Ability Law Blog
Author: Randy Chapman, Esq.
Randy Chapman has been the director of legal services at Disability Law Colorado since 1980. He played a pivotal role in the development of disability law and helped break ground in implementing special education law.
He has authored multiple publications about special education law, and overseen legal representation to more than 25,000 people with disabilities in Colorado.
School District Employee Cannot Be 504 Hearing or Review...
Dec 3 2014
Section 504 requires school districts to provide a process for parents to resolve disputes regarding services provided under Section 504. At 34 CFR 104.36 the 504 regulations state that process... Removing Barriers to Play: Accessible Playground Standards...
Nov 24 2014
This is a special guest posting by Emily Harvey, an attorney with my office: The Legal Center for People with Disabilities and Older People DOJ, OCR, and OSERS Issue Joint Guidance Letter and FAQ to...
Nov 12 2014
Today, November 12, 2014, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) with the Department of Education have... Charter School's Expulsion of Student without...
Sep 8 2014
A Michigan charter school violated the IDEA by expelling a student with ADHD and oppositional defiant behavior without first evaluating his special education eligibility. It didn't matter that the... Least Restrictive Environment Applies to Extended School...
Jun 24 2014
Students with disabilities who need extended school year (ESY) are entitled to receive those services in the least restrictive environment. This is true even if the school district does not offer a... Office for Civil Rights Reminds Charter Schools that...
May 21 2014
On May 14, 2014 the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a "Dear Colleague" letter clarifying that federal civil rights laws, enforced by OCR, apply to charter schools. In the letter Assistant... School Psychologist's Assumption Student's Poor...
Apr 28 2014
In Fort Bend Independent School District v. Z.A. Douglas A. 62 IDELR 231 (S.D. Tex. Jan 29, 2014), a school psychologist terminated a teenage student's counseling sessions after just one session... Vague IEP Description of Assistive Technology (AT) Impeded...
Mar 13 2014
Parents, advocates, and educators frequently ask how much detail is required when writing a service on an IEP. Here's a case that helps answer that question. In Minneapolis Special School Dis. Vague IEP Description of Assistive Technology (AT) Impeded...
Mar 13 2014
Parents, advocates, and educators frequently ask how much detail is requiring when writing a service on an IEP. Here's a case that helps answer that question. In Minneapolis Special School Dis. In light of student's increased absences, the School...
Mar 5 2014
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... 