Discipline of Students With Disabilities: Essential Point #3

In the May-June 2009 issue of In Case (Council for Administrators of Special Education), Julie Weatherly (attorney with the Weatherly Law Firm), begins a series of articles addressing the discipline of students with disabilities. Here is the third essential point...


"Students identified as disabled only under the provisions of Section 504 are afforded protections in discipline much like the protections afforded to students covered under IDEA. Essentially, the bulk of the rules for disciplining students with disabilities have their 'roots' in Section 504. This is because Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. Thus, in terms of discipline, the general notion is that students with disabilitites should not be deprived of educational services if the conduct for which they are being disciplined in is 'based upon' (a/k/a 'a manifestation of') their disabilitites. For the most part, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) applies the same rules of discipline for students under Section 504 that exist for those students who are also disabled under the IDEA, particularly the requirement for making manifestation determinations when required."