Special Education Basics: The Difference Between IEPs and 504s

Most parents of children with disabilities do not have extensive experience advocating for accommodations within their school system. In an ideal world, a school would promptly and properly identify the needs of students with disabilities and work to ensure parents understand their options. Since this ideal is not always upheld, it is important to understand the core tenets of special education law. One of the most common issues parents run into is understanding the difference between an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and a 504 Plan. Both IEPs and 504 Plans offer formal assistance and accommodations for K-12 students who are struggling in school. However, there are some key differences between the two.

An IEP is a written program that provides with specificity what, if any, free special education resources, services and supports will be put into place to meet your child’s unique needs. This includes any specialized instruction your child may engage in. The written IEP will also set specific learning goals for your child. The underlying law that applies with an IEP is the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA). This is a federal law focused on special education for children with disabilities.

A 504 Plan is a plan established by the school to determine what free supports and accommodations the school will put into place to ensure your child can learn alongside their peers in the classroom. Unlike an IEP, there is no standard 504 Plan and a 504 Plan need not necessarily be a written document - although most schools do produce written plans. A 504 Plan does not typically set specific learning goals like an IEP does. The underlying law that applies with a 504 Plan is Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This is a federal civil rights law that focuses on stopping discrimination against people with disabilities.

Under the IDEA, a parent or guardian must give written consent before a child is evaluated for IEP eligibility and give written consent before the school can begin implementing the services described in the IEP. Under Section 504, a parent must consent to an evaluation but it does not have to be in writing. An IEP must be reviewed at least once a year, and a child on an IEP must be re-evaluated every three years in order to determine if services are still needed. For a 504 Plan, the rules vary by state although most schools loosely follow the same timeline as an IEP.

So, how do you determine which of these two options would best suit your child? In order to qualify for an IEP, a student’s school performance must be adversely affected by one of thirteen qualifying disability categories under the IDEA. The child must need specialized instruction in order to progress in school. Conversely, to qualify for a 504 a child need only have any disability that interferes with the ability to learn and progress in a general education classroom setting. The disability must substantially limit one or more basic life activities for the student. Because the requirements to qualify for an IEP are stricter than those for a 504 Plan, a child who does not qualify for an IEP may still qualify for a 504 Plan.

If you think your child might need an IEP or a 504 Plan, reach out to your school administrators and request an evaluation for your child. If you have questions about your child’s IEP or 504 Plan, contact an education advocate or attorney.

Written by education attorney, Megan Mitchell at Abdnour Weiker, LLP

www.Lawyers4Students.com

What Can You do to Get the Most Out of Your Child’s IEP Meeting?

There is no denying that IEP meetings can be overwhelming and oftentimes, you go into them unprepared and leave feeling exhausted. However, this does not have to be the case. Below, I will list some tips that will help you get the most out of your child’s IEP meeting and ensure that you are able to meaningfully participate from start to finish.

What to do before the IEP meeting

Once the IEP meeting is scheduled, you need to get to work. To best prepare for the meeting, you need to gather your child’s most recent multifactored evaluation and progress reports from the last year. Also include your child’s grades. If you have received correspondence from your child’s teachers that document difficulties or successes, print those off and include them in your review.

Next, ask your child’s intervention specialist for a copy of the IEP draft at least one week beforehand. Make sure that your request is in writing. While not every school district is required to provide a draft copy of the IEP before the meeting, almost all districts do when asked.

Now that you have your documents to review and a draft copy of the IEP, it is time to get to work. When looking through the ETR, look closely at the educational needs section in all individual evaluators’ pages and the team summary. These areas of need should be reflected in the IEP somewhere. Most often, these needs will be transferred into goals and accommodations, but sometimes, the need may be listed in the profile if it is determined that a goal or accommodation is not necessary. If you do not see a need reflected in the IEP somewhere be sure to write it down so it can be addressed in the meeting. The progress report can guide you in determining if the goals written in the draft are appropriate based on your child’s progress on previous goals. Lastly, your child’s grades, work completion, and teacher notes can be helpful in developing services. Be sure to write everything down that you have questions or concerns about and send that list to the intervention specialist before the meeting, even if it is the morning of the meeting. This will ensure that everyone is on the same page, allow them to prepare, and highlight your concerns in the meeting.

What to do during the meeting

Meeting day has finally arrived. While having some anxiety about the meeting is normal, your preparation will help you feel more comfortable and confident in your approach. Take some deep breaths if you feel yourself getting elevated or upset and ask for a break if one is needed. If you have brought someone with you to the meeting, use a break to talk through questions you have with that individual.

Do not be afraid to ask questions or ask someone to clarify what has been discussed. It is easy for school staff to talk over you or to you but forget to include you in the conversation. Take notes while going through the meeting and jot down questions you have so you do not forget them. At the end of the meeting, ask the team those questions. If you were not able to talk through everything in the time allocated for the meeting, ask for a follow-up meeting. Make sure that you leave that IEP meeting feeling like a valued member of the team who was able to fully participate.

What to do after the meeting

After you have been able to process what was discussed during the meeting, follow up with team members if you have any additional questions or concerns. Sometimes, it takes a little bit of processing to fully grasp everything that went on. You should receive a Prior Written Notice and a copy of the IEP a day or two after the meeting, sometimes a little longer, but if you have not received these documents by a week after the meeting, be sure to ask for them. Read the IEP and make sure it is accurate and captures all changes discussed during the meeting. Additionally, read the Prior Written Notice to verify the accuracy of the events.

If the Prior Written Notice is not accurate, is misleading, or leaves out important information, you can email your account of what occurred and ask the school team to include your feedback with theirs. You can also ask that the team make changes to the Prior Written Notice to correct any errors. Store these documents in an electronic file or a physical file for your records. Continue to collect pieces of data that you receive throughout the year, including progress reports, to be prepared for next year’s IEP review. You've got this!!

Authored by Danielle Randolph, M.Ed, Ed.S, Advocate for Abdnour Weiker, LLP

Questions? Call us: 614-745-2001

Compensatory Education & Recovery Services

Compensatory Education & Recovery Services: COVID-19 CONSIDERATIONS FOR STUDENTS ON IEPs & 504 Plans

On March 12, 2020, Governor DeWine ordered all of Ohio’s public, community and private K-12 school buildings to be closed due to the ongoing coronavirus health crisis. If a school district closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and did not provide educational services to the general student population (whether via in person or virtual instruction), then the district was not required to provide services to students with disabilities during that time period.

However, once schools resumed, the district, to the greatest extent possible, was required to make every effort to provide special education and related services to the child in accordance with their Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 Plan.[1] Schools had a lot of flexibility in how to provide these services to students throughout the pandemic, but ultimately, the requirement for schools to provide Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) to students receiving special education services was not waived due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

COMPENSATORY SERVICES

Although compensatory services (also called compensatory education or comp ed) are not addressed in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or other federal or state regulations, most state education agencies have released guidance surrounding compensatory education as well as the potential for recovery services that may be needed as a result of COVID-19 school closures. Compensatory services are educational services above and beyond what is normally due to a student, resulting from a failure of the school to provide those services under a child’s IEP or 504 Plan. The purpose is to place the student in the position they would have been in if the school had provided the appropriate services, or to “compensate” the student for learning and skills that were lost when special education and related services were not provided. Under compensatory services, there is no obligation to provide a minute-by-minute or day-for-day compensation for the time missed, although sometimes it is determined that missed services will be calculated by minutes or days and made up as an equitable remedy. However, in some cases, comp ed could be more than what was lost depending on the child’s circumstances as each situation should be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Recent case law has established that “whereas ordinary IEPs need only provide ‘some benefit’, compensatory awards must do more – they must compensate.” [2]However, since school building closures were due to a public health emergency, the typical framework used to determine whether or not compensatory services should be provided may not be appropriate under the circumstances, as most school districts did not outright fail to provide FAPE. Rather, they were unable to provide a Free Appropriate Public Education because of state-mandated school closures.

Notably, if the child with a disability was refused services by a school district or did not receive services or instruction during building closures while students in general education were receiving services, then actual compensatory services may be warranted.

RECOVERY SERVICES

As school districts begin to return to normal, most are planning on how best to meet and transition the needs of students who receive special education and related services during such an unprecedented time. Many states have announced recovery services or COVID-19 specific compensatory services, which refer to services determined by the IEP or 504 team needed to remedy a student’s skill regression, behavior loss, and/or lack of progress that resulted from a school district’s inability (not intentional failure) to provide FAPE during an unavoidable closure. Recovery services should be considered only after a period of recoupment is assessed. This occurs when a student receives the services set out in their IEP or 504 Plan for a set period of time once schools reopen, thus allowing them time to “recoup” the lost skills or behavior or to make progress to the level(s) determined appropriate by the IEP or 504 team prior to the extended school closure. If the student continues to show gaps in their learning and skills after this period, they may need additional supports and services to “recover” from the interruptions in the delivery of their services during COVID-19. Recovery services are also not defined in the IDEA but have been increasingly used to describe a school district’s response to the gaps in student learning caused by COVID-19 and the school closures beginning in the 2019-2020 school year. As with compensatory services, recovery services should be based on a child’s individual needs, assessments and progress documentation.

ESY SERVICES

Compensatory and recovery services are not the same as Extended School Year services (ESY). ESY services provide individual instruction and services to a child in order to prevent the severe or considerable loss of skills or learning during time outside of the regular school year. ESY services are not dependent on the appropriateness of services provided in an IEP or 504 Plan, and a child may be entitled to ESY services as well as compensatory or recovery services. These services may look similar in practice and delivery but should be made on an individualized determination based on what is necessary for the child to make meaningful progress in the least restrictive environment.

A child is not automatically entitled to compensatory, recovery or ESY services by virtue of state-wide school closures alone. Parents and guardians of children with disabilities should know the difference between these services to which their child may be entitled. School districts should never pressure families to waive special education services, including compensatory, recovery or ESY services. Families and schools should work together to determine what educational services will be provided based on the individual student’s needs. Ultimately, due to the nature of the shutdown resulting from a global pandemic, education agencies and courts will likely show deference to the emergency determinations made by school officials during this unprecedented time. Parents should regularly communicate with their child’s school and document these conversations about the potential for additional services related to COVID-19.

KEY POINTS/RECAP

• If a school district intentionally fails to provide FAPE to a child with a disability, they may be entitled to compensatory services.

• If a child with a disability tends to regress after long break periods, they may be entitled to extended school year services.

• If a school district was unable to provide special education and related services to a child with a disability during a school closure, and the child has not made progress in their learning after a period of recoupment, they may be entitled to recovery services.

• A child with a disability is not automatically entitled to these services due to COVID-19 school closures; rather, the determination of services should be made on an individualized basis by the IEP or 504 team.

• Compensatory, recovery and ESY services can be provided over an extended period of time but should be provided in the least restrictive environment for students receiving special education.

[1] 34 CFR §§ 300.101 and 300.201 (IDEA), and 34 CFR § 104.33 (Section 504)

[2] Reid ex Rel. Reid v. District of Columbia, 401 F.3d 516 (D.C. Cir. 2005)

by Lauren A. Sabo, Esq., Abdnour Weiker, LLP

Questions? Contact us at (614) 745-2001

Can I Leave Work to Attend an IEP Meeting?

FMLA LEAVE MAY BE AVAILABLE TO PARENTS TO ATTEND IEP MEETINGS 

On August 8, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division (“the DOL”) issued guidance on whether an employee may take protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) to attend a meeting to discuss the Individualized Education Program (“IEP”) of the employee’s son or daughter. U.S. Dept. of Labor, WHD, FMLA 2019-2-A(August 8, 2019). 

1. FMLA Leave

As a starting point, FMLA provides that an employee eligible for FMLA may take up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid FMLA leave per year “to care for the spouse, son,daughter, or parent, of the employee, if such spouse, son, daughter, or parent has a serious health condition.” 29 U.S.C. §2612(a)(1)(C); see also 29 U.S.C. §2611(11); 29 C.F.R. §825.112–.115.

2. IDEA and Related Services

Alternatively, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) requires public schools to develop an IEP for astudent who receives special education and related services, with input from the child, the child’s parents, teachers, school administrators, and related services personnel. Under IDEA, “related services” may include such services as audiology services, counseling services, medical services, physical therapy, psychological services, speech-language pathology services, rehabilitation counseling services, among others.

3. DOL Conclusion

Considering both statutes, the DOL instructed that attendance at IEP meetings does qualify FMLA-covered leave so long as the employee’s son or daughter suffers from a “serious health condition” as defined in the law. FMLA defines a “serious health condition” as an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves inpatient care or continuing treatment by a healthcare provider. Many students receive “continuing treatment” by a healthcare provider pursuant to their IEP. 

4. FMLA Medical Certification

An employer may require the parent to provide a medical certification in order to verify the existence of the child’s serious health condition. This certification is a standard FMLA form issued by a health care provider, further supporting the request for leave. This certification would verify that the child’s condition qualifies as a “serious health condition” under FMLA. 

5. Parents Input is “Essential”

In issuing the guidance, the DOL recognized that the parents in question attend IEP meetings in order to “help make medical decisions concerning their children’s medically-prescribed speech, physical, and occupational therapy, to discuss their children’s wellbeing and progress with the providers of such services, and to ensure that their children’s schoolenvironment was suitable to their medical, social, and academic needs.” The DOL also instructed that, a parents’ attendance at IEP meetings is often “essential to [the parent’s] ability toprovide appropriate physical or psychological care” to theirchildren, further justifying the application of FMLA protected leave for IEP meetings. 

6. Intermittent Leave 

Under FMLA, an employee may use the leave intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule when medically necessary because of a family member’s serious health condition. 29 U.S.C. §2612(b)(1); 29 C.F.R. § 825.202. This means that the employee may apply the FMLA leave as-needed, for portions of a workday, rather than in a scheduled days or in continuous days. Intermittent leave is the type of leave most parents would need to request and use for IEP meetings. 

Finally, the DOL instructed that the child’s doctor does not need to be present at IEP meetings in order for the leave to qualify under FMLA. The conclusion provided by the DOL alsoapplies to any special education meetings held pursuant to IDEA. 

This article was authored by education and employment attorney, Mark A. Weiker. 

Questions? Call us: 614-745-2001