Reply to How to make school to provide 504 accommodations

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP if it’s any consolation, my 10th ADHD grader has had a 504 since first grade and none of his HS teachers actually follow anything listed.   Every time this comes up he is blamed for not asking for his accommodations.  [/quote]

This is not legal. You and your son asked for 504 accommodations at the 504 table.  He does not also have to ask for them in front of his classmates in the classroom each time he wants to use them.

Most students need help from parents to learn how to politely remind teachers about their accommodations.  There is a power dynamic in the classroom that makes it difficult and scary to do this, but 504 plans are a legal obligation the school must meet. The teacher must comply with the plan.

Please support your DC by helping him draft an email to his teacher stating that he wants to regularly receive his accommodation. For example, if he has testing accommodations, he should email that he has a 504 plan with extra time (plus whatever other accoms - small group, use of computer or calculator, test on paper, etc.) and offer a time when he can finish the extra time on the test - at lunch, after school, before school, during the next class or another class, etc.

Your DC should CC you on the email.

If the teacher declines to provide the accommodation, you can help by forwarding the refusal to comply with the 504 plan to the principal, ccing the teacher and your DC, and writing short, polite note informing him/her that the school is "out of compliance" with the 504 and asking that the principal provide the teacher with the necessary professional support to "bring the school back into compliance so that I do not have to resort to due process options."

Section 504, together with IDEA and the ADA protect kid's civil right to access and benefit from an important public good - free public education. Students are our nation's most important human capital investment - an investment made in order to create people who can make their greatest and best contribution to our future society.  We all loose out when that doesn't happen. Please help your child see that he is worth demanding his civil rights so that he can develop his future.  Helping him learn to self-advocate in this way is important for college and the workplace, where he will also have rights to class & campus accommodation and will develop those with the college disability office.

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PP here.  Thanks for this.  We are working on many of these things.  I know teachers are overworked and wonder how many kids have plans at his school.

The 50% rule was hiding some of my child’s issues unfortunately.  [b]Getting a zero now for an assignment a teacher won’t let him turn in late (even though in the plan) [/b]completely tanks his grade. [/quote]

Turn in the assignment any way by attachment to email. This is a completely unacceptable violation of the 504 plan and should be documented. If your student has "extended deadlines" or 50% extra time on assignments" (very common and educational best practice that students receive instruction with same accommodations as testing), he/she should simply complete the assignment and hand it in in class in whatever way the teacher requested for the original assignment (in person, upload, etc.).  If the online link for submitting assignments is closed, your student should instead attach the assignment as a pdf and write a short note to the teacher explaining how they tried to turn it in and why they could not. (e.g. submitted this to you in class but you rejected it). The email should also contain a short, polite reminder that extended deadline or extra time is part of the 504 plan and thus the submission should be graded as "timely".

Your student NEVER needs to ask permission for extra time or extended deadline on an assignment if that is an accommodation on the plan. The student should complete the assignment and document turning it in (or attempting to do so).  Put the ball in the teacher's court - let her reply by email that she won't accept. Let her tell student in class that she won't accept then document that refusal to the principal and CC.

I have a 3 strike system - first refusal generates a polite email reminder about the 504
obligation. If the teacher doubles down and still refuses (strike 2), that refusal is forwarded to the principal with a request to assist the teacher to comply with 504.  If the issue is not rectified within 24 hours, then I forward the teacher/principal email chain  to the associate superintendent and ask that he/she provide resources to bring the school into compliance.

I have literally never been turned down after strike 3. If I were to be, I would consider filing a formal state or federal complaint.

Teachers who do this are bullies and will continue to do it until it becomes clear that their failure to comply is costly to them professionally. No one wants to have their mistakes continually forwarded to their boss or their boss's boss.

That said, I know teachers are human, and all humans make mistakes. That is why I always start with a polite reminder and second chance for the teacher.

The cycle of having a 504 plan that is then ignored by the school is a very costly one for students - it can create a deep sense of despair, hopelessness,  disempowerment, demotivation, anxiety and disconnection from school. I have seen students become depressed, which subsequently needs to be addressed by anti-depressant medication and therapy. I have seen students stop attending class and doing homework. The bad grades, obviously have a terrible impact on grades, which in turn can threaten HS graduation, admissions to college, the quality of college acceptance, and/or the ability to get financial or merit aid for college. Any one of these have lifelong employment and financial impacts.

You have the power, via the 504 plan to stop it. And don't believe "504 plans are unenforceable".  504 is federal law and can be enforced in many ways - state and federal complaints or private suit. (Last year's Perez case broadens the ability to sue for monetary damages under 504 and the ADA.) [/quote]

Extended time does not equal turn it in anytime you want.  🙄[/quote]

Thank you for that red herring PP. No one said extended time equals "turn it in whenever you want".

Extended time in a 504 plan usually comes with a specific amount of time - +50%  is common - on tests & assignments. It is a basic principle of disability accommodation that if a student requires 50% extra time on an exam, they should have a matching amount of extra time for assignments because if a SN students particular neurological profile means they have extra processing time, then they don't just need it on the test, they need it on other graded assignments and instruction.

So, I am not saying "turn it in any time" ..... I am saying if your plan says X% extra time, turn it in w/in that 50% range.

If you are at the IEP table, do not accept a plan that says "extra time" without specific amount of time.   Also, do not accept that the plan says "extra time" or "extended deadlines" "as negotiated with the teacher". That takes an essential legal issue - determining the scope of accommodation - out of the 504 meeting and away from the people who are best qualified to make that determination and incorrectly places the accommodation determination in the hands of each teacher.  Teachers do not have the expertise to make that determination. Teachers are conflicted parties in that determination. There is a power differential between student/teacher that makes it very difficult to negotiate accommodation.  Instead of being one global decision and application that is public (within admin, staff and family) and can be monitored and tracked for compliance and effectiveness, the accommodation becomes hidden.

Non-cooperating teachers know all of this. They believe that when they tell your kid "No, I won't accept your assignment," the student will just stop bothering them. Your job as a parent is to encourage your child to finish the assignment and turn it on "on (their extended) time". Your kid has every right to complete homework in a manner consistent with their disability and to benefit from grades and feedback without penalization.

If you don't have extended time or were turned down for it.... do it and turn it in any way.   Let the teacher do whatever.... I don't care if she is saying I don't accept.  Turn it in by email 2-3 times and ask for a 504 meeting. You now have "documentation" of the need for extra time meed. Point out that your kid is turning in the work but not getting grades or feedback and thus is not able "to access or benefit from" key parts of the educational system. Ask for extended time again. 
[/quote]

Thanks for making teachers the enemy. No wonder you have to resort to this. No one wants to work with you. I have never had a problem with teachers enforcing my child’s 504.  But I treat his teachers with respect and do not come at them in a threatening way.  Be part of the solution. [/quote]

Again, red herring, PP.

Your argument is a bit, "not all teachers".  I am glad you have never had a problem with your child's teachers complying with the 504 plan, but many of us have.

So, it's a bit rich for you (who has never had this problem) to advise us that is essentially "ask for your rights more nicely and you would have gotten them."

I am part of the solution - I am telling parents to use the process created to address these needs. Non-cooperating teachers and admin are the problem. They are refusing to comply with the law, and as a result, they create more work and problems for themselves.

Notice I said "non-cooperating teachers".  Many teachers are good and want to appropriately educate kids with disabilities. But, some are not, and I have seen up close and personal how that damages children and families.

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