Avoiding Disability Discrimination and Discriminatory Effects
Continue the federal Section 504 discipline guidance with particular attention to different treatment, disciplinary patterns, neutral policies that may create disability-related barriers, and the use of threat or risk assessments.
Supporting Students with Disabilities and Avoiding the Discriminatory Use of Student Discipline under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Open Required Reading →- How unnecessary different treatment can become disability discrimination
- Why identical rules do not automatically establish nondiscrimination
- What discipline data can and cannot establish
- How disability protections apply during threat or risk assessments
- Why disciplinary systems should be examined for patterns, not only isolated decisions
Discrimination Is Not Always Obvious
Disability discrimination in discipline is not limited to an explicit rule saying that students with disabilities will be treated differently. Problems may emerge from individual decisions, repeated practices, failure to consider disability-related needs, or systems that produce concerning patterns over time.
Different treatment must be examined in context.
Section 504 prohibits unnecessary different treatment because of disability. A team should ask whether disability actually affected how staff interpreted the behavior, selected a consequence, or restricted the student's access to the school program.
Identical treatment can still require examination.
A policy may use the same wording for every student and still create a disability-related barrier when the school fails to consider reasonable modifications or disability-related needs.
Discipline statistics are a signal, not a verdict.
Statistical evidence showing disproportionate discipline of students with disabilities does not, by itself, establish that unlawful discrimination occurred.
Threat assessments are also subject to Section 504.
A school's use of a threat or risk assessment does not suspend its disability-discrimination obligations. Students with disabilities should not be unnecessarily treated differently merely because of disability during the assessment process.
The threat-assessment team and Section 504 team should not operate in isolation.
Personnel conducting a threat or risk assessment should have relevant disability information and sufficient understanding of the school's FAPE responsibilities to coordinate appropriately with the student's Section 504 team.
Exclusion is not the only possible response to risk.
Coordination with the Section 504 team may identify additional or different behavioral supports that reduce or eliminate risk without requiring the student to be excluded from school.
A concerning pattern should lead to questions about the system.
When discipline data reveal substantial differences for students with disabilities, schools can examine referral practices, discretionary decisions, locations where incidents occur, staff implementation, access to supports, and whether particular rules create unnecessary disability-related barriers.
Sort each situation according to what it should prompt the school to examine.
Individual Decision-Making
Examine whether disability affected how staff interpreted or responded to the student.
System-Level Pattern
Examine policies, settings, referral patterns, implementation, and aggregate data.
Access / Modification Issue
Examine whether a policy unnecessarily limits participation because of disability.
Click a card, then click the category where you want to place it.
Match each piece of evidence with the strongest conclusion that can reasonably be drawn from it.
A district discovers a large disability-related discipline disparity. Put the review process into the strongest order.
Apply What You Learned
Analyze the situation below. Consider whether the evidence demonstrates discrimination, signals the need for additional investigation, or identifies a policy or practice that should be changed.
Evaluating Disparities for Section 504 Compliance
Strong Section 504 practice examines individual treatment, access, policy effects, implementation, supports, and system-level patterns before reaching conclusions about disability discrimination.