Your Morning Boost - Navigating 504 Plans: Understanding Eligibility | Vice Principal UnOfficed - Telling the school stories no one puts in the newsletter.

Your Morning Boost Ready to lead with intention? Join us for 'Your Morning Boost' – your daily dose of motivation to empower yourself and your team. Subscribe now and start your day with a powerful mindset Check us out at: www.awbeducation.org www.grundmeyerleadersearch.com Welcome to Your Morning Boost, your daily leadership advice to help you lead your school community. Today, we delve into a crucial aspect of education - determining student eligibility for a 504 plan. This episode provides valuable insights into the physical or mental impairments that may qualify a student for such plans and emphasizes the need for careful consideration and comprehensive evaluation. Understand how major life activities can be impacted and the importance of gathering information from various sources to create effective accommodations. Join us as we explore this vital process and promote inclusive education for all students. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/your-morning-boost--6612702/support. Learn more about our sponsors at awbeducation.org and grundmeyerleadersearch.com. Learn more about our work at awbeducation.org and grundmeyerleadersearch.com. Find out more about what we do: AWB Education - awbeducation.org Grundmeyer Leader Services - grundmeyerleadersearch.com Got a mailbag question? Reach out to us at adam@awbeducation.org

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00:00:00 --> 00:00:05 Welcome to Your Morning Boost, your daily leadership advice to help you lead your school community.
00:00:05 --> 00:00:09 Brought to you by AWB Education and sponsored by Grundmeyer Leader Services,
00:00:10 --> 00:00:14 where together we are transforming education, one leader at a time.
00:00:15 --> 00:00:18 Now here's your host, Adam Bush. Hello, good morning, everyone.
00:00:18 --> 00:00:19 Welcome back to Your Morning Boost.
00:00:19 --> 00:00:23 Today, we are tackling a key question, and that is, how do we determine if a
00:00:23 --> 00:00:26 student is eligible for a 504 plan.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:31 This entire week we're going to be diving into section 504 and today we're going
00:00:31 --> 00:00:32 to talk about eligibility.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:37 So let's dive into this. To qualify, a student must have a physical or mental
00:00:37 --> 00:00:41 impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
00:00:42 --> 00:00:45 Now this doesn't mean that the student cannot do something at all.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:50 It means the impairment significantly interferes with their ability to perform
00:00:50 --> 00:00:56 that activity compared to most people, or in this case, to their peers. So think about this.
00:00:56 --> 00:01:00 Major life activities, they include things like learning, caring for oneself,
00:01:01 --> 00:01:05 performing manual tasks, and this can even include like seeing, hearing, and speaking.
00:01:05 --> 00:01:11 So if a student's anxiety significantly impacts their ability to concentrate
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 in class, that could be a substantial limitation.
00:01:13 --> 00:01:18 If a student has gastrointestinal issues that mean that attendance is going
00:01:18 --> 00:01:22 to be hard at times or they need to leave class and have the ability to leave
00:01:22 --> 00:01:25 class because they need to get to the bathroom or need to get to the nurse,
00:01:25 --> 00:01:30 that can also be something that impacts their ability to participate in class.
00:01:30 --> 00:01:31 It's a substantial limitation.
00:01:32 --> 00:01:37 Keep in mind that the Amendments Act of 2008 really lowered the bar,
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 if you want to call it that, on eligibility.
00:01:39 --> 00:01:44 When we're talking about this substantially limit piece, we really want to think
00:01:44 --> 00:01:49 about the comparison to what most students can do, comparison to what their
00:01:49 --> 00:01:52 peers can do, if it wasn't for the fact that they were disabled.
00:01:52 --> 00:01:56 I've heard other administrators say to me, well, I don't have a diagnosis.
00:01:56 --> 00:02:01 Well, when we talk about the fact that they have a physical or mental impairment.
00:02:01 --> 00:02:06 The letter of the law does not necessarily say the word diagnosis.
00:02:06 --> 00:02:10 And OCR has made it very clear that schools should err on the side of caution
00:02:10 --> 00:02:15 or should have, quote, should have a broad stroke when it comes to eligibility.
00:02:15 --> 00:02:19 Going through this process, we really want to get to the heart of what the disability
00:02:19 --> 00:02:24 is, what the impairment is, or what it is that the student is needing for us
00:02:24 --> 00:02:28 to take a look to see if we need to have accommodations to access free and appropriate public education.
00:02:28 --> 00:02:31 It's important to remember that we're looking at the big picture.
00:02:31 --> 00:02:34 We need to consider how the impairment affects the student's life as a whole.
00:02:34 --> 00:02:38 Determining eligibility, it's a careful process. It involves gathering information
00:02:38 --> 00:02:42 from various sources, medical professionals, parents, teachers.
00:02:42 --> 00:02:45 We need to work together to get a complete understanding of what the student's
00:02:45 --> 00:02:49 needs are and how their impairment impacts them.
00:02:49 --> 00:02:53 The people involved in that meeting, it is a person with knowledge of the student.
00:02:53 --> 00:02:57 It is a person with knowledge of the evaluation data.
00:02:57 --> 00:03:03 And it's also a person that has the ability to authorize the use of school district resources.
00:03:04 --> 00:03:08 Those three people are vital to this process. We have to have the people sitting
00:03:08 --> 00:03:11 at the table that can really speak to the impact of not only the disability
00:03:11 --> 00:03:15 and the significant impact that it causes on the student at school,
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 but really in life in general.
00:03:17 --> 00:03:18 I want to make sure that we have
00:03:18 --> 00:03:21 a good picture so that we're developing a great plan for that student.
00:03:21 --> 00:03:25 Thanks again for tuning in today. We will be back again tomorrow with some more
00:03:25 --> 00:03:27 insights on navigating Section 504.
00:03:28 --> 00:03:31 But until that time, thank you for listening, and we will talk with you again tomorrow.
00:03:32 --> 00:03:36 You have been listening to Your Morning Boost by AWB Education in partnership
00:03:36 --> 00:03:37 with Grundmeyer Leader Services.
00:03:38 --> 00:03:42 You can find out more about our services by clicking on the links in the description.
00:03:43 --> 00:03:47 Remember, you are doing this vital job that only a few can do.
00:03:48 --> 00:03:52 So until next time, thank you for your service to your community.