More Doctor Documentation for 504???

[LaurensMom]

These questions are not FA related but hoping all the experience here with 504 due to FAs will help me brainstorm a way to help a friend, with a chronically sick child, who is battling the school district for any type of accomodation.

Can a school require "better doctor documentation" before approving 504 requests? Or, if a doctor "approves of" a 504 request, should that rule?

Does a school have the right to have their "medical expert" have input into 504 changes (note this "medical expert" knows nothing about the condition)? What if this "expert" disagrees with a doctor's signature on the 504 request?

Is there a turn-around requirement for 504 after requests have been made? Are they allowed to take months to make formal changes to a 504?

Being not familiar with legal avenues, is there any type of avenue, such as mediation, that can help resolve issues?

The family I"m trying to help with this is suffering significant financial hardship due to this child's illness. Is there a way to find legal support that would not cost them thousands that they need for their child's medical care (much of their child's medical care is not covered by insurance)?