What laws must private schools follow?

FAN should have information you need. A 504 plan comes from section 504 of law IDEA -97. Laws apply no matter what kind of school you are attending. You can find the law in public records. In August of '99 I attended a seminar by Brother David Sinitiere. He is an expert on the law. I have a binder full of information and updates. I will look today to find where specifics are on allergies.
Rae

The IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) had some changes in 1997. One of the changes that took places was related to private schools. My previous job was as a parent educator for parents of deaf/hard of hearing children. I developed a web site for
BEGINNINGS and included a summary page on laws pertaining to students with special needs. You can read these summaries at [url="http://www.beginningssvcs.com/legal.htm#reauth"]http://www.beginningssvcs.com/legal.htm#reauth[/url] . Here is a link to a site comparing public and private schools. [url="http://nces.ed.gov/pubs97/97983.html"]http://nces.ed.gov/pubs97/97983.html[/url]
The next link explains how the law covers children in private schools. Scroll down to #10. [url="http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/IDEA/MAJOR.DOC"]http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/IDEA/MAJOR.DOC[/url] . Again, this is for kids who are eligible under IDEA and have an IEP. I wasn't able to pinpoint the for Section 504.
I just checked the above link and it will send you to a download site. I copied the part about private schools for those of you who do not want to download. Here it is.

10) PARENTALLY-PLACED CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS

Prior to 1997, the law did not extensively address the education of children with disabilities placed in private schools by their parents. These children were served based on the limited provisions of the statutes and on the Education Department

Anybody recently dealing with getting a PA child into a private school? I see there are posts from a few years ago but I'm hopeful that things have changes a little.
I thought there was something under the Public Accomodation Law .. part of the Americans with Disabilities Act.That stated that any school had to let kids in regardless of their disability. I understand that private school means just that "private". Though.. anybody can attend as long as they have the money and there is room. A school is still a school and open to the general public.
If a person who was not a member went to a private golf club.. for instance.. they walked in the door and slipped and fell. They could sue the club for not having floor mats or anti-slip floors. The club is still resopnsible for that person. They are not above the law just because they are private.
Could a club like this deny membership because the applicant was blind?
I don't think so. I don't understand how any school can deny access because a student has disablilites.
I'm not saying that it doesn't happen. I know it does. I'm trying right now to get my PA son into a private school and the first thing they said when they looked at his application was " what would we have to do to accomodate his allergy?" They want a written note from a doctor before they even review the application.
I"m fighting it and I'll let you knoe how things turn out.
Anybody else out there fighting a private school?

Oh.. My PA son has been in Public school for a year and a half and the first year was a battle. They are totally on board now so if anybody has any questions feel free to email me. [email]egorey@yahoo.com[/email]

Hi there,

Our daughter goes to a private school. While we were learning about the school, the principal asked us to provide her with as much information about the allergy as we could find. She wasn't specific as to what type of information to give her, but in our information packet was a doctor's letter detailing our daughter's allergy, historical reactions, plans of actions, precautions, medications & doses, etc... Along with the letter we provided countless articles, pamphlets and anything else that could help her to understand peanut allergies. Her second request was a safe snack list for the class.

I was very frank with the principal about what we needed to make the environment safe and she approved everything. I believe the principal's words were, "everything you've asked for seems very reasonable."

The school nurse is on board and extremely aware. All staff have been trained in EpiPen usage, symptoms, precautions, etc... The hot lunch program is peanut-free, even though our daughter does not eat it. We've been very pleased with the way everything has been handled.

Our PA daughter's teacher is wonderful. She has openly discussed our daughter's allergy with her students - upon my daughter's request. She has worked hard to keep our daughter safe and we feel has done more than most teachers would to keep our girl safe. We are so grateful to have found this school.

As the principal said to me, "with a little behind the scenes work, we can make this a safe learning environment where "she" can grow and learn". The school has been just that and we're so happy to have found such a loving and nurturing environment for our PA daughter and our non-PA daughter.

Our experience with our school district, however, was **** . It has left me with an extreme distate for our district and there's not one good thing I can think to say about those bureaucrats.

If we ever move, I worry we won't find another school as accommodating and nurturing as our daughters' private school.

Hope this helps a little.

My understanding is that the ADA applies to private schools with the exception of parochial (church run schools.) I think that accommodations under the ADA must be resonable and not an undue financial burden to the school. Schools wouldn't need to make accommodations which would fundamentally alter the educational program they are providing for the other students.

I think different rules apply to private clubs. I don't think private clubs are considered public accommodations.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. This post is not legal advice, it is for informational purposes only.

Cathy

Actually, a friend of mine sends her son to a Catholic school. She gave me a paper that got sent home saying that they are required to accomodate peanut allergy. I have to find a way to scan it and get it on here.

Quote:Originally posted by Momcat:
[b]Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. This post is not legal advice, it is for informational purposes only.[/b]

You sound like a lawyer to me. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img]

Gail, LOL! That's why I need the disclaimer [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

Momma2boys, Catholic schools may have their own rules made by the archdiocese, but I'm pretty sure they do not fall under the ADA. After all, accommodating PA students is the right thing to do!

Actually it said they HAD to and cited a lawsuit. I will dig it out and post the highlights this afternoon.

Thank you, I'm very interested to find out about that. Maybe this particular school receives some sort of federal funding?

Cathy

My son will be attending a Catholic School next year--1st grade---They receive money from the state for free and reduced lunches---and technology money from the state--so they have to follow all ADA --ect.. they have been very willing to accomodate and discuss--so far--we are still in the beginning stages but--Much easier than the public school.

IN 2002 I was told by 2 different Montessori preschools/schools in Reno, NV that they WOULD NOT and were NOT ReQUIRED to accomodate PA child. I did not pursue. The ugly way they responded to me "taught" me I DID NOT even want my child in their school "learning" environment at all.

EB

I am positive that Montesorri is required to accomodate pa. The reason I am sure is that I looked at a Montesorri preschool for dd (who is now age 10). I was all set to sign her up. When I showed up to sign up, I was stunned when they handed me a letter from an attorney and a release for me to sign. The release said that they did not have to give the epi, and that if dd had a reaction all the school had to do was call 911. I had already read material from the United States Justice Dept stating that such a release was against the ADA. There had been a large financial settlement with a preschool called La Petite over exactly this issue. So I took the release from this Montesorri school and gave it to my attorney. My attorney discussed it with the Montesorri school`s attorney. Turned out the Montesorri school`s attorney did not really handle disability issues. He admitted he was wrong, and told the Montesorri school that they had to take dd and learn how to use an epi, and they could not require me to sign a release. So the director of the Montesorri school sent me a letter saying dd could attend, and then listed a ton of reasons why I would not want to send my dd there. So they had these brochures saying what a great school they are and all the things that are so great about them, and then they give me a letter telling me all the things wrong with them. Obviously they did not want my dd to go there. I really wanted to send her because I felt that if I didn`t then they really won, but I could not send dd to a place where they did not want her, just to prove that they had to take her.

So bottom line is Montesorri schools have to follow the ADA, although this one certainly didn`t want to.