group Midtown Clinic [...]

Florida Department of Education Required to Pay for Maintaining Specific Unique Assistive Technology Needed for Student to Take State Exams

In Seminole County (FL) School District, 58 IDELR 113 (OCR 2011), the parents of a 5th grade student with cerebral palsy and a visual impairment complained to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that the Florida Department of Education failed to provide their daughter with a screen- reading device as an accommodation during a state exam. The [...]

OCR Rules School District Violated 504 by Isolating Special Needs Students in a Portable Classroom

The Office for Civil Rights found  that a Tennessee school district violated Section 504 when it placed 14 middle schoolers with severe disabilities in a self-contained classroom that was housed in two portable buildings outside the main school building. Marion County (TN) School District 11 LRP 59226 (OCR May 2011). The school district had created the Child [...]

President Obama issues a Proclamation Celebrating the Anniversary of the ADA

  Today is the twenty first annivesary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. President Obama issued the following proclamation celebrating that momentous event.   ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, 2011   – – – – – – –   BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA   A [...]

High School Student’s Lack of Effort/Negative Attitude Toward School May Signal Need to Reevaluate and Update 504 Plan

In Ms. H v. Montgomery County Board of Education, 56 IDELR 268 (May 12,2011) a  U.S. District Court in Alabama ruled that the mother of a high school girl with ADHD had stated a claim that her daughter’s frequent tardies, failure to complete work, and refusal to participate in class should have signaled the school district to reevaluate her 504 [...]

Student with OCD and Tourette Syndrome Making Good Grades May Still Be Eligible for a 504 Plan

     I am often asked whether a student who has disabilities but is making good grades can be eligible for services under Section 504. In Miller (GA) School District 56 IDELR 53 (OCR 2010) the Office for Civil Rights decided that the fact a student  with  Tourette syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) achieved good grades in [...]

School Should Have Been Proactive to Protect Student with Cognitive Disabilities From Name-calling

The Office for Civil Rights determined that the fact that a student with cognitive disabilities never actually filed a  written complaint against schoolmates who regularly called him “retard”, “stupid”,  and “moron” did not excuse the district’s failure to investigate those incidents as violations of 504. (Williamston(MI) Community Schools, 111 LRP 1843  (OCR July 26, 2010).  [Readers [...]

Schools Must Proactively Provide Evaluations Under Section 504 and the ADA

A school district in Alabama violated Section 504 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act because it failed to realize that a  9th grade student’s extensive absences and his mother’s request for homebound instruction was connected to his medical condition, Crohns disease (Cleburne County School District 55 IDELR 110, May 21, 2010). The student enrolled in [...]

DOJ Posts Frequently Asked Questions about Filing an ADA Complaint

     The Department of Justice recently posted on its website a customer friendly guide called Frequently Asked Questions about Filing an ADA Complaint. This guide, provided in a question and answer format, leads the reader through the complaint process. It explains, among other things, how to file a complaint, what information to include in a complaint, how [...]