Taking the first steps to creating a 504 plan for your child can feel overwhelming, but our experts have some practical tips you can start with at home and take to the school to begin the process. For more information, we spoke to Non-Attorney Education Advocates Hadassah Lynn Foster and Sandy Shove, as well Matt Cohen of Matt Cohen and Associates, special education attorney, author, and one of the founding board members of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA).
Important note about 504 plans: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act is a federal law, but how it’s applied can look different from state to state. For example, California has specific rules and procedures that may not exist elsewhere. Because of this, any reference to a particular state’s process — such as how complaints are filed or how hearings are handled—may not apply where you live. It’s important to check your own state’s guidance or talk with a local advocate to understand what applies to you.
Something to note is that there is no regulatory pathway or process for obtaining a 504 plan. Shove explains that the “regulations document the right to an evaluation and gathering information from more than one source, but aside from that, there's no "blueprint" to give parents. This is the reason why many experts and advocates prefer to request an evaluation under IDEA, because that process is well-regulated.” It’s important to check with your school about what their process is like as every school district will have their own pathway. Here, we’ll walk you through the key steps to requesting a 504 plan evaluation, what the process usually looks like, and tips to help you navigate meetings with confidence.
Like an IEP, a 504 plan starts with a formal evaluation. Schools will evaluate your child to determine whether they qualify for an IEP or 504 plan. A common way for a child to get a 504 plan is after a special education assessment shows that they don’t qualify for an IEP. In this case, the school will suggest (or you can request) further evaluation for a 504 plan. Under Section 504, school districts have a legal responsibility to identify and evaluate students who might need accommodations or support under this law. This is often called “Child Find.” It means districts must have procedures in place to quickly assess any child who may be eligible for protections under Section 504. Be aware that the school does need permission from a parent to conduct a Section 504 evaluation. Often, a 504 request is made by a teacher who notices that the child is struggling in class and might need some supports.
You can also formally request, in writing via email, a 504 plan evaluation. Some school districts might have a request form you can use, so check with them first. Once you have the letter ready, send your request to the school’s 504 plan coordinator, which might be the same person as the special education coordinator. You can usually find their name and contact info on the school’s website. If you can’t, send your request to the principal. Email is best since it gives you a record of the date and time you sent it. If you don’t hear back within a week, follow up with another email or give the school a call.
If your child first goes through a special education assessment and doesn’t qualify for an IEP:
The school should next suggest (or you can request) further evaluation and schedule a 504 plan meeting. As Shove explains, “If the parents agree that the student has a disability but does not require specially designed instruction (special education or related services), then simply asking during the IEP eligibility meeting for "the team" to develop a Section 504 plan to address the student's disability-related accommodation needs should trigger that school's/district's ‘process.’”
In this case, Cohen tells us that if, after an IEP assessment, the student is found not to qualify for an IEP, “that doesn’t mean that they do a second evaluation with new testing. That just means they have to use the data that was used to decide whether the child needs an IEP, and based on that data, look to see if there is a basis to give them a 504 plan.” After this, you’ll attend a 504 plan meeting to review the results and create a 504 plan.
If the school doesn’t follow through with a 504 plan evaluation, Shove tells us that parents should send in their written request for "FAPE under Section 504" as soon as possible. Since schools/districts are allowed to create their own Section 504 procedures and safeguards, the exact steps may vary from district to district or state to state.
However, if you do not agree with the determination that your child is not eligible for an IEP, then you should formally (in writing) disagree with the evaluation report(s) and seek Independent Educational Evaluations (IEE).
If you request a 504 plan evaluation directly:
The next step will be the school scheduling a date for the 504 meeting. They may also request for records from you and provide a copy of the 504 procedural safeguards. While Section 504 doesn’t have a specific assessment process and does not have to include formalized testing, the school should have its own process for determining whether a child qualifies for a 504 plan.
The 504 evaluation process actually starts before the meeting. The school gathers information from different sources, like teacher observations, your input as a parent, and records that are already available. This can include things like report cards, test scores, attendance and discipline records, health information, and any previous evaluations. Schools may also review student work and look at how your child is accessing programs and activities. Decisions can’t be based solely on a single source of data (i.e. a doctor’s diagnosis or grades). Shove tells us that Section 504 leaves guidelines for evaluation less defined than IDEA and just says the public agency "shall establish standards and procedures."
Cohen tells us, “School districts tend to rely on their own staff to evaluate kids for an IEP, whereas they’re much more open to using outside professionals when there’s a diagnosis to qualify for a 504 plan. To be clear, though, with respect to an IEP, they’re required to at least consider any outside evaluations that have been done. They’re not bound by them, but they’re required to consider them. Generally speaking, there are more disputes around things like learning disabilities and autism and ADHD. But again, the criteria for qualifying for a 504 plan are just much more expansive, and so it’s generally easier to get.”
In this clip, Shove walks us through the practical first steps for getting a 504 plan, including identifying strengths and needs and considering the classroom environment:
What if I’m not sure whether my child has a disability and can qualify for a 504 plan?
According to 504 regulations, your request can even include situations where you don’t know for sure whether your child has a disability. As the OCR explains, “A child with behavior problems, or one who is doing poorly academically, may have an undiagnosed hidden disability. A parent has the right to request that the school determine whether the child is [disabled] and whether special education or related services are needed to provide the child an appropriate education. Once it is determined that a child needs special education or related services, the recipient school system must arrange to provide appropriate services.”
As Shove explains, any time you have an assessment, there needs to be a meeting where you discuss the findings. However, this can get tricky, as Cohen explains, “because while parents are supposed to be involved in writing a 504 plan, as is also true in writing an IEP, the big difference is that there are very specific rules about the parents’ right to participate in an IEP meeting that are not as specific in writing a 504 plan.” Here are a few tips from Shove about 504 plan meetings and parental rights.
Informed consent is vital: ask for documents ahead of the meeting
Unfortunately, many parents don’t get copies of assessment reports until the meeting, and even then the language can be confusing or incomplete. Sometimes schools leave out the evaluator’s recommendations until the meeting, thinking that decisions should only be made by the team at that time. Shove tells us that it’s important for parents to see the evaluator’s professional recommendations ahead of time. Without them, it’s hard to have an informed discussion about what supports or accommodations are appropriate for your child.
“It is completely okay for parents to say, ‘I need those documents a week before the meeting, please, so that I can read them and see what additional information I might need before the meeting, and so that I can be a participant and a decision-maker for my child.’” Shove says that this gives you time to read the reports, identify questions, and gather any additional information you might need. Walking into a meeting without that information makes it impossible to participate fully or give truly informed consent.
“I tell parents over and over, it’s not informed consent unless you’ve been informed. If you’re lacking information, if you’re lacking ideas, if you’re lacking suggestions or recommendations, if you’re lacking answers to your questions, you cannot give informed consent to anything, and so the school is not following its obligation that you be an equal participant in this decision-making body, this team that’s meeting to make decisions for your child,” Shove tells us.
Request school policies in advance
Shove tells us more and more schools are creating their own 504 policies and parent rights documents, so it’s important for parents who are potentially seeking 504 accommodations for their student to get copies of that information from their school or from their district. That should give the parents some idea about how they can best participate.
Speak up if you don’t understand
IEP and 504 plan meetings can be overwhelming for a parent, whether it’s the first one or the tenth. It’s completely okay to take a pause and let everyone in the meeting know that you don’t understand something and would like for someone to explain it to you. “I think it’s really important for parents to get okay with that, to be comfortable with saying, ‘I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know what you’re suggesting and agreeing to. I don’t know why that would help my kid.’ Explain why this set of accommodations that you want to offer is going to help the child. Connect those dots for me,” Shove says. “You don’t have to be sidelined in your own child’s process.”
Disagree when necessary
Speaking up also means saying something when you disagree. As a parent, you know your child best, and if something seems off to you, say something. For example, maybe the team is suggesting an accommodation of extra time to finish homework, but as a parent, you know that your child already takes hours and hours at home to do homework. They might not know that about your child, and so that accommodation will shift even more of the burden to your home, where your child is already overwhelmed with too much to do. Your suggestion might be for less volume of output or a different way of completing the work, maybe coming in and doing it before school when they’re fresh.
Shove says, “I think it’s completely reasonable for parents to say, ‘This is what I think my kid needs. This is what I think will be helpful.’ And if the school shuts them down and says, ‘Well, we don’t do that here,’ or, ‘We’re not prepared to offer that,’ or, ‘That’s not what we’re suggesting,’ it’s okay to say, ‘Well, I disagree with you, and here are my reasons that I disagree and here are the reasons I think what I’m asking for is actually in everybody’s best interest.’”
Bridge different viewpoints
Sometimes, you might not be on the same page as your child’s teacher or anyone else at the meeting. Shove shares an example where parents were very worried about their child’s messy handwriting, while the teacher was more focused on language processing. At first, it felt like they were talking past each other, but once Shove spoke to the teacher and explained that the handwriting struggles were probably connected to processing difficulties, both sides realized they were concerned about the same underlying issue; they were just coming at it from different viewpoints. That shift helped everyone get on the same page and work together as a team, showing how important it is for parents to speak up and share their perspective.
Pause or recess the meeting if needed
Don’t be afraid to call the meeting to a stop or a recess and continue in a few days. This way, you have a chance to digest everything, make sense of it, and get your questions answered. You can then come back and continue. “It’s okay to ask for a five-minute break, go get a drink, go to the restroom, or just ask to recess and reconvene when you’ve had a chance to kind of come to terms with this much information,” Shove says. “Nobody is going to think badly of parents for doing that. Teachers understand.” Cohen adds, “Another option is to table the meeting and ask to reconvene — this can be helpful — but sometimes the school may either refuse to adjourn the meeting, or adjourn the meeting, but either delay reconvening or refuse to reconvene altogether.”
Document your concerns
If you feel as though you’re not being heard or listened to, “It’s a good idea to write it all down outside of the meeting and come in and say, ‘I’d like to start by reading my concerns to you before we start discussing anything, so that you can all understand where I’m coming from about all this.’ Then just go through and read whatever your concerns are,” Shove advises.
This can be a little tricky to navigate. While you may be certain that a 504 plan is the best choice for your child, one important point to highlight: even if your goal is a 504 plan for your child, our experts recommend starting with/requesting a special education assessment (also called an IEP assessment under IDEA) even if you think your child won’t qualify for an IEP. That’s because IDEA has specific timelines and procedural requirements that ensure your child’s needs are properly assessed. And as Shove explains, “If you haven’t yet tested and assessed, how do you know if they’re going to qualify [for an IEP or not]?. Nobody can tell by looking at you how your disability is interacting with you and these demands. We have to first evaluate that, right? So I always, always, always start with the evaluation under IDEA.”
Even so, there are lots of situations where beginning with a 504 plan is the right move. Here are a few to consider:
As Cohen tells us, while it generally makes sense to ask for an evaluation for an IEP first, it doesn’t make sense to always seek that first. For example, “If you already have private clinical information/reports that support eligibility for a 504 plan, and a 504 plan is likely to be sufficient, it will probably be much faster to get agreement on 504 eligibility, relying on the private evaluation, as opposed to waiting for the school to complete a full evaluation for an IEP.”
Another reason for seeking a 504 plan first is that they are “easier to obtain and avoid some of the stigma that goes with having an IEP and being caught up in the special education system," Cohen explains.
Foster adds another example: "If you are co-parenting with a divorce with an ex-spouse. So if you have a divorce and your spouse is uncomfortable with having your child identified as having a need for special education services, then you could go down the Section 504 path.”
Another example Foster shares is if you’re having an issue with your child not being able to access extracurricular activities: “Let’s say your child is doing fine in school. They’re getting C’s. C’s are great. C’s get you to a high school diploma. Let’s say they’re in high school and they want to be on a sports team, a competitive sports team, but they have some difficulties with ADHD, which sometimes makes things a little bit more difficult. And you would like your child to have accommodations through the coach, such as being a little bit more lenient about not paying attention or not getting assignments turned in once in a while or something like that. So it’s a small thing, but a coach might say, ‘Joey doesn’t turn in his paperwork, so he can’t be on the football team.’ Well, if Joey has ADHD but it’s really not impacting him in his other classes, or all of his other teachers are saying they could give Joey some extra time, then you would want to do a 504 plan because then you could actually have accommodations to allow him more time and more reminders to turn in the paperwork that he would need to be on that extracurricular football team.
As our experts tell us, a key area where 504 plans differ from IEPs is that under IDEA, there are explicit rules about parent participation and consent, particularly when it comes to a student’s initial evaluation, eligibility determination, and placement. Cohen explains that, "While the 504 regulations do not expressly require consent to the 504 plan, they do require parent consent to evaluation for eligibility for a 504 plan and they require notice to parents about the 504 plan and their procedural rights."
Shove adds: “There are no rules about what the written plan must include. There are no rules about who signs off on it, if anybody even has to. So it is completely legally valid for school staff to write a 504 plan and stick it in a file and no one else to sign off on that. It is also true that parents are not required to agree or consent to 504 accommodations. However, best practice, obviously, is for schools to include parents, to empower parents, to seek consent and collaboration with parents, even under 504, because parents are the ones charged with decision-making on behalf of their children. And so, if they aren’t informed, if they aren’t included in the discussion, if effort hasn’t been made to obtain their consent, that becomes kind of dicey because now you’re making decisions for somebody else’s minor child without the parent being involved in this. There are legal problems with that."
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