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Section 504 Procedural Safeguards

1. Location of and Notice to Students with Disabilities

On an annual basis, the School District will attempt to identify and locate every qualified student with a disability who resides within the District who is not receiving a free appropriate public education, and will take appropriate steps to notify such students and their parents or guardians of the District’s duties under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

2. Evaluation of Students with Known or Suspected Disabilities

In evaluating students who need or are believed to need special education and/or related aids and services designed to meet their individual educational needs, the District will establish standards and procedures to ensure that:

  1. A parent’s informed written consent is obtained prior to any initial evaluation or reevaluation;
  2. A reevaluation is conducted prior to any significant change in placement;
  3. Tests and other evaluation materials used have been validated for the specific purpose for which they are used and are administered by trained personnel in conformance with the instructions provided by their producer;
  4. Tests and other evaluation materials include those tailored to assess specific areas of educational need and not solely those which are designed to provide a single general intelligence quotient; and
  5. Tests are selected and administered so as best to ensure that the test results accurately reflect the student’s aptitude or achievement level or whatever factor the test purports to measure, rather than the student’s impaired skills (except where those skills are the factors that the test purports to measure).

 

3. Placement of Students with Disabilities

In interpreting evaluation data and in making placement decisions, the District will establish procedures to ensure that:

  1. Information is drawn from a variety of sources, including parent input, aptitude and achievement tests, teacher recommendations, physical condition, social or cultural background, and adaptive behavior;

  2. Information obtained from all sources is documented and carefully considered;

  3. The placement decision is made by a group of persons that includes persons knowledgeable about the child, the meaning of evaluation data, and the placement options; and

  4. Students with disabilities are educated and participate in nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities, to the maximum extent appropriate, in settings with students who are not disabled.

4. Reevaluation of Students with Disabilities

The District will periodically reevaluate students who have been provided special education and related services, consistent with the requirements of Paragraphs 2 and 3 herein.

5. Discrimination Against Students with Disabilities

Section 504 protects qualified students from being excluded from participation in, being denied the benefits of, or being subjected to discrimination in any school program or activity.

 

6. Procedural Safeguards

  1. With respect to identification, evaluation and placement of students who need or are believed to need special education or related services, and with regard to complaints alleging discrimination by school employees, other students or third parties, the District, through the Section 504 Coordinator, will establish and implement a system of procedural safeguards that includes:

    1. Notice;

    2. an opportunity for the parents or guardian of the student to examine relevant records;

    3. an impartial hearing with opportunity for participation by the student’s parents or guardian and representation by counsel; and

    4. a review procedure.

The Building’s Section 504 Administrator is:

  1. The District’s impartial hearing and review procedures are as follows:

    1. Complaint/Impartial Hearing

      (a) A student or parent/guardian complaint regarding the District’s compliance with the identification, evaluation, or educational placement provisions of Section 504 may be filed with the Section 504 Complaint Manager. The District’s Section 504 Coordinator and Complaint Manager is: Name and Title: Jennifer Pearson, Director of Special Education Office Address: 3801 W. Lake Avenue, Glenview, IL 60026E-mail address: jpearson@glenbrook225.org Telephone: (847) 486-4708

      (b) The complaint must be in writing, signed and dated by the complainant (or, in the case of a student under age 18, his or her parent or guardian). It must include a description of the facts and circumstances of the complaint, as well as a description of the relief being sought. The Complaint Manager will be available to provide assistance to the complainant as needed in the preparation and processing of the complaint and in the review procedures. A complaint form is available at the School District’s Administrative office. 

      (c)  Upon receipt of the complaint, the Complaint Manager will promptly; (i)    provide the complainant with a copy of these Procedural Safeguards, and (ii) conduct an investigation, including, but not limited to, interviews with District employees and/or students and a review of all relevant documents. The Complaint Manager will complete such investigation within ten (10) school days of receipt of the complaint, unless there are extenuating circumstances which warrant an extension of this time line. For purposes of this Section, “school days” is defined as days, or portions of days, in which students are in attendance for instructional purposes.

      (d)  The Complaint Manager will confer with the complainant upon completion of such investigation to determine if the complaint can be resolved informally. If such informal resolution is not possible and the complainant wishes to proceed with a hearing, the Complaint Manager will provide the complainant with a list of three (3) impartial hearing officers. The complainant will indicate in writing his or her selection of an impartial hearing officer, in order of preference (with #1 being the most preferred and #3 being the least preferred). The complainant will return the list of impartial hearing officers, with order of preference indicated in writing, to the Complaint Manager within five (5) school days of receipt of the list from the Complaint Manager.

      (e) The Complaint Manager will, upon receipt of the complainant’s selections, promptly notify the first choice hearing officer of the pending case. In the event that the first choice hearing officer cannot hear the case, the second choice officer will be contacted. In the event that the second choice officer cannot hear the case, the Complaint Manager will contact the complainant’s third choice officer. If none of the officers contacted can hear the case, the complainant will be asked to select/ prioritize three additional hearing officers from another list which will be provided by the Complaint Manager to the complainant within five (5) days of the notice of decline from the third hearing officer.

      (f)  A hearing will be scheduled by the hearing officer within fifteen (15) school days after the date that the hearing officer agrees to accept the appointment, unless the complainant and the Complaint Manager agree otherwise or there are extenuating circumstances which warrant an extension of this timeline.

      (g) The District and the complainant will have the right to present evidence relevant to the issue raised in the complaint. The District and the complainant will have the right to be represented by counsel.

      (h) The hearing officer will limit his/her decision to the issue or issues presented by the complainant in the written complaint. The hearing officer’s decision must be written and will include a summary of the evidence and the reasons for the decision. The decision is to be based solely on the hearing officer’s interpretation of the meaning or application of Section 504.

      (i)  The hearing officer will send a copy of the decision to the complainant and the Complaint Manager within five (5) school days after the conclusion of the hearing.

      (j)   The decision of the hearing officer will be final unless appealed pursuant to Paragraph 5(e)(ii) (see below).

    2. Review Procedures

      (a) Any party aggrieved by the decision of the hearing officer may appeal the decision to the Board of Education by making a written request to the District’s Superintendent. The aggrieved party’s request for a review will be in writing, signed and dated, and will be filed by mail or personal service no later than ten (10) school days after receipt of the hearing officer’s decision.

      (b) A request for a review will state that an appeal of the hearing decision is being requested, the reason for the request for review, and the relief being sought.

      (c) The Superintendent shall gather from the Complaint Manager, and promptly forward, all materials relevant to the complaint and appeal to the Board of Education.

      (d) Within thirty (30) school days, the Board of Education shall affirm, reverse or amend the hearing officer’s decision unless there are extenuating circumstances that warrant an extension of this timeline.

      (e) Within five (5) school days of the Board of Education’s decision, the Superintendent shall inform the parties of the Board’s action.

      (f)   The decision of the Board of Education is final.

  2.  Right to File Complaint with Office for Civil Rights

    A complainant may end his or her complaint process with the Complaint Manager, impartial hearing officer or Board of Education at any time and initiate a formal complaint with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). A complainant may file a complaint with OCR as an alternative to the District’s impartial hearing and review procedures. OCR may be contacted as follows:

    U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights
    Midwestern Division, Chicago Office 500 West Madison Street, Suite 1475
    Chicago, IL 60661
    Telephone: (312) 730-1560
    Facsimile: (312) 730-1576

  3. Retaliation Prohibited
    Retaliation is prohibited against any person who utilizes the District’s impartial hearing and review procedures or who files a complaint with the OCR.

LEGAL REF:

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 701 et. seq.
34 C.F.R. Part 104

CROSS REF:

6:120 (Education of Children with Disabilities), 7:10 (Equal Educational
            Opportunity), 7:20 (Harassment of Students Prohibited), 7:180
             (Preventing Bullying, Intimidation and Harassment), 2:260 (Uniform
            Grievance Procedure)