504 plan and denied honors class accommodations

GABaseballMom
Wed, 19 Oct 2016 20:20:15 +0000

If the school backs the teacher up, I would file a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights, appeal the decision to the school district, and perhaps get a lawyer. Kids with a disability should not be denied access to honors level classes if they can do the academic work. I find her position that public speaking is “an eligibility criteria” that is necessary to the provision of Honors English to be ridiculous. Your child is not trying to take a public speaking, drama, or debate class. This teacher may like having a performance component to her class to help kids learn to give a presentation (i.e., a good job skill), but it is not necessary to teaching English, much less honors English. This is exactly the kind of “access” issue that the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act are meant to address. What if your child was a physical mute? Would this teacher take the same position and bar your child from the class? Just because your child’s disability is a “mental” one, suddenly no accommodation is reasonable.