"Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a civil rights law that prohibits
recipients of federal funding from discriminating against individuals with
disabilities. As it relates to public education, the law states that a school
cannot place a student in n segregated classes
or facilities “solely by reason of her or his disability.” Students with
disabilities must be given the same opportunities to participate in academic,
nonacademic and extracurricular activities as their non-disabled peers. This
law applies to public elementary and secondary schools, as well as other
education entities.
Under Section 504, students with disabilities may receive accommodations and modifications as well as supplementary aids and services to ensure that their individual educational needs are met as adequately as those of non-disabled students. Under Section 504, children with disabilities must be educated with their non-disabled peers "to the maximum extent appropriate." Students may only be placed in separate classrooms or special education courses when, after an appropriate evaluation, it is determined that “the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.”
Under Section 504, students with disabilities may receive accommodations and modifications as well as supplementary aids and services to ensure that their individual educational needs are met as adequately as those of non-disabled students. Under Section 504, children with disabilities must be educated with their non-disabled peers "to the maximum extent appropriate." Students may only be placed in separate classrooms or special education courses when, after an appropriate evaluation, it is determined that “the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.”