Students Rights Collaborative Learning Community Assignment Grand Canyon

Student’s Rights Collaborative Learning Community Assignment Grand Canyon University EAD-505 November 29, 2017 Ashley Mc. Donnell, Earshline Young, Joel Santana, Michelle Williams, & Tashia Coleman

Agenda • Review 504 law, policies, procedures • Review IDEA law, policies, procedures • Case Highlights • Major Players & Possible Solutions • Action Steps & Rationale

Section 504 is a part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Prohibits discrimination against students with a disability. The needs of disabled students must be met just as a non-disabled student’s needs would be met. A 504 plan makes a plan for how the student will access his learning the general education setting. Federal Law defines disability as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activities such as: walking, speaking sitting, thinking, learning breathing and interacting with others, AD/HD, Dyslexia, Cancer, diabetes, severe allergies, chronic asthma, Tourette’s, digestive disorders, hart disorders, depression, broken arm or leg

504 Eligibility In order to be eligible for Section 504, a student must: • be between the ages of 3 and 22 • have a disability that requires accommodations in order to be successful in the regular education classroom. The disability must interfere with the student’s ability to learn. An impairment under Section 504 may also include any disability or long-term illness that hinders the student’s ability to learn in the regular education setting. There must be medical documentation of the impairment.

Section 504 The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Section 504 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 serves as a legal protection of students with disabilities to have the equal right and opportunity to obtain a free public education. Within this act to fairly protect students with disabilities, students must have some form of physical or mental disability, have a history of a disability or diagnosed within time of being disabled.

IDEA: stands for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It was established in 1975 and named Education for All Handicapped Children Act or (Public Law 94 -142) IDEA legally inured that students had access to a Free and Appropriate Public Education. Today, more than IDEA had made it possible for infants and toddlers with disabilities to receive intervention services.

Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was established in 1990. -A civil rights law that forbids discrimination against people with disabilities in the workplace, public service, with public accommodations and telecommunications. -Required the work place to make accommodations for the disabled. -By 2000, more than 375 ADA Lawsuits were filed.

Background Information • One High School in the District with 3, 200 students • Old High School built in the 1950’s. One-fourth of school not up to Federal and State code standards to accommodate disabilities. • After a football game injury, Miguel was left paralyzed from the waist down. • Miguel needs wheelchair access to get to classes. • Miguel’s class schedule changed in order accommodate disability. • New science class does not fulfill college requirement. • Meeting with Miguel’s parents and attorney in order to change class back to biology, which fulfills college requirement.

Case Highlights Case 38 shares the history of Nottingham High School within the Dover Unified School District. Of all the schools in the district, Nottingham High School is the only centralized high school housing 3, 200 students. With such great rapport with the community and various stakeholder. Dr. Harvey, the school district superintendent has helped to build relationships that brought in much support for the school. Major support from the community was given to extra curricular activities. Like many high school sports, you have players on teams that become key to the winning teams. Miguel Hernandez was one of the star players for Nottingham High School football team. In being the star player of the team, Miquel was hurt during a play out on the field. Due to his injuries, Miquel was left with severe injuries that left him paralyzed having to be wheel chair bound. In reading Case 38 we learned that Miquel could return back to school, but needed limited accommodations academically. He did however, need accommodations to be able to access all of his classes by wheelchair.

Case Highlights In order to accommodate Miguel, he was removed from his Biology class and placed in a science class that would better accommodate his mobility. Removing him out of his biology class would affect the course in which is needed for college after graduating from high school, His removal from his Biology class caused a problem for the school and the district, because he was being denied due to his inability to access the class. Because of the lack of accommodations for Miquel, the changes made to his schedule caused concerns for his parents. Legal action was taken upon the school, because they failed to accommodate Miquel not because of a learning disability but because of the class not having wheel chair accessibility.

Major Players Mr. & Mrs. Hernandez Miguel Hernandez Howard Kerry (attorney) Ms. Gusman (school counselor) Principal Dr. Harvey (Superintendent for Dover Unified School District)

What We Know • What happened to Miguel was an unfortunate accident. • Miguel has a right to receive a free appropriate education under Section 504. • Students who do receive 504 Services are protected from discrimination. • The law states that under the American with Disabilities Act, prohibits discrimination and ensures equal opportunity for all persons with a disability. This is also included in the public accommodation for Miguel. He should not have been denied access to attend the Biology class. • Lastly, with Miguel being a minor his parents should have been notified in writing concerning the schedule change.

Information Needed to Make a Decision • Need to know what is IEP, what IDEA mentions, and what a 504 mandates. • Need to know if any of the aforementioned were done for Miguel. If not, that needs to be done quickly. • In a school of 3, 200 students there may be another section of biology available that has wheelchair access. • Is the biology class in a trailer classroom? • What funds are available to modify a trailer classroom to be wheelchair accessible? • Is it possible for the teacher to switch classrooms?

Possible Case Solutions As principal of Nottingham High School, I would have to reconvene the meeting for when the district attorney can attend. I would also contact the superintendent to inform of the situation and request that a wheelchair ramp be built immediately. At the meeting, I would apologize to Mr. and Mrs. Hernandez and share that Miguel should have never been denied access to his Biology class and assure the family that he had been reinstated. Staff development would be conducted on 504 as well as IDEA.

Action Steps & Rationale Step 1: Contact the Superintendent and the district lawyer Step 2: Request for a wheelchair ramp to be built to allow access to the classroom Step 3: Reinstate the student in biology Step 4: Hold a meeting with vital stakeholders, including parents, to inform them of the immediate changes According to IDEA, it is not acceptable to deny a student the opportunity to attend a class due to lack of access for students with special needs. Therefore, the plan laid out, addresses the lack of access to the classroom and provides a solution. The plan also places the student back into the required class, while informing all participants of

Protecting Students With Disabilities • Section 504 requires all public -school districts to provide students with disabilities an education, despite the students disability. The FAPE gives opportunity for the students to learn in a general education setting or a special setting depending on their needs and accommodations. Based on the students related services he or she must have the right documentation such as an IEP that share the student’s disability history and what is needed to help the student educationally. • https: //ldaamerica. org/protecting-students-with- disabilities-faqs-about-section-504 -and-theeducation-of-children-with-disabilities

References Section 504 Parent Rights. (2004). Learning Re-enabled, 149 -150. doi: 10. 1016/b 978 -0 -323 -02772 -4. 50018 -4 Protecting Students With Disabilities. (2015, October 16). Retrieved November 26, 2017, from https: //www 2. ed. gov/about/offices/list/ocr/504 faq. html