504 Basics
This federal civil-rights law protects qualified students with disabilities from discrimination and ensures access to education.
What is Section 504?
Sites should run this before school begins and at least monthly to identify students who may need Section 504 follow-up.
What is the 504 monitoring query?
A properly rolled-over current record should have a 2026 date in this field and no Leave Date.
What is the Effective Date?
This form begins the formal consideration process when a student is suspected of needing Section 504 supports.
What is the Section 504 Referral Form?
Note, this form is not required.
This is the first step when a student is believed to need Section 504 services.
What is a referral?
A student must have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of these.
What are major life activities?
Includes walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working, eating, and sleeping.
A “Y” in this Aeries column means the parent reported that the student has a 504 Plan during registration.
What is the 504 SAC column?
It identifies the need for follow-up. It does not prove that the student is eligible or that a current plan exists.
This must be entered on the prior-year record before the plan is copied forward.
What is a Leave Date?
This document explains the family’s rights regarding identification, evaluation, placement, records, and dispute-resolution procedures.
What are the Section 504 Procedural Safeguards?
Note, a copy needs to be provided at every meeting and correspondence.
The school must obtain this before conducting an initial Section 504 evaluation.
What is non-sped permission to evaluate form?
Only, if there are going to be observations, interviews or other data collected in order to inform the assessment process.
A student does not need this document from a healthcare provider to be found eligible under Section 504.
What is a medical diagnosis?
A team may consider medical information, but a diagnosis alone does not establish eligibility—and the lack of a diagnosis does not prevent the school from evaluating.
When the SAC column says “Y,” but there is no effective date, the site must take this action.
What is verify whether a current plan exists, obtain the records, and complete the appropriate Aeries record?
After selecting “More Actions,” choose this option to carry the prior-year plan forward.
What is “Create Copy”?
For an annual review, the family should receive this three-document packet.
What are the meeting invitation, current 504 Plan, and Procedural Safeguards?
Section 504 does not establish a specific federal number of days for completing an evaluation; instead, it requires completion within this type of timeframe.
What is a reasonable period of time?
Note, we follow the same timelines as special education regarding IEPs.
Medication, assistive technology, hearing aids, and mobility devices are examples of these, which generally are not considered when determining whether an impairment is substantially limiting.
What are mitigating measures?
Multiple Aeries rows are acceptable when prior records contain this and the student has only one current open record.
What is a Leave Date?
Invitations, signed waivers, updated plans, and other supporting records should be uploaded to this location in Aeries.
What is Student Documents?
A parent may sign this when declining an annual review meeting and indicating satisfaction with the current plan. It cannot replace an initial or three-year reevaluation.
What is the Annual Review Waiver or Meeting Declination Form?
Note, this reponse to the invitation needs to be uploaded into Student Records.
FSUSD highly recommends annual reviews within this period at the beginning of the school year. Initial and required three-year reevaluations must also be prioritized during this period.
What are the first 30 days of school, by September 23, 2026?
Good grades, MTSS interventions, or successful classroom performance do not eliminate the school’s responsibility to do this when it has reason to believe a student may need disability-related services.
Childfind obligation to conduct a Section 504 evaluation?
These students’ plans and emergency information should receive first priority before school begins.
Who are students with life-threatening medical conditions or urgent health needs?
When a student has both a 504 and an IEP, this Student Impairment must be added under the Impairment section in Aeries.
What is “Also Special Ed”?
Note, this is different from when a student has a 504 and later qualifies for an IEP and the IEP absorbs the protections of the 504. In this case, you exit the 504 in aeries and select "Student Qualifies for Special Ed Services and Needs will be met through an IEP" under the Team Decision dropdown.
After completing a review or receiving an appropriate annual-review waiver, the site completes this so Student and Family Services can monitor each student’s status.
What is the 504 Google Form?
This evaluation must occur before an expulsion, a removal of more than 10 consecutive school days, or a pattern of shorter removals constituting a significant change in placement.
What is a manifestation determination?