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Ensuring Access to Quality Education
It is the policy of the District to provide a free appropriate public education to all public school students with disabilities. Students with disabilities are defined as those students who have one of the categorical disabilities as enumerated in the Missouri State Plan for Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and who are in need of special education services or who have a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities as defined by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The District will provide special education and/or other services to students with disabilities in accordance with applicable law, including the IDEA, and its amendments, Section 504 of Rehabilitation Act of 1973, §162.670-.995, RSMo., and Missouri’s State Plan for Part B of the IDEA. For appeal procedures and information as to where to obtain a copy of the District’s 504 Procedural Safeguards regarding identification, evaluation or educational placement of a student under Section 504, refer to Regulation 2110 – Equal Education Opportunity.
Section 504
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act were designed to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability. To that end, Section 504 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States . . . shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance . . .
A disabled person under Section 504 is defined as any person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
Pursuant to Subpart D of the 504 federal regulations, a recipient of federal financial assistance that operates a public elementary or secondary education program must establish and implement, with respect to actions regarding the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of persons who, because of disability, need or are believed to need special instruction or related services, a system of procedural safeguards. The following is a description of the procedural safeguards or rights granted by federal law to students with 504 disabilities and/or their parents or legal guardians and to those students who are suspected of having a 504 disability and/or their parents or legal guardians. Parents/guardian of students who are suspected of or identified with a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are provided with copies of the IDEA procedural safeguards unless those students have a separately identified 504 disability that is not addressed through an IEP.