504 Plans:
What Parents
Should Know

by Alyssa Quintero

Some students with muscle diseases have IEPs (Individualized Education Plans) and some have 504 plans. What’s the difference? Should parents be concerned if the school says their child doesn’t qualify for an IEP, and creates a 504 plan instead — or vice versa?

Not necessarily. As the accompanying chart and diagram shows, there’s a lot of overlap between the two plans. The key is for parents to be aware of the pros and cons of each, and keep a close eye on how well the plan is meeting their child’s special needs at school.

IEP: covered by an
education law (IDEA);
applies only to students
who qualify for “special
education services” in
a core curriculum area;
governed by strict proce-
dures and timelines; parent
involvement is mandated;
schools receive additional
federal funding for stu-
dents receiving special
ed services.

Both plans cover accommodations and modifications to the school environment and classroom materials, adaptive technology, and related services.

504 Plans: covered
by a civil rights law
(Rehabilitation Act);
applies to all students
with qualifying disabilities;
follows an informal pro-
cess; parent involvement
not mandated; schools do
not receive additional fed-
eral funding for services
to qualifying students.

504s easier in some ways

Adam Wechsler, a seventh-grader in Jericho, Vt., currently has a 504 plan. Adam, who’s affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy, “tested out” of his original IEP plan in 2006 due to having excellent grades and being able to participate in a regular gym class.

“He got booted off the IEP because he was meeting his educational goals and getting As in his classes,” says his mother, Joanne. “We went down with a fight. I tried to keep the IEP because I felt like we would have more rights under it, but on the flipside, the 504 is a whole heck of a lot less paperwork. And in some ways, I feel like I get more attention from the therapists because they’re able to spend their time with us rather than filling out all the paperwork and keeping up on goals.”

Adam’s 504 modifications and accommodations include: special classroom seating; requests for classmates to keep the room free from tripping dangers; informal modifications in physical educa-

tion class depending on the activities for the day; extra time on tests; and someone to help with notetaking.

An aide does stretching, passive range-of-motion and hand exercises with Adam in the nurse’s office for 20 minutes each morning before school. He sees the regular physical therapist (PT) weekly, mostly for consultation, and is scheduled to see the occupational therapist (OT) twice a month.

Adam’s 504 team consists of the PT, OT, school nurse (who is the 504 coordinator), a special educator, math teacher, guidance counselor and the principal. The team has worked to make modifications in gym class and accommodations to help Adam when he’s fatigued. The school also purchased a laptop to use in class and the speech-to-text software program Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which Adam uses at home when he has a lot of writing to complete on the computer.

“It’s a lot more informal,” Joanne says of the 504 plan. “We have meetings regularly, usually every month or every six weeks. I insisted on that because otherwise there wouldn’t be any regular communication. I just want to make sure that he continues to be successful.”

Once Adam, 12, no longer is able to fully participate in P.E., Wechsler says he may again become eligible for an IEP

because he would require specialized instruction (adapted physical education) in order to meet the school’s curriculum requirements. Even though he participates in a regular gym class right now, Joanne wonders whether he’s getting the same benefits as the other students and meeting the appropriate standards.

“It’s been easier in a lot of ways to be on the 504,” Joanne says. “I just want the services for Adam, and it doesn’t matter how I get them. Other people are always floored that Adam gets daily stretching, especially since many kids who have IEPs only get PT once a month.”

What’s the difference?

Parents often make the mistake of thinking that a 504 plan provides the same procedural safeguards as an IEP, says Pat Howey, a special education consultant based in West Point, Ind., who speaks nationally on this topic.

She notes that IEP teams must follow strict procedures, guidelines and timelines, but Section 504 only requires schools to notify parents that their child has been identified, evaluated and placed under a 504 plan, she says.

For example, in order for a child to receive services, every detail must be written into the IEP and parents must sign