504 MCPS

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have any experience with getting a 504 for a type 1 diabetic student in MCPS? Particularly younger children. If so please tell me about the process, timeline, degree of difficulty, accommodations requested, etc....

[Anonymous]

I know in general what diabetes is but what accommodations specifically do you think your child needs?

In general, for a 504 plan, you need to write the school a letter requesting a 504 meeting to create a 504 plan. It will probably help/speed the process a little if you give a brief description of the diagnosis and some of the accommodations you envision with a note from the doctor to support the diagnosis and requested accommodations.

504s are different from IEPs, so there is no specific enforceable timeline or parental participation rules I'm aware of that the 504 plan requires (vs. the 30/60=90 timeline for an IEP). That said, google and look for the "Handbook for Implementing Section 504" (revised Sept. 2011) and you will see that in theory there is a formal MCPS process laid out for 504s. I say in theory, because our school has been so bad about 504 process, it is basically a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Note p. 77 of this manual mentions self-testing for diabetes with specific names and phone numbers of MCPS staff to contact on this issue. I assume that your child is too young to self-test, but that only means that the school will have to figure out another way.

Also, sometimes there is an assumption that a nurse must be present at school the entire day to support a child's need. MCPS schools rarely have a full-time nurse, although if you had a documented need they might have to put one in. But, an alternative to consider is whether other staff can be trained to support the student when the nurse is absent. For example, this is the case with nut allergies when a young child needs an Epi-pen administration. The nurse doesn't necessarily have to do this and teachers or admin staff can be trained instead (with back-ups). Sometimes people balk at this non-nurse training, worrying about liability, but I believe MD has good samaritan laws which insulate people or you can offer to sign a legal document releasing whomever agrees to take on this role from any liability.