The School District, in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and its implementing regulations, is committed to providing a free appropriate education to each qualified handicapped student within its jurisdiction regardless of the nature or severity of the handicap.

The administration rules establish the procedure in which the School District may meet this commitment. The School District may, as an alternative or in combination with this procedure, follow the provisions established for identification, evaluation, and placement of students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Acts (IDEA).

This Board Policy and the Administrative Procedure have been developed and adopted for the purpose of complying with the School District’s educational services obligations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and its implementing regulations and it is not designed or intended nor should it be construed to grant broader right or remedies. This board Policy and Administrative Procedure do not and should not be construed to create rights or remedies enforceable in contract or by any law other than Section 504 and its implementing regulations.

The School District’s administration may issue interpretative memoranda and adopt directives and procedures to implement this Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Board Policy, and Administrative Procedure.

The Director of Special Services is designated as the School District’s Section 504 Educational Services Coordinator. As such, the Director of Special Services is responsible for coordinating the implementation of the School District’s obligations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, its implementing regulations, Board Policies, and the Administrative Procedure. A student or parent(s)/guardian who believes that the School District has violated its obligation under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or its implementing regulations, Board Policy, or the Administrative Procedure may file a written complaint with the School District’s Section 504 Coordinator within ten (10) calendar days of the alleged violation. The Coordinator will meet with the person who filed the complaint and conduct a reasonable investigation of the facts and circumstances surrounding the complaint.

If the Coordinator determines that a violation has not occurred, the Coordinator shall, in writing, so advise the person who filed the complaint and the School District’s Superintendent. If the Coordinator determines that a violation has occurred, s/he shall put his/her determination in writing, propose a fair resolution of the complaint and deliver the determination to the person who filed the complaint and the School District Superintendent.

The person who filed the complaint or the School District may appeal the Coordinator’s determination to the Superintendent by so notifying the Superintendent in writing within ten (10) calendar days of the Coordinator’s determination. The Superintendent may conduct additional investigation of the facts and circumstances surrounding the complaint. The Superintendent shall affirm or reverse the Coordinator’s decision and, if warranted, implement the Coordinator’s proposed resolution or a modification thereof. The Superintendent’s decision shall be final.

A student is considered handicapped if s/he has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one (1) or more major life activities, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment.

A student is considered qualified if s/he is of an age during which non-handicapped students are provided such services if it is mandatory under State law to provide such services to non-handicapped students or if the School District is required to provide a free appropriate public education to the student under IDEA.

The School District will provide qualified handicapped students with regular and special education and related aids and services that are designed to meet their educational needs as adequately as the needs of non-handicapped students are met in accordance with the procedural safeguards required by law and this Procedure.

If a qualified handicapped student needs, or is believed to need, regular or special education and related aids and services, the School District will implement the evaluation procedures of Rule 3 unless otherwise mutually agreed to by the School District and parent(s)/guardian or adult student before taking any action with respect to the initial placement of the student in a regular or special education program and any subsequent significant change in placement.

Qualified handicapped students will be integrated with non-handicapped students in academic, nonacademic, and extracurricular settings to the maximum extent appropriate to their needs. To this end qualified handicapped students will be placed in the regular education environment unless such placement cannot be achieved satisfactorily with the use of supplementary aids and services. When qualified handicapped students are placed in segregated facilities, those facilities and the services and activities provided therein will be comparable to those provided in the regular education environment.

The 504 Committee in evaluating the student, will draw upon information from a variety of sources including, but not limited to, parent(s)/guardians or adult student input and recommendations, aptitude and achievement tests, teacher recommendations, physical condition, social or cultural background, and adaptive behavior. The 504 Committee and School District appointed evaluators, including non-employee evaluators, may administer tests and other evaluation materials to determine the nature and extent of the student’s need for regular education with related aids or services or special educational and related aids or service provided: (1) the test and other evaluation materials have been validated for the specific purpose for which they are used and are administered by trained personnel in conformance with the instructions provided by their producer; (2) the tests and other evaluational. materials include those tailored to assess specific areas of education need and not merely those which are designed to provide a single general intelligence quotient; and (3) the tests are selected and administered so as best to ensure that when a test is administered to a student with impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills, the test results accurately reflect the student’s aptitude or achievement level or whatever other factor the test purports to measure rather than reflecting the student’s impaired sensory, manual or speaking skills (except where those skills are the factors that the test purports to measure.

A 504 Committee shall periodically re-evaluate qualified handicapped students in accordance with Federal law. Such a re-evaluation shall occur before any significant change in the student’s placement.

The parent/guardian or adult student will be provided written notice of their rights under Board Policy and this Administrative Procedure. The procedural rights include: the right to file a complaint with the School District appointed 504 Coordinator over an alleged violation of Section 504 Board Policy, and this Procedure; the right to have an evaluation by the 504 Committee; the right to be informed of any proposed action, or refusal to take action, relating to the 504 Committee’s eligibility and/or placement decisions; the right to examine all relevant school records; the right to receive all information in the parent(s)/guardian and student’s native language and primary mode of communication; the right to a re-evaluation periodically or before any significant change in placement; the right to an impartial hearing if there is disagreement with the 504 Committee’s proposed action or refusal to take action regarding the eligibility and/or placement of the student; the right to be represented by counsel in the impartial hearing process; the right to appeal the hearing officer’s decision.

A parent(s)/guardian or adult student wishing to contest the 504 Committee’s determinations may request an impartial hearing at which the parent(s)/guardian or adult student and their counsel may participate. The parent(s)/guardian or adult student’s request for an impartial hearing shall be in writing and shall specifically identify the areas of disagreement with the 504 Committee’s report, as well as the reasons for the disagreement. A request for an impartial hearing must be made within twenty-five (25) calendar days following the date on which the report was issued.

The Superintendent of Schools, or his/her designee, upon receipt of a complete and timely request for an impartial hearing, shall appoint an impartial hearing officer to take evidence and issue a decision regarding the 504 Committee’s action, or refusal to take action, regarding the eligibility and/or placement of the student. The impartial hearing officer shall be chosen by the District from those individuals who are identified as hearing officers by the Michigan Department of Education’s Office of Administrative Law, who are willing to serve under this policy and who are not District employees. The impartial hearing officer shall not have any authority to consider any other matter without the parties’ consent.

At an impartial hearing conducted pursuant to Federal law, Board Policy, and this Administrative Procedure, the School District and parent(s)/guardian or adult student have the following rights: (1) to be represented by counsel or other individuals knowledgeable with respect to the problems of handicapped students; (2) to present evidence and confront and cross-examine witnesses; (3) to prohibit the introduction of evidence or the direct testimony of witnesses who have not been disclosed to that party not less than five (5) calendar days before the hearing; (4) to obtain a written or electronic verbatim recording of the hearing at the expense of the party requesting it (this provision may be waived by the School District based upon financial hardship).

The parent(s)/guardian or adult student may have the hearing private or open to the public and the student who is the subject of the hearing may be present.

The hearing officer shall issue a written decision. The hearing officer’s decision shall be promptly mailed or delivered to the School District and the parent(s)/guardian or the adult student.

The student(s)/guardian or School District may appeal the Hearing Officer’s decision to a court of competent jurisdiction within the time and in the manner permitted by law.

Adopted 10/04/04