504 Plans

[DEgalRN]

Who handles the 504 plans at your school? As a first year school nurse, there was a lot I didn't know I didn't know (and still don't!). But I was almost completely hands off of the 504 plans. I'm thinking next year, I want to be more involved in them.

So, how much do you do in terms of creation, planning, maintaining, etc.?

[Rubor]

I have always been involved in 504s. Not all the nurses in my district have been in the past. However, this year we got new training information about converting our life threatening kiddos to 504s....all of them.

The way it looks is OFFERING a 504. I have had parents decline but I document that I offered that to them. This year alone I have created about 15, 504s just for life threatening. I have been involved with the counselor in creating 3/4 others. Is it a lot of work initially? Yes, but manageable throughout the year. It's not a daily ongoing thing. I try to make it to the meetings of others but I only work 3 days a so I will get a copy of the plan and follow up with the counselor if need be. I try to always take the team approach and get involved as much as possible.

I have a health room assistant who will see kids so that helps. Of course kids come to me for help all day long and I meet with a few everyday I'm there, so I'm not just sitting at my desk, I work in spurts to get it done!

I know we have different things on our plate but 504s are not terribly painful to formulate!

Go to a meeting sometime? If not just check it out and talk to your counselor. In my district we try to really emphasis a team approach and that team is counselor, nurse, admin, teacher, and parents. That's how we try to work it the majority of the time!

[AdobeRN]

Just like previous post - this year our district started to really push and require us to review and offer 504's to those potential life threatening issues - (allergies, asthma) along with every other medical diagnosis or problem a parent states their kid may have so the counselor and I sat down and reviewed them. It was alot of work - thank goodness majority of parents declined. Our district was also pushing us nurses to do an IHP for all of these kids - what a headache.

You should be glad you are not more involved with them :)

[SassyTachyRN]

Included in all of our care plans for parents to fill out is their 504 rights. How to request a 504, etc. I rarely have a parent actually request a 504. I am usually involved in 2-3 a year. In the past for my CF kid (rightfully so), a kid with a broken arm returning to school during standardized testing needing accommodations (a scribe, extra time, access to nurse for pain medication when necessary, etc), stable seizure kiddo that mom requested, but that one turned into more of a behavioral thing and I didn't have much input. You could do them for diabetes, but all of my diabetics thus far have been sped and have had IEP's.

[cynmrn]

It's kind of a slippery slope over here with 504 Plans. I am the case manager for strictly medical 504 plans, such as diabetics, seizure, Crohn's, CF, etc., but generally stay out of the ones that are dealing only with behavioral or academic. However, this is where it gets kind of sticky--I have quite a few ADHD 504 plans that I feel aren't truly medical and I'm trying to get out of them because the only thing I'm really involved with is the medication piece...I don't like to manage them because I'm not in the classroom and don't have a teaching background. I don't know what's going on in there and what has been tried; teachers usually have much more contact with parents than me. I mean, I can generate general accommodations, but it's just not my area of expertise. But, I still get suckered in somehow!