My Child Is on a Section 504 Plan

Alternative Educational Setting or Placement:

A classroom located somewhere other than the student’s current classroom that enables the child to continue to progress in the general education curriculum. For children on IEPs, it must also provide special education and related services that enable the child to continue to progress toward meeting the goals set out in his or her IEP.

Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP):

A written document that describes interventions and strategies developed to address a student’s social, emotional, and behavioral goals.

Change of Placement:

An out-of-school suspension for more than 10 consecutive days for one offense or a series of shorter suspensions for different offenses that total more than 10 days in a school year.

A change of placement also means any significant change in delivery or location of services, such as providing services in a specialized classroom instead of a regular education classroom.

Drugs:

Controlled substances or other substances identified under schedules I, II, III, IV, or V in section 202(c) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. § 812(c)). The term does not include a substance that is possessed legally or used under, the supervision of a licensed health-care professional, any other authority listed in the Controlled Substances Act, or any other provision of federal law.

Evaluation:

Evaluation is the process for determining if a child has a disability and needs special education and related services. The process involves gathering information from a variety of sources about a child's functioning and development in all areas of suspected disability.

Emotional or Behavioral Disability:

A child is said to have a specific “diagnosis” or “disorder” when his or her troubling behaviors occur frequently and are severe.

Expulsion:

A school board action to exclude a student from attending school for more than 10 school days but which may not exceed no more than one calendar year.

Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA):

A document that gathers information to identify problem behaviors and their function for the student. It describes problem behaviors and identifies events, times, and situations that trigger or prevent them. It also identifies the antecedents, consequences, and reinforcers that maintain the behavior, the possible reasons why the behavior occurs, and possible positive alternative behaviors.

Individualized Education Program (IEP):

A written statement of the educational program designed to meet the specific needs of a child who has been evaluated by a school district and found to be eligible for special education services.

In-school Suspension:

A disciplinary exclusion from a student’s current classroom, in which the student continues to appropriately progress in the general curriculum; receive the services specified on his or her IEP; and participate with children without disabilities to the extent he or she would have in his or her current placement.

Manifestation:

A direct and substantial relationship to your child’s disability.

Manifestation Determination:

A process in which members of the IEP or Section 504 team who are familiar with your child and the behavior in question, school district representatives, and the parent review all relevant information in a child’s file to decide if the child’s misconduct was caused by or had a direct and substantial relationship to his or her disability. If a child is on an IEP, they must also determine whether the misconduct was the direct result of the district’s failure to implement the IEP.

Out-of-school Suspension:

Any action by a school’s staff or administration that prohibits a student from attending classes or remaining in his or her current classroom for 10 or fewer school days without the provision of educational services. Each partial day that a student is prohibited from attending classes or remaining in his or her current classroom without the provision of educational services counts as one full day of suspension.

Pattern of Removals :

a series of removals which totals more than 10 non-consecutive school days, that school district determines is for behavior that is substantially similar to previous incidents and other factors such as the length of removals and the total amount of time removed constitutes a pattern.

Prior Written Notice (PWN) :

A written statement from the school district that informs the parent(s) about recommendation(s) relating to the initiation or change in the identification, evaluation, educational placement of the student or the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to the student.

Procedural Safeguards:

A document given to parents at least once a year that includes a full explanation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004) requirements for:

1. Independent educational evaluations;
2. Prior written notice;
3. Parental consent;
4. Access to educational records;

School Days:

Weekdays that school is regularly in session and students are in attendance. School days do not include weekends or holidays when students do not attend school.

Section 504 Plan:

An agreement between the parents and the school district that details the accommodations, modifications, and services provided to students who have disabilities that substantially limit a major life activity but who are not eligible for an Individualized Education Program (IEP).

Section 504 Procedural Safeguards:

A notice to parents or guardians of their rights under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. These rights include an opportunity to examine relevant records, participate in an impartial hearing with representation by counsel, and have a review procedure.

Serious Bodily Injury:

Harm to a person that involves a substantial risk of death; extreme physical pain; protracted and obvious disfigurement: or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty.

Weapon:

A device, instrument, material, or substance, animate or inanimate, that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury, including a pocket knife with a blade 2 ½ inches or longer.