- Supporting Students with Disabilities and Avoiding the Discriminatory Use of Student Discipline under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and an accompanying Fact Sheet.
- Questions and Answers Addressing the Needs of Children with Disabilities and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s (IDEA’s) Discipline Provisions.
- Positive, Proactive Approaches to Supporting the Needs of Children with Disabilities: A Guide for Stakeholders. And,
- A letter from Secretary Cardona to our nation’s educators, school leaders, parents, and students about the importance of supporting the needs of students with disabilities.
Supporting Students and Avoiding the Discriminatory Use of Discipline under Section 504
Supporting Students with Disabilities and Avoiding the Discriminatory Use of Student Discipline under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 explains that Section 504 requires schools to provide behavioral supports and services to students with disabilities who need them in order to receive a FAPE.
Additionally, the guidance:
- Outlines how Section 504’s requirements to provide a FAPE apply to long-term disciplinary sanctions, such as out-of-school suspensions and expulsions.
- Explains Section 504’s general nondiscrimination requirements, in the context of discipline, which applies to school staff and to the conduct of everyone with whom the school has a contractual or other arrangement, such as security staff and school police.
- Makes clear that Section 504 requires schools to provide reasonable modifications to policies, practices, and procedures when necessary to avoid discrimination.
Section 504 does not prohibit a school from responding to emergency circumstances, such as contacting law enforcement or crisis intervention specialists, or from taking appropriate, nondiscriminatory steps to maintain safety and support students in learning how to be accountable for the impact of their actions on others.
Supporting the Needs of Children with Disabilities and IDEA’s Discipline Provisions
Questions and Answers Addressing the Needs of Children with Disabilities and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s (IDEA’s) Discipline Provisions and Positive, Proactive Approaches to Supporting the Needs of Children with Disabilities: A Guide for Stakeholders expand upon the 2016 Dear Colleague Letter that included data demonstrating that many children with disabilities, particularly Black children with disabilities, were subjected to high rates of disciplinary removals (such as suspensions and expulsions).
According to the department, IDEA includes specific provisions to address situations in which the behavior of a child with a disability impedes the child’s learning, the learning of others, or violates a school’s code of student conduct. Importantly, as part of the obligation to provide FAPE, in the case of a child whose behavior impedes the child’s learning or that of others, the IEP Team must consider – and include in the IEP – the use of positive behavioral interventions and supports, and other strategies, to address that behavior.
The department hopes the guidance assists state educational agencies (SEAs) with supporting local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools in addressing the needs of children with disabilities and equitably and appropriately implementing IDEA.
Questions and Answers Addressing the Needs of Children with Disabilities and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s (IDEA’s) Discipline Provisions discusses how certain school actions, such as informal removals and the use of threat assessments, may result in the denial of FAPE to children with disabilities.
Positive, Proactive Approaches to Supporting the Needs of Children with Disabilities: A Guide for Stakeholders offers evidence-based strategies that early childhood programs, schools, and local educational agencies (LEAs) can use in place of exclusionary discipline or other harmful practices such as restraint or seclusion.
More information about the Department’s efforts to assist schools in fostering nondiscriminatory and safe learning environments is available here.
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