In light of student's increased absences, the School district should have revised her 504 Plan

In San Diego Unified School District, 113 LRP 15333 (OCR 01/31/13) a California school district learned that a 504 Plan is not a static document and if there are indications that a student's disability related needs have changed, the school district should consider revising the 504 Plan. In this case the student has serious medical conditions and was missing a lot if class time. The school district developed a 504 Plan that included extra time in assignments, exemption from PE, and a pass to see a nurse when she felt ill. Despite these accommodations, the student's health continued to hinder her attendance and academic performance. Rather than revise the 504 Plan, school administrators told the parent, she should look for an alternative setting for the student. They explained that this high school was a "comprehensive high school" and that other district schools "typically deal with more challenged, health related anomalies."

After an independent evaluator diagnosed the student with dyslexia and dysgraphia, the parent  requested changes in the 504 plan to address the new diagnoses. The school district, however, believed these were only mild forms of these conditions and refused to change the 504 Plan.The parent then hired a private tutor to assist her daughter and filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for violations of 504. OCR determined that as the student's attendance and academic performance continued to deteriorate, the district should have reviewed and modified the 504 Plan. Here, the district could have offered home tutoring or other services to assist the student with keeping up with her assignments when her health required she stay home. The Office for Civil Rights noted that instead of reviewing and modifying the plan, the school put the burden on the student and her family to look for another school to more accustomed in "dealing with more challenged, health related anomalies." Again, 504 Plans are not static documents and must be reviewed and modified as a student's needs change.