504 Question

[beachynurse, ASN, BSN]

Do your school divisions require there to be medical documentation for a 504 to be written? My school division doesn't. All the parent has to say is that the child has symptoms of whatever they want to put down, and a 504 is written. It's gotten to the point where almost half of every school has 504's. I thought it was required to have medical documentation.. 

[elemnurse007]

We require doctor's notes for nearly everything, but I don't think it's required by state if there's enough information from parents/teachers/test scores. What are the accommodations that half the schools are implementing? If it's all the same accommodations for hundreds of students, it may be better to implement a school policy instead. 

[beachynurse, ASN, BSN]

elemnurse007 said:

We require doctor's notes for nearly everything, but I don't think it's required by state if there's enough information from parents/teachers/test scores. What are the accommodations that half the schools are implementing? If it's all the same accommodations for hundreds of students, it may be better to implement a school policy instead. 

The accommodations vary based on parental requests. Our parents can be very demanding, and want what they want.  We have a lot of students that have a 504 with no accommodations. The document will read "Eligible for a 504, no accommodations are required at this time".  

[k1p1ssk, BSN, RN]

Our district does ask for a diagnosis letter. These are a simple one sentence letter from the doctor/therapist/diagnostician indicating the medical diagnosis. If they have specific recommendations for accommodations, we ask for those as well, but these are often not given. 

[Nurse Trini]

We require a doctor (or at least a medical provider) note that demonstrates eligibility. Once that gets the kid on the 504 the rest (accomodations , etc...) is a negotiation between the parent and staff.

[heatherrmp, ASN, BSN, RN]

I recently found out from our school counselor that 504 plans had recently changed (in the state of Indiana) and an official diagnosis is no longer required. We do need a note from a provider requesting certain accommodations, however.