Very good summary, however the one part that is most misunderstood by parents and agencies outside of the school is " Students with 504 Plan often do well academically but need accommodations to access their education. 504 Plans are often based on documentation from external evaluations.". Technically if a student does well academically they should not qualify for a 504 plan. The two determining factors for eligibility are 1) Presence of a disability (could be physical, neurological, emotional, etc. most prevalent is ADD) 2) The disability must result in a “substantial limitation” of a major life function. The granting institution determines “substantial limitation”, with court cases defining it as “not to the level of a typical student”. The eligibility is not based on “the student could do better” with accommodations, but rather “the student needs” accommodations to give them a chance to perform like a typical student. I often get “prescriptions” from medical doctors for a child to get a 504 plan because they have been diagnosed with ADD. I look at the students academic record & they have been a B+ to A- student. The diagnosed disability is obviously not “substantially limiting” the major life function we are in the business of, which is learning.
Seeking accommodations for students who do not need them can not only drain the system of resources for more needy students, it can also have detrimental affects on the student themselves. There is a danger of fostering dependency, which can have devastating effects when the student goes off to college. Every presentation I’ve attended by school law firms has stated that nearly every school district in America has many more 504 plans than they should. This is due to CSE committee’s awarding them as “consolation prizes” to parents whose students do not qualify for special ed services. The 504 eligibility committee is in place to ensure that the kid who is ADD and struggling to pass any of his classes can get lecture notes from his teacher, but it also there to ensure that a parent of a student with ADD can not demand such accommodations because they think their child should have an A- instead of a B+.