What is a 504 Plan?

What is a 504 Plan?

Section 504 plans get their name from Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which is a federal law designed to prevent any student with a disability from discrimination due to their disability. Students who qualify for a 504 plan cannot be denied the opportunity to participate in any aid, benefit, services, and/or activities that are available for students without disabilities and must receive a “free and appropriate public education” (FAPE). This includes school sponsored non-academic and extracurricular services and activities. 

Who is eligible for a 504 Plan?

Under the federal and state special education laws, a student is deemed eligible for an IEP after a two-pronged test:

1) Does the student have a recognized disability?
2) Is the student not making effective progress because of the disability, or does the student need specialized instruction and/or related services to make effective progress in the general curriculum?

If the answer to both tests is “yes”, an IEP is required. If not, a Section 504 plan may be considered.

To be eligible for individualized assistance under Section 504, a student must have a disability that “substantially limits” one or more “major life activities.” The major difference between a 504 plan and an IEP is that, for a 504 plan, the student does NOT need specialized instruction to make effective progress. Instead, the student may need only accommodations (such as additional time, special seating, or sensory breaks) and/or related services (such as a reading program, speech and language services, or occupational therapy) in order to access the general curriculum.

How does a 504 plan differ from an IEP?

• There is no accountability for the goals, accommodations, etc. being implemented and achieved. 

• There is no requirement that the 504 plan be written.

• There is no requirement for progress reporting during the school year. 

• There is no requirement to do transition planning for the student. 

• There are no disciplinary protections for the student for any behavior and/or conduct violations. 

• The individual is entitled to lifetime access to any program or activity that either receives Federal funding or is conducted by an Executive agency or the United States Postal Service. 

Have questions or concerns about your child's education? Contact us to discuss further:

E.M. Curran & Associates LLC

10 Tower Office Park
Suite 314
Woburn, MA 01801
Phone: 781-933-1542
Fax: 781-933-1549
ellen@emcurranlegal.com

COVID 19 COMPENSATORY SERVICES ("CCS")

What are COVID-19 Compensatory Services (CCS)?

They are services that a student’s IEP Team determines are needed to remedy a student’s skill or knowledge loss or lack of effective progress that resulted from delayed, interrupted, suspended, or inaccessible IEP services because of the emergency suspension of in-person education related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Who decides if the Student needs CCS?

The DESE recommendation stated “[i]f a student does not receive services after an extended period of time, the student’s Team … must make an individualized determination whether and to what extent compensatory services are needed, consistent with … applicable requirements, [i.e., IEP Team requirements and individualized decision-making] including to make up for any skills that have been lost.”

Using data available from multiple sources, IEP Teams should determine whether, and to what extent, the student recouped the lost skills and/or behaviors or has made effective progress, and whether and to what extent the student needs CCS.

Determinations of CCS by the IEP Team must be based on information provided by the parents and data and information available from other sources, and be information-based, individualized determinations.

CCS are not necessarily a 1:1 correspondence to missed IEP services but are identified following the individualized determination of a student’s need.

Which students should be prioritized?

First, students with disabilities who did not receive or were unable to access any special education services during the suspension of in-person education are likely to require CCS and should be prioritized.

Second, other students with IEPs, including students with significant and complex needs, are also likely to require CCS and should also be prioritized for consideration.

What should all parents/guardians know about CCS?

CCS may be made available to students with disabilities and students without disabilities who need it to address educational and social-emotional needs and reorient them to learning.  

Most CCS for students with IEPs will be to remedy a skill or knowledge loss or lack of effective progress due to delayed, interrupted, suspended, or inaccessible IEP services because of the emergency suspension of in-person education related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

New IEP Services:

CCS should be added as new IEP Services.

DESE recommends that CCS determinations be made as soon as possible but not later than December 15, 2020. This is to allow both students and staff to acclimate to the new instructional environment this fall.

For all other students who are not in the priority groups, the individualized determination of the need for CCS will be informed by a period of initial observation, a period of re-acclimation to learning, and a review of data on recovery of learning loss and progress.

Have questions or concerns about your student? Contact us to discuss further:

E.M. Curran Legal LLC

10 Tower Office Park
Suite 314
Woburn, MA 01801
Phone: 781-933-1542
Fax: 781-933-1549

ellen@emcurranlegal.com

LEARNING MODELS FOR SCHOOL YEAR 2020-2021 IN MASSACHUSETTS WITH COVID

The new school year is beginning for many, if not all, students this week in Massachusetts. Never has a new school year brought about so many questions and uncertainty as this year. With new information coming out almost daily it is hard to provide guidance and answer the questions that seem to pop up the most. So with that in mind we are hoping to offer some reminders as we start the new school year

Learning Models

Most districts will offer: in-person learning, hybrid learning and remote learning. But what is the difference?

Full-time In-person Learning

This is the ‘traditional’ school model of years past. Teachers/support staff and students are in the school building and receiving instruction as ‘usual.’ Districts should again be prioritizing groups of students and considerations for maximizing in-person learning for students with disabilities should be made when developing schedules. Schools have been given some leeway to be creative in using alternative school spaces to get the most use of their space (i.e. having classes outside on the school grounds) and to maximize the number of students/staff that can be allowed on the premises.

Remote Learning

All schools and districts are required to have a comprehensive plan for delivering special education instruction and services remotely. This model must be available for individual students who are not returning in-person, and for all students in the event of future classroom or school closures due to COVID-19. The emergency closing in the Spring was unexpected and the expectations of students/staff/learning was not ideal. The remote learning in school year 2020-2021 is expected to be more robust as districts have had time to plan for additional closures. During the 2020-2021 school year, schools and districts must be prepared to provide services through “Instruction and Services” mode of delivery.

What must remote learning models include now?

• Procedures for all students to participate in remote learning, including a system for tracking attendance and participation;

• Remote academic work aligned to state standards; and

• A policy for issuing grades for students’ remote academic work.

What can Parents/Guardians expect in regards to communication?

• A regular and consistent schedule of classes, interventions, services and therapies as required by the student’s IEP, offered synchronously or asynchronously;

• Structured learning time designed so that the student can access state standards; and

• Frequent interactions with teachers and other staff members to ensure participation.

Hybrid Learning

As with the “in-person” model schools are again asked by DESE to maximize in-person learning for students with disabilities should be prioritized. Preschool-aged students with disabilities and students with significant and complex needs should be considered for continuous in-person learning to the greatest extent possible. This ‘model’ should incorporate the expectations of both the in-person and remote models as stated above.

It is important to know that, in-person services offered within the student’s home or in a community-based setting, particularly for students with significant and complex needs, can also be considered as part of a hybrid model to ensure that as many services as possible are provided in-person instead of remotely.

Have questions or concerns about your student? Contact us to discuss further:

E.M. Curran Legal LLC

10 Tower Office Park
Suite 314
Woburn, MA 01801
Phone: 781-933-1542
Fax: 781-933-1549

ellen@emcurranlegal.com

GENERAL EDUCATION DURING THE COVID CRISIS

There has been a lot of news and updates since March 10th when Governor Baker declared a State of Emergency in Massachusetts.  We are highlighting some of these important topics in this blog, but it is not a complete discussion.

SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SCHOOL YEAR

As of April 21st, all public and private schools (not including residential special education schools) in Massachusetts will remain closed through the end of the school year.  The location where your child receives their education may be closed but they still have the right to an education.  Every enrolled student should be participating in “Remote Learning.” The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education  (or DESE) recommends that students should engage in meaningful learning for approximately half the length of a regular school day, and learning should be a combination of educator-directed and student-directed learning.

If you would like to learn more about DESE’s recommendations for “Remote Learning” please click here.

2020 MCAS REQUIREMENTS

The MCAS testing requirements for the school year are suspended/cancelled. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will modify or waive MCAS competency standards typically required to acquire a high school diploma for all students set to complete high school at the end of this school year. This is a huge windfall for those students who struggled to pass MCAS and faced the uncertainty of passing the test in time to earn their high school diploma.

FOOD INSECURITIES:

Many districts are still providing free meals to students in need. If your student would benefit from this service, call your student’s principal and or superintendent for the district directly. If your district is not providing this service, there are many agencies that are offering help. Here are just a few, that you can contact to check availability:

                  Project Bread's FoodSource                                 Food for Free

Additionally, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is also working with the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) and districts to implement “Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer,” or P-EBT. P-EBT is a provision from the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020. P-EBT allows states to issue benefits to families with children who would be receiving free or reduced-price school meals if schools were not closed right now. Once DESE has the required information they need, new benefits will be added to EBT cards for students whose families already have EBT cards, and an EBT card will be mailed to eligible households that do not already have one. If your family is experiencing financial hardships due to COVID-19, you should reach out to your district to see if your student would currently qualify for free or reduced-price school meals so that they will receive this benefit.

 EXPECTATIONS:

Each parent/guardian should know that their student will have some gaps in their learning due to this closure. DESE and the school districts have been placed in an impossible situation and are providing solutions that seem to be the best options for the health and safety of all interested parties. When your student does resume ‘normal’ schooling, there should be some type of competency testing to gauge where your student’s gaps are and what supports they need to close the gap so that they are performing on grade level. There is no requirement that districts do this testing, this is just our opinion and we would strongly encourage parents/guardians to ask for this if it is not offered.

In the meanwhile, try to provide your student with a consistent schedule that focuses on their successes. There are many resources out there to help supports the ‘home school’ atmosphere such as PBS Learning Media, which offers educational materials on key academic subjects for all grades from Pre-K to 12.

Have questions or concerns about your student? Contact us to discuss further:

E.M. Curran Legal LLC

10 Tower Office Park
Suite 314
Woburn, MA 01801
Phone: 781-933-1542
Fax: 781-933-1549
ellen@emcurranlegal.com