Appendix A: California Department of Education (CDE) K.C. Settlement Agreement and Legal Advisory An LEA may not have a blanket policy or general practice that insulin or glucagon administration, or other diabetes-related health care services, will only be provided by district personnel at one school in the district or will always require removal from the classroom in order to receive diabetes related health care services. For example, in Christopher S. v. Stanislaus County Office of Educ., 384 F.3d 1 205, 1212 (9th Cir. 2004) , the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals noted that OCR has repeatedly held that blanket policies that preclude individual evaluation o f a particular child’s educational and health related services needs violate Section 504. (See also Conejo Valley (CA) Unified Sch. Dist., 20 IDELR (LRP) 1276, 1280 (OCR 1993) (district violated Section 504 by failing to perform an evaluation that was individualized by proposing changes in placement based upon a generalized district policy regarding who could perform injections without regard to student’s individual education needs ); Irvine (CA) Unified Sch. Dist., 23 IDELR 1144, 1146 (OCR 1995) (district’s “unwritten policy” prohibiting blood glucose testing in classroom violated 34 CFR sec. 104.35(c)(3) requiring that a team of persons give careful consideration to all of the information available and makes determinations based upon the individual needs of the disabled student).) See further discussion below in the section of this advisory discussing IDEA entitled Related Services May Include Management/Administration of Insulin and Other Diabetes Care Tasks for Children With the Disability of OHI . In addition, a school or district may not require the parent or guardian to waive any rights or agree to any particular placement or related services as a condition of administering medications or assisting a student in the administration of medication at school. (Berlin Brothersvalley (PA.) School Dist., EHLR 353:124 (OCR 1988) (district policy of giving school officials discretion in whether to administer needed medication and conditioning the provision of services required by Section 504 or IDEA on parents signing a waiver of liability is prohibited). See further discussion below in the section of this advisory discussing IDEA entitled School Placement Decisions .
D. FAPE Under Section 504
Pursuant to 34 CFR section 104.33 , school districts must provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to all students with disabilities in public elementary and secondary schools. Under Section 504, “appropriate education” means “the provision of regular or special education and related aids and services that (i) are designed to meet individual educational needs of handicapped persons as adequately as the needs of nonhandicapped persons are met and (ii) are based upon adherence to procedures that satisfy the requirements of 34 CFR sections 104.34, 104.35, and 104.36.” (34 CFR s ection 104.33 (b) (emphasis added).) The OCR has applied the FAPE obligation broadly to ensure nondiscrimination by providing individual accommodations that provide each disabled student with a FAPE. The requirement to provide FAPE under Section 504 has been applied in the context of the administration of medication in general and diabetes-based related services in particular .
BP 2006 – Provision of Healthcare Services
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Desert Mountain Special Education Local Plan Area (DMSELPA) (rev. 11/16)
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