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Non-Academic and Extracurricular Services under Section 504
By Phil Stinson, Esq.

Any school (public or private) that is the recipient of federal funds cannot discriminate against a student based on the student’s disability, pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Federal regulations require that these schools provide non-academic and extracurricular services and activities in such a manner as necessary to afford disabled students an equal opportunity to participate. Non-academic and extracurricular services and activities include counseling services, physical recreational athletics, transportation, health services, recreational activities, and special interest groups or clubs sponsored by the school.

The regulations, case law, and decisions of Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Education offer guidance as to how school districts should handle various non-academic and extracurricular services and activities for students with disabilities.

Counseling Services

If a school provides personal, academic, or vocational counseling, guidance, or placement services to its students, the school must provide these services without discrimination on the basis of disability. Also, the school must ensure that qualified disabled students are not counseled toward more restrictive career objectives than are non-disabled students with similar interests and abilities.

Physical Education & Athletics

In providing physical education courses and athletics programs and activities to any of its students, the school may not discriminate on the basis of disability. If a school offers physical education courses or sponsors interscholastic, club, or intramural athletics, it must provide an equal opportunity for participation in these activities and must be offered to students with disabilities.

Playgrounds

Many complaints have been filed with OCR over the past decade regarding accessibility of school playgrounds. Playgrounds at schools must offer full accessibility to students with disabilities. Surfaces of the playground and walkways leading to the playground must be maneuverable by students in wheelchairs. Most often, schools run afoul of OCR when new playgrounds are built that do not comply with the equal opportunity for participation standards of Section 504.

Band Programs

One recent OCR complaint was brought by a student who claimed that the school band program was inaccessible, because the band practice room was only accessible by way of a flight of stairs on the second floor of a school building. OCR found that the school district’s actions were discriminatory and in violation of Section 504.

School Assemblies & Plays

OCR found that a school district violated Section 504, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), by denying participation to an 8 year old student who used a wheelchair, because the school’s stage is reachable only by a set of stairs.

Field Trips & Off-Site Programs

In one recent case, a student with a wheelchair was not allowed to ride the school bus with her class on a school field trip. The school told the child’s mother that the wheelchair would pose a safety hazard, and required that the mother drive the child to the off-site location. OCR found the school’s actions to be a violation of Section 504.

In another OCR case, a school district was required to discuss involvement in a school sponsored annual week-long camping trip in each student’s IEP team meeting. Previously, the school district’s failure to discuss accommodations had the effect of excluding children with special needs from the camping trip, and, as such, constituted a violation of Section 504.

Summer Programs

One case before OCR concerned a school district that provided a Summer program that was open to all students. Whenever a child with a disability enrolled in the program, however, the school district required that the parents provide "custodial care" for their child with special needs. OCR required that the school district provide additional counselors to adapt and modify the program activities, and to provide additional supervision.

Graduation

Another case before OCR concerned a school district that held a district-wide graduation ceremony each year for students graduating from each of the district’s three high schools. Students with disabilities that attended high school at the segregated special education building were not allowed to attend or participate in the graduation ceremony. OCR found this to be a violation of Section 504.

Late Bus Transportation

If a school district provides late afternoon bus transportation to transport students home after after-school activities, they must likewise provide special transportation to students with disabilities who attend after-school programs and who require a bus with a lift.

For a copy of the Section 504 federal statute and regulations in pdf format, please go to http://www.specialedlaw.net.

Phil Stinson, Esq. is a senior partner at Stinson Law Associates, P.C., a Philadelphia-based law firm dedicated to representing parents of children with special needs in federal courts throughout the country, is Director of the Special Education Law Clinic in Chester, Pennsylvania, is President and General Counsel of the Center for Education Rights (http://www.edrights.org) and is the editor of SpecialEdLaw.net, a multidisciplinary Internet resource portal (http://www.specialedlaw.net). Parents of children with special needs may contact Phil Stinson by e-mail at stinson@specialchild.com.

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