Word reminder USDE to students with disabilities (The first part)
Dear Colleague:
Extracurricular athletics—which include club, intramural, or interscholastic (e.g.,
freshman, junior varsity, varsity) athletics at all education levels—are an important
component of an overall education program. The United States Government
Accountability Office (GAO) published a report that underscored that access to, and
participation in, extracurricular athletic opportunities provide important health and
social benefits to all students, particularly those with disabilities.1
These benefits can
include socialization, improved teamwork and leadership skills, and fitness.
Unfortunately, the GAO found that students with disabilities are not being afforded an
equal opportunity to participate in extracurricular athletics in public elementary and
secondary schools.2
To ensure that students with disabilities consistently have opportunities to participate in
extracurricular athletics equal to those of other students, the GAO recommended that
the United States Department of Education (Department) clarify and communicate
schools’ responsibilities under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section
504) regarding the provision of extracurricular athletics. The Department’s Office for
Civil Rights (OCR) is responsible for enforcing Section 504, which is a Federal law
designed to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs and activities
(including traditional public schools and charter schools) that receive Federal financial
assistance.3
In response to the GAO’s recommendation, this guidance provides an overview of the
obligations of public elementary and secondary schools under Section 504 and the
Department’s Section 504 regulations, cautions against making decisions based on
presumptions and stereotypes, details the specific Section 504 regulations that require
students with disabilities to have an equal opportunity for participation in nonacademic
and extracurricular services and activities, and discusses the provision of separate or
different athletic opportunities. The specific details of the illustrative examples offered
in this guidance are focused on the elementary and secondary school context.
Nonetheless, students with disabilities at the postsecondary level must also be provided
an equal opportunity to participate in athletics, including intercollegiate, club, and
intramural athletics.4
—Students with disabilities in extracurricular athletics
I. Overview of Section 504 Requirements
To better understand the obligations of school districts with respect to extracurricularathletics for students with disabilities, it is helpful to review Section 504’s requirements.
Under the Department’s Section 504 regulations, a school district is required to provide
a qualified student with a disability an opportunity to benefit from the school district’s
program equal to that of students without disabilities. For purposes of Section 504, a
person with a disability is one who (1) has a physical or mental impairment that
substantially limits one or more major life activities; (2) has a record of such an
impairment; or (3) is regarded as having such an impairment.5 With respect to public
elementary and secondary educational services, “qualified” means a person (i) of an age
during which persons without disabilities are provided such services, (ii) of any age
during which it is mandatory under state law to provide such services to persons with
disabilities, or (iii) to whom a state is required to provide a free appropriate public
education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).6
Of course, simply because a student is a “qualified” student with a disability does not
mean that the student must be allowed to participate in any selective or competitive
program offered by a school district; school districts may require a level of skill or ability
of a student in order for that student to participate in a selective or competitive
program or activity, so long as the selection or competition criteria are not
discriminatory.
Among other things, the Department’s Section 504 regulations prohibit school districts
from:
denying a qualified student with a disability the opportunity to participate in or
benefit from an aid, benefit, or service;
affording a qualified student with a disability an opportunity to participate in or
benefit from an aid, benefit, or service that is not equal to that afforded others;
Students with disabilities in extracurricular athletics
providing a qualified student with a disability with an aid, benefit, or service that
is not as effective as that provided to others and does not afford that student
with an equal opportunity to obtain the same result, gain the same benefit, or
reach the same level of achievement in the most integrated setting appropriate
to the student’s needs;
providing different or separate aid, benefits, or services to students with
disabilities or to any class of students with disabilities unless such action is
necessary to provide a qualified student with a disability with aid, benefits, or
services that are as effective as those provided to others; and
otherwise limiting a qualified individual with a disability in the enjoyment of any
right, privilege, advantage, or opportunity enjoyed by others receiving an aid,
benefit, or service.7
The Department’s Section 504 regulations also require school districts to provide a free
appropriate public education (Section 504 FAPE) to each qualified person with a
disability who is in the school district’s jurisdiction, regardless of the nature or severity
of the person’s disability.8
A school district must also adopt grievance procedures that incorporate appropriate due
process standards and that provide for prompt and equitable resolution of complaints
alleging violations of the Section 504 regulations.9
A school district’s legal obligation to comply with Section 504 and the Department’s
regulations supersedes any rule of any association, organization, club, or league that
would render a student ineligible to participate, or limit the eligibility of a student to
participate, in any aid, benefit, or service on the basis of disability.10 Indeed, it would
violate a school district’s obligations under Section 504 to provide significant assistance
to any association, organization, club, league, or other third party that discriminates on
the basis of disability in providing any aid, benefit, or service to the school district’s
students.11 To avoid violating their Section 504 obligations in the context of
extracurricular athletics, school districts should work with their athletic associations to
ensure that students with disabilities are not denied an equal opportunity to participate
in interscholastic athletics.12
