Tigerlily, I would suggest you do this (and I know you've done much of this already, if not all of it), but for the win:
--Write one more time. Make this a letter of understanding and a request for an eligibility meeting. Copy the Special Education Director.
--If they have given you a written notice that your child is not eligible for a 504, note the date of the letter and quote the text where they said it. And attach a copy of the letter to this. If they did not give this information to you in writing, note the date they said it to you, who said it, and where (at the school, over the phone, etc.).
--In the letter, again request an eligibility meeting (may be called a Child Find meeting in certain states). Note the district's policy. Note briefly that the ADAAA pertains to persons with Life Threatening Food Allergies (but do be familiar with it and how it pertains before the meeting),
--Ask that certain people be present at the meeting, including the Sped Director.
--Tell them you will submit the materials you want them to consider a week in advance (or, go ahead and attach them with the letter--that's what I would probably do).
OR --an alternate case:
--Call your Sped Director and talk with him or her about the district's policy. And then talk about your school. And say that you would like another eligibility meeting and would like for him or her to attend.
--Then do the above stuff.
Either course, I would call OCR as soon as possible to tell them what the school has done. It doesn't hurt to talk with them--especially if your district office is in DC--that one is great.
But I would not file until you've tried one more time and have involved the Sped Dir.
If trying to get another meeting doesn't work, I'd file a formal complaint against the school with OCR or get an attorney. I would try the stuff above before doing either of those things.
Later this weekend I'll mention some threads with OCR cases that are relevant (though an OCR case is just that--one case. It doesn't exactly set case precedent, but I was certainly able to use Gloucester that way--and it was helpful because my school was in Virginia and so was Gloucester. But Gloucester has been helpful around the country.) There are some OCR threads one the first two Schools pages that you could look at.
Engaging the Sped Director made all the difference for us. I've outlined what our situation was below. Our Sped Director became my son's greatest ally. That might not be the case for every district, but your Sped Director knows district policy and federal law--which your school is choosing to ignore.
This article on an allergist's web site is wonderful as a resource:
http://www.acaai.org/allergist/Resources/letters/Pages/SchoolAccommodationsforFoodAllergicStudents.aspxHere's my thread on the previous board in case it's helpful in any way.
Memorable moments from 504 Eligibility meeting1st Eligibility meeting (what they termed the Child Find Meeting where they found my child inelegible for a 504, btw): I had a fab packet in which I laid out the law for them and why DS qualifies (I have listed the details in other threads--and you're welcome to steal whatever you find useful and applies), but we did not give it to folks until we sat down for our meeting. The committee had NO.CLUE about the law. The school psychologist made statements about the law, and I corrected her. It was like a tennis match. I told her, "You are wrong. That is not the law. See this . . . ." I was prepared. I knew my stuff.
At that first meeting, there was a vote--and they all voted that DS is not eligible that day.
I went home and called OCR and talked with them. They affirmed what the school did was wrong.
I then called our Special Education Director. He was not at that first meeting, and the principal had called him, too. He told me to call OCR if I wanted (I already had, and I had told him so), but asked us not to file a complaint until we can hold a real eligibility meeting (he probably used the word "another" instead of "real.").
The Real Eligibility MeetingBefore that meeting he asked me to have all the materials I wanted the committee to consider a week in advance. They made the copies (which was way better than our making the copies, like we did for the first meeting). They had ample opportunity to look at my materials. I presented them a watertight case.
It was at that meeting that he looked at our request (our "case statement"), asked what Major Life Activities (I had presented four; the Sped Director brought up), said he thought DS was eligible. Then the vote happened again--with the same people pretty much (now cafeteria manager was added), and this time we were not the only ones who said he qualified. In fact, no one said he didn't.
Here's a list of what I included (it would include different things now, including the new ADAAA and other new things). You may or may not need to
http://allergy.hyperboards.com/?action=view_topic&topic_id=11472&start=1By "case statement" I'm referring to the document I created outlining the law for them and exactly why my son qualified (and again, it would be different today). Here's the link to it here:
http://foodallergysupport.olicentral.com/index.php?action=page;sa=504_CaseStatement1 But here's a link there that is continuous and easier to read I think:
http://allergy.hyperboards.com/index.php?action=view_topic&topic_id=11848&start=1
Topic: 504 Plan: School will not proceed. NEED HELP. (Read 7256 times)
