Reply to Kid with educational report and accomodations - what obligations do private schools have

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]NP.

So much misinformation about private schools on this thread.  All schools - private and public - must make reasonable accommodations for disabilities under both Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act (if the school takes federal money or has some connection to programs or activities under the executive branch) and under the Americans with Disability Act (applies to all public and non-parochial schools and even includes private Catholic schools to a varying extent, perhaps depending on whether they take any federal money or benefit, which many do.)

Under Section 504, a person is disabled when they 1) have a disorder that 2) substantially limits one or more major life activities. This analysis is also applied to ADA disability eligibility.

In the 2008 Amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act, Congress made clear that "substantially limits" should be considered broadly and inclusively.

A person who meets these two tests is considered "eligible" for disability accommodations.

The analysis of accommodations flows first from an analysis of the students needs.  Then the school and the parent can discuss what kinds of reasonable accommodations could meet those needs.  Sometimes there are different ways of meeting a need that are equally effective and reasonable -- in that case, the school might prefer one over another and still be legally compliant.

But, what a school cannot do legally is say "we do not accommodate".  Schools and other establishments also often turn out to be wrong about what is legally considered "reasonable".  Even things that cost staff, money or time can still be considered "reasonable".  Schools also can't say, "we only provide X accommodations for that diagnosis or wont' provide X accommodations unless you have Y diagnosis" because the analysis stems from the needs of the disabled person and are not formulaic based on a type of diagnosis or disability.

As a tutor, I can personally say private schools of all types in the DMV offer accommodations -- from the top 3 to progressives to religious -- because they are legally obligated to do so.

What private schools do not have to do, but public schools do have to do is provide "specialized instruction" as required under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA).  That is the law that requires public schools to offer a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) to every child (including the undocumented or non-citizens).  IDEA details what has become known as the IEP process. To get an IEP a student has to 1) have a disorder that 2) has an adverse impact on education and 3) requires special instruction.

Special instruction is a change in instruction.  For example, dyslexic students need a different type of reading instruction, i.e. "special instruction".

Accommodation is a change to the way that the general instruction is delivered or assessed -- extra time, copies of notes, test on paper, frequent breaks, particular seat placement, time to go to the nurse in particular situations, etc.

See more information here:

https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48068

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You completely ignored the actual question, so this wasn't helpful at all.

OP is asking. The school is in fact giving accommodations - "School has given her more time on tests".

OP wants "lesson materials be provided in advance from the school".  Most schools would find that unreasonable. A teacher might not know in advance what is being taught because it often depends on how well the majority of the students understood the previous lesson. Sometimes teachers needs to circle back and re-teach something particularly in math. [/quote]

While it is true that teachers might not have a lesson prepared, or might have a lesson prepared and be forced to improvise, that doesn't obviate the legal obligation to accommodate a need of the student - the question is just, reasonably, how that could be done.

In order to properly analyze the "teacher to provide material in advance" accommodation, one has to start by asking, "what was the need that this accommodation was supposed to meet, is there another way to meet the need?"  For example, if the student needs written material of the lesson prior to class because he can't attend to the lesson and take notes at the same time and the "lesson in advance" was supposed to serve as a kind of memory aide or notes for that day's lesson, then there are other solutions -- give the student a tablet with a note-taking app, give the student "copy of class notes" after the lesson, etc.  Or perhaps the kid needs a written copy of the lesson because they can't hear the teacher properly -- you could have the teacher wear a mike and give the student an earpiece, or boost the volume of the speech for the whole class, or give the kid access to close captioning.

But, the school has to go thru this analysis -- eligibility, need, ID a reasonable accommodation that fills the need.   In fact, if the school has given accommodations such as more time on test, then it has already acknowledged that the child has a disability and is eligible for accommodations.  Extra time on tests fills one kind of need. The parent is communicating that there are other needs that are not being accommodated, and the school is legally obligated to consider how they can reasonably fill the need.

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You are missing that private schools are often unable to REASONABLY accommodate a student. [/b]Wanting a lesson in advance is often not reasonable because it places a burden on the teacher to stick to a preconceived notion of how much they are covering and what. Teachers often have to pivot to teach a mini lesson.

OP writes, " My kid is struggling in math and despite getting extra time on tests, is finding the class hard to follow as the teacher moves fast and skips over things." So with a teacher who skips things and moves fast it and the vast majority of the students are keeping up, providing materials in advance of class is often not possible.

Math is often sequential unlike science or history topics. But it takes time to catch up if you haven't been keeping up. It requires doing the lesson, the homework AND then doing a lot of extra work reviewing basic math almost every day. It can't be that you get tutoring once a week to catch up and understand a fast pace math course.

So much also depends on what grade the student is in. [/quote]

I think you do not understand the process.  While it is true that a parent’s request for a particular accommodation might be unreasonable, if that request is reflective of a particular need of the disabled student, then the school has an obligation to offer a reasonable accommodation to meet that need. The definition of a reasonable accommodation is not one that puts no burden on the teacher or costs no money.

It’s very common for students who have “slow processing” to need copies of class notes - either prior or after. This could be a lesson plan provided in advance of the lesson, but it could also be several other ways of accommodating (audio or video recording copy of notes after class, copy of peer notes, whatever), one of which the school would be obligated to do.

It’s one thing for a teacher to have to pivot one day and teach something unexpected, but a teacher who says she never has a lesson plan is just a bad teacher. 
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