Section 504 Notice of Student and Parent/Guardian Rights

The following is a description of the procedural safeguards afforded pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to parents and their children who are identify as disabled. The school district is obligated to inform you of decisions about your child and of your rights if you disagree with any of those decisions.

You have the following rights:

To have your child take part in and receive benefits from public education programs without discrimination because of their disability.
To have the school district advise you of your rights under federal law.
To receive notice from the school with respect to the identification, evaluation, educational program or placement of your child.
To have your child receive a free appropriate public education. This includes the right to be educated with non-disabled students to the maximum extent appropriate. It also includes the right to reasonable accommodations, modifications, and related aids and services necessary for your child to benefit from their educational program.
To have your child educated in comparable facilities and receive comparable services to those provided to non-disabled students.
To have decisions regarding your child’s evaluation, program and placement based upon a variety of information sources and made by persons familiar with the student, the evaluation data and the placement options.
To have your child re-evaluated periodically, to the extent necessary, including before any significant changes are made to your child’s educational program or placement.
To have your child receive an equal opportunity to participate in extra-curricular school activities.
To examine all relevant educational records relating to decisions regarding your child’s identification, evaluation, educational program and placement.
To file a complaint through local complaint procedures regarding any alleged violation of the Rehabilitation Act.
To request an impartial hearing, to be conducted by a person who is not an employee of the district, to dispute decisions or actions regarding your child’s identification, evaluation, educational program or placement as a student with a disability. You and your child may take part in the hearing and have an attorney represent you at your own expense. Questions about how to request a hearing may be forwarded to the person responsible for the district’s compliance with Section 504 listed below.
To have the decision made by hearing officers or others reviewed in state or federal court.

The person in the Dubuque Community School District who coordinates compliance with Section 504 matters is:

Hannah Porcic
Lead Nurse / Section 504 District Coordinator
P: 563/552-3084
hporcic@dbqschools.org

The Office of Civil Rights is the federal entity with primary responsibility for ensuring compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. For more information regarding Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, please visit the Office for Civil Rights website at www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/disability/section-504-rehabilitation-act-of-1973. For questions or grievances related to compliance, please contact the Office for Civil Rights, Chicago Office, U.S. Department of Education, John C. Kluczynski Federal Building, 230 S. Dearborn Street, 37th Floor, Chicago, IL 60604; Telephone: (312) 730-1560; Facsimile: (312) 730-1576; Email: OCR.Chicago@ed.gov.

The Dubuque Community School District will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, creed, age (for employment), marital status (for programs), sexual orientation, gender identity and socioeconomic status (for programs) in its educational programs and its employment practices. There is a grievance procedure for processing complaints of discrimination. Please direct inquiries about this statement to: Brian Kuhle, Dubuque Community Schools, 2300 Chaney Road, Dubuque, Iowa 52001-3095, bkuhle@dbqschools.org, 563/552-3000