Who at MCPS will help if a high school is not implementing a 504

[Anonymous]

Parents with special kids are often special themselves, I have seen this play out to many times to be a coincidence

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A 504 doesn’t guarantee your child a great experience in high school. It is supposed to level the field to provide them the same experience a typical student has.

Typical students still have crummy teachers.

If the teacher put him in the back of the class when he should be up front or isn’t posting slides online after class, you have a right to complain about that. You cannot complain that your child cannot have a specific teacher because they have a 504.

OP here. I guess you didn’t read my post. Thanks for trying 😕

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A 504 doesn’t guarantee your child a great experience in high school. It is supposed to level the field to provide them the same experience a typical student has.

Typical students still have crummy teachers.

If the teacher put him in the back of the class when he should be up front or isn’t posting slides online after class, you have a right to complain about that. You cannot complain that your child cannot have a specific teacher because they have a 504.

Another thing is the majority of kids today have a 504, and it's almost impossible to accommodate all of them. For example, there are only so many spots in the front of the class. A lot of this stems to the 300% increase in 504 plans over the past decade in the wealthier schools.

[Anonymous]

What exact accommodation(s) is not being met?

I only started getting 504 papers at the beginning of last week. Other than that I only had a few testing accommodations on synergy to work from.

504s typically just have reduce distractions and 50% extra time. Doesn’t mean they get forever. Some parents think extra time means until the end of the semester and other crazy shit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A 504 doesn’t guarantee your child a great experience in high school. It is supposed to level the field to provide them the same experience a typical student has.

Typical students still have crummy teachers.

If the teacher put him in the back of the class when he should be up front or isn’t posting slides online after class, you have a right to complain about that. You cannot complain that your child cannot have a specific teacher because they have a 504.

Another thing is the majority of kids today have a 504, and it's almost impossible to accommodate all of them. For example, there are only so many spots in the front of the class. A lot of this stems to the 300% increase in 504 plans over the past decade in the wealthier schools.

Typically, the 504 plan will say the child gets to sit in the area away from distractions. The teacher or 504 coordinator should be discussing with the child to find what location that is. It could be away from another child whom gets the student off task. It could be away from the window or door. It could be away from a noisy radiator. It could be in front of the teacher desk or next to a student that is a good role model for behavior. Unless a child has a visual disability, the spot doesn’t necessarily need to be in the front row.

Also, students with disabilities, unless they are placed in a Special Ed self contained classroom, are supposed to be in classrooms 80% or higher non-disabled peers. It’s called the least restrictive environment. There should be enough spots for everyone who needs accommodations to receive them considering 80% of the students do not receive accommodations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A 504 doesn’t guarantee your child a great experience in high school. It is supposed to level the field to provide them the same experience a typical student has.

Typical students still have crummy teachers.

If the teacher put him in the back of the class when he should be up front or isn’t posting slides online after class, you have a right to complain about that. You cannot complain that your child cannot have a specific teacher because they have a 504.

Another thing is the majority of kids today have a 504, and it's almost impossible to accommodate all of them. For example, there are only so many spots in the front of the class. A lot of this stems to the 300% increase in 504 plans over the past decade in the wealthier schools.

Typically, the 504 plan will say the child gets to sit in the area away from distractions. The teacher or 504 coordinator should be discussing with the child to find what location that is. It could be away from another child whom gets the student off task. It could be away from the window or door. It could be away from a noisy radiator. It could be in front of the teacher desk or next to a student that is a good role model for behavior. Unless a child has a visual disability, the spot doesn’t necessarily need to be in the front row.

Also, students with disabilities, unless they are placed in a Special Ed self contained classroom, are supposed to be in classrooms 80% or higher non-disabled peers. It’s called the least restrictive environment. There should be enough spots for everyone who needs accommodations to receive them considering 80% of the students do not receive accommodations.

Is that even possible these days? Most kids I know all have 504's for the extra time and all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS high school counselor here. I would start by reaching out to your child's school counselor and/or assistant principal or grade level administrator. (The school counselor is likely your child's 504 case manager.) When you reach out, it's helpful to email some specific examples of how your child's teacher isn't implementing their 504 accommodations. This will make it much easier for the counselor to follow up with the teacher and, if necessary, the resource teacher for that department. As a counselor, I always prefer receiving these communications in writing, so that if I need to elevate a concern, I have written documentation to share with our building leadership.

I'm not sure how many folks in the building you've talked to. If you ever feel like you've reached the end the road in terms of reaching out to people at school, you should contact MCPS's 504 Compliance team: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/special-education/compliance/section-504.aspx

OP here. Thank you all. I’m really so upset. The counselor said it’s up to the Assistant Principal and there were so many complaints about the teacher they’ve decided not to let anyone switch. The 504 is meaningless it appears.

The counselor said her hands are tied and she can’t help. She seems nice but she’s also new. She asked if I still wanted to pursue this after being rejected. I said I’ll pursue it until it’s fixed. She said they’d tell the teacher but I don’t see how he can improve his English that fast! She means well but she’s not going to be able to help it seems.

I have documented it all in correspondence with the teacher, head of the department, the counselor, the assistant principal and the 504 contact in compliance. I just feel so awful - my kid said he feels stupid and like crying and throwing up all day. How can he ever take a test when he isn’t picking up any content? He is entitled to class notes in his 504 but my son didn’t ask because he said the teacher is really disorganized and writes over the slides so they aren’t legible. I said let’s get the actual notes and see what they look like. I bought the textbook and hired a tutor but why bother going to class at this point? MCPS gave up on my child and the other kids in the class. It’s so sad.

I also requested access to another teacher in the department at lunch and before school so he has some resource for that class other than me!

It’s unbelievable the school is not doing more yo help my son and the other kids affected.

OP, you seem confused about what a 504 does and doesn’t do. What it does is provide accommodations to help you student access the curriculum. In your case, you only indicated “copy of class notes” as an accommodation, which you then basically said your son refused. You son probably also has extended time, preferential seating, and maybe breaks. What a 504 does NOT do is give your child special treatment to pick and choose teachers. There is no accommodation of “teacher doesn’t have an accent” or “teacher has neat handwriting”. While you aren’t getting what you want, that doesn’t mean the school is not meeting the 504. All you’ve done is identify yourself as an annoying parent.

So, let’s go back to the class notes problem. The purpose of that accommodation is to make sure that students have access to the content information provided in class, not a transcript of what happened in class. This could be the class slides, or the course textbook, or answer keys to worksheets. Such things are usually provided to everyone via Canvas nowadays. If that isn’t happening yet, that would be a place to ask the resource teacher to get the new teacher help with setting up. But let’s be realistic, if all of that was available, is your student really going to review materials covered in class?

It sounds like your son has a lot of anxiety and you are only compounding it. I think you would be better working with your son to determine what resources he has available (textbook, slides, videos, etc.) for the content, and to then just focus on the instruction during class without feeling like he has to scramble to keep up with notes. You son can also take advantage of homework help or peer tutoring that the school offers, if he gets stuck on homework.

Parent of child with similar 504 Plan. The process is to go to the counselor. Confirm the teacher has the 504 Plan. This happened to my child this year and it turns out they changed my child's schedule at the last minute, and the teacher involved didn't receive the 504 Plan. The goal here is only to be sure that the teacher has the 504 Plan and complies with it. If the counselor can't accomplish that, then I'd write to the AP for my child's grade and the resource teacher and see if they can help. If that doesn't work, contact the principal. If that doesn't work, MCPS Central Office has an office that oversees this, which I've found helpful.

One thing that the HS often forget. The student should not be required to ask for the accommodations in the 504 Plan. They are to be given. Also, HS teachers sometimes forget that students who are under 18 are minors. They do not have the ability to waive their rights to 504 Accommodations, but I've seen teachers pressure my child to waive their rights. As much as the teachers may want to push for student independence, etc. until they are 18, they are minors and ultimately, the parents make the decisions.

As the previous poster said, the goal is to ensure compliance with the 504 Plan -- not to change teachers. If there is a problem with the teacher that's applicable to all students, that may eventually work its way out by other means, but it should not be your focus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

One thing that the HS often forget. The student should not be required to ask for the accommodations in the 504 Plan. They are to be given. Also, HS teachers sometimes forget that students who are under 18 are minors. They do not have the ability to waive their rights to 504 Accommodations, but I've seen teachers pressure my child to waive their rights. As much as the teachers may want to push for student independence, etc. until they are 18, they are minors and ultimately, the parents make the decisions.

Been getting this excuse even in MS. Forcing my kid to ask for things makes him feel singled out, plus not to mention diagnosis is ADHD so he likely will forget to ask which is the exact reason we have the plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

One thing that the HS often forget. The student should not be required to ask for the accommodations in the 504 Plan. They are to be given. Also, HS teachers sometimes forget that students who are under 18 are minors. They do not have the ability to waive their rights to 504 Accommodations, but I've seen teachers pressure my child to waive their rights. As much as the teachers may want to push for student independence, etc. until they are 18, they are minors and ultimately, the parents make the decisions.

Been getting this excuse even in MS. Forcing my kid to ask for things makes him feel singled out, plus not to mention diagnosis is ADHD so he likely will forget to ask which is the exact reason we have the plan.

There are so many kids with accommodations that one kid is unlikely to be singled out. If a kid refuses to use his extended time or refuses to stop talking to a student across the room, then he or she is refusing the related accommodations. I can't make a kid use 50% more time on a writing assignment if they are refusing to do it or think two sentences meets the requirements of a three paragraph essay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

One thing that the HS often forget. The student should not be required to ask for the accommodations in the 504 Plan. They are to be given. Also, HS teachers sometimes forget that students who are under 18 are minors. They do not have the ability to waive their rights to 504 Accommodations, but I've seen teachers pressure my child to waive their rights. As much as the teachers may want to push for student independence, etc. until they are 18, they are minors and ultimately, the parents make the decisions.

Been getting this excuse even in MS. Forcing my kid to ask for things makes him feel singled out, plus not to mention diagnosis is ADHD so he likely will forget to ask which is the exact reason we have the plan.

I agree with you about this. In Middle School the expectations for self-advocacy for the 504 set are out of line. Kids without 504 plans are embarrassed to ask the teacher for help at times!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

One thing that the HS often forget. The student should not be required to ask for the accommodations in the 504 Plan. They are to be given. Also, HS teachers sometimes forget that students who are under 18 are minors. They do not have the ability to waive their rights to 504 Accommodations, but I've seen teachers pressure my child to waive their rights. As much as the teachers may want to push for student independence, etc. until they are 18, they are minors and ultimately, the parents make the decisions.

Been getting this excuse even in MS. Forcing my kid to ask for things makes him feel singled out, plus not to mention diagnosis is ADHD so he likely will forget to ask which is the exact reason we have the plan.

There are so many kids with accommodations that one kid is unlikely to be singled out. If a kid refuses to use his extended time or refuses to stop talking to a student across the room, then he or she is refusing the related accommodations. I can't make a kid use 50% more time on a writing assignment if they are refusing to do it or think two sentences meets the requirements of a three paragraph essay.

+1

We had to eliminate several really engaging activities because time and a half accommodations for 1/3 of the students kept us from moving through the stages in a meaningful and realistic time frame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

One thing that the HS often forget. The student should not be required to ask for the accommodations in the 504 Plan. They are to be given. Also, HS teachers sometimes forget that students who are under 18 are minors. They do not have the ability to waive their rights to 504 Accommodations, but I've seen teachers pressure my child to waive their rights. As much as the teachers may want to push for student independence, etc. until they are 18, they are minors and ultimately, the parents make the decisions.

Been getting this excuse even in MS. Forcing my kid to ask for things makes him feel singled out, plus not to mention diagnosis is ADHD so he likely will forget to ask which is the exact reason we have the plan.

I agree with you about this. In Middle School the expectations for self-advocacy for the 504 set are out of line. Kids without 504 plans are embarrassed to ask the teacher for help at times!

You should file a Section 504 Complaint with the US Department of Education. Accommodations should be provided and it is discrimination to create barriers for the access. If a child is having difficulty with skills to advocate, then that is a sign that a child needs an IEP to learn the skills to advocate.