The role of a school counselor in the 504 process may vary from state to state, district to district and even building to building. The school counselor’s primary role is to be an advocate for students in this process. We may be the first person to notice attendance issues; grade trends; frequent tardiness or a frequent presence in the behavior room, counselor’s office or nurse’s office. These are all reasons to start getting curious about what is going on with the student. We may discover or suspect a mental health issue, a health concern or a physical or mental impairment. This is the first indication that it is time to act and alert the 504 team. Any student with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity is eligible for a 504 plan. Even when we suspect that a student has a mental or physical impairment, we should activate the 504 process.
In Campbell County School District, the 504 process usually, but not always, starts with a visit to our Building Intervention Team. Some physical and mental impairments may require specialized instruction; this would activate a special education evaluation. However, sometimes a student has a physical impairment, such as an anaphylactic allergy, that is not impacting their education: they have good grades, no attendance issues and no behavior concerns. In these cases, we sometimes bypass the BIT team and go straight toward evaluating for a 504 plan.
The 504 team consists of the nurse, the school counselor, the classroom teacher and any others who may have pertinent information about the student. The 504 team then collects any relevant data: medical diagnosis if available, nurse’s information, teacher reports, grades, behavior log, attendance for three years and assessment scores. We then look for trends or patterns. We also look to see if a student has received special education services in the past. This would indicate an educational diagnosis as a mental impairment. Even if a student has been exited from special education, a disability may require accommodations even if it does not require specialized instruction.
The school counselor plays a vital role in advocating for the needs of students with physical impairments, mental health issues or cognitive impairments. A student may be referred for 504 consideration/evaluation by a teacher, staff member, medical professional or a parent. The school counselor’s job is to start the 504 evaluation process once a referral is received. Accommodations may help this student access their education and prevent exclusion or discrimination based on an impairment. Student accommodations are designed to level the playing field for students with disabilities and assure equal access to learning. Accommodations are never designed to enable a student with a disability.
Lori Townsend is the 504 coordinator for Campbell County School District #1 in Gillette, Wyo., and Monika Yount is a school counselor at Prairie Wind Elementary in Gillette and the WySCA conference chair.