IDEA, Section 504 and NJAC 6A:14

Three primary laws govern the provision of special education services in New Jersey.

Those are two federal laws, The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and New Jersey’s Administrative Code for Education, N.J.A.C. 6A.

male student with disabilities working with female african american teacherIDEA

The purpose of IDEA is to ensure that children with disabilities are able to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE) that includes special education and related services designed to meet their individual needs and to assure that the rights of the children with disabilities and their parents or guardians are protected.

The law and its accompanying regulations operate on the following principles:

Zero-Reject/Child Find: School systems cannot exclude children with disabilities from an appropriate education because of the nature of or degree of their disability. The school system is responsible for identifying and providing the appropriate educational services for the individual child. All states are required to implement this Child Find procedure.

Parent Participation: School systems are required to include parents in the decision-making process for their child’s special education services. They are required to provide Notice, Evaluations, Individual Education Plans (IEPs), Procedural Due Process, and Protection and Access to Records.

Non-discriminatory Testing, Classification and Placement: Students with disabilities who may be eligible for special education services must be evaluated by a qualified multi-disciplinary team that includes at least one teach or specialist with specific knowledge of the students disability. Testing instruments must be validated and assess specific areas of individual need.

Individualized Appropriate Education: Eligible special education students must be provided with appropriate services, delivered by qualified personnel with the appropriate training, and delivered in facilities that provide for full educational opportunity, and these services must be provided at no cost to parents. For students with disabilities, this includes appropriate teacher-student ratios, qualified teachers and support staff, appropriate educational materials and equipment, data-based instruction, functional and accessible curriculum content aligned with Core Curriculum Content or Common Core Standards, and transportation services as needed. The school system is required to develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for each child. The IEP is a writeen statement that includes the students present level of educational performance, his or her strengths and educational needs, annual educational goals, and the education and related services to be provided, dates for the initiation and duration of services, and the objective criteria and procedures to be used for evaluating whether or not objectives are being met.

Least Restrictive Environment: Students with disabilities, to the greatest extent possible, and whether they are educated in the local public school, in approved private schools, or other facilities or agencies for students with disabilities, are to be educated with non-disabled children, and are to be provided the supports, modifications and accommodations they need to do so. A full continuum of alternate placements must be available to meet the child’s needs.

Procedural Safeguards/Due Process: Processes must be in place to assure that children and families are provided the required participation in special education decision-making and are treated fairly. Due Process includes the right to official notice and the opportunity to disagree and appeal decisions when parties don’t agree. Procedural Safeguards include parents’ rights to prior notice of each step in the process, descriptions of and consent for evaluation procedures and other actions, and access to impartial mediation and legal due process hearings in case of disagreement.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Section 504 is a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on disability by entities receiving federal funding support, including public elementary and secondary schools. Schools must provide students with a free appropriate public education (FAPE), that may consist of general or special education and related aids and services designed to meet the student’s needs.

Students that do not fit a disability category named in IDEA may be eligible under Section 504’s broader definition of disability.

Section 504 defines disability as follows:

  1. a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities,
  2. has a record of such impairment, or
  3. is regarded as having such an impairment.

Major life activities are defined under Section 504 to include: caring for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working, and by extension also includes learning.

Under Section 504, school districts must identify and evaluate a child if there is a reason to believe a disability may be impacting his or her education. While the school district is not required to have a separate evaluation process for Section 504. The district may use the same evaluation process as it does for IDEA. But the district must answer the following questions:

  1. Is there an impairment?;
  2. Does the impairment substantially limit a major life activity?; and
  3. What are the accommodations or services that are needed to keep that impairment from substantially limiting the activity?

Under Section 504, a student may be eligible for services if his or her disability limits the ability to attend school or participate is school activities, even if the impairment does not impact the ability to learn.

The school district must designate a Section 504 Coordinator to facilitate the laws procedural safeguards, and the person should be someone who would not be affected by any disputes regarding Section 504 services. Districts must also provide the following specific safeguards: notice, opportunity for parents to examine relevant records, impartial hearing with opportunity for parents to participate, representation by counsel, and an appeals procedure.

New Jersey’s Administrative Code, N.J.A.C. 6A

Chapter 14 of New Jersey’s Administrative Code (N.J.A.C. 6A:14) addresses New Jersey schools’ and the New Jersey Department of Education’s responsibilities for providing special education services under New Jersey statutes and overriding federal laws, and ensures that:

  1. all students with disabilities, including students with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school, have available to them a free, appropriate public education as required under IDEA;
  2. the obligation to make a free, appropriate public education available to each eligible student begins no later than the student’s third birthday and that an individualized education program is in effect for the student by that date;
  3. a free appropriate public education is available to any student with a disability who needs special education and related services, even though the student is advancing from grade to grade;
  4. the services and placement needed by each student with a disability to receive a free, appropriate public education are based on the student’s unique needs and not on the student’s disability;
  5. students with disabilities are educated in the least restrictive environment;
  6. the provision of special education and related services;
  7. the rights of students with disabilities and their parents are protected;
  8. assistance is available for public and private agencies providing educational services to students with disabilities; and
  9. the evaluation of the effectiveness of the education of students with disabilities.

These regulations provide significant detail regarding the responsibilities of both parents and districts related to the provision of special education services, including: eligibility criteria, IEP requirements, procedures for evaluations and reevaluations, least restrictive environment requirements, program options and criteria, program placement, personnel requirements and class size restrictions, discipline, suspension and expulsion, details of procedures and procedural safeguards, mediation and due process, testing, graduation, access to and protection of student records, fiscal management and state reporting and monitoring.