2.1 Federal Laws & Regulations

Two federal laws and their accompanying regulations guarantee students with disabilities the right to a Free and Appropriate Public Education (“FAPE”). The first of these federal laws is called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (“IDEA”).1  The IDEA ensures that qualifying students with disabilities receive FAPE in the form of “special education and related services” in accordance with the numerous substantive requirements, procedural protections, and heightened disciplinary safeguards contained within its statutory and regulatory framework.2  The IDEA imposes obligations on the State Education Agency (“SEA”) and on each Local Education Agency (“LEA”) directly responsible for providing public education. In Louisiana, the Louisiana Department of Education (“LDE”) is the SEA responsible for providing oversight and assistance to LEAs to ensure compliance with special education laws and regulations. The LEA is legally responsible for ensuring FAPE is delivered to each special education student and can either be a school district or, for most but not all charter schools, the charter management organization.

Each student found eligible for special education under the IDEA has an Individualized Education Program (“IEP”) developed by an IEP team consisting of the student’s parent(s) or legal guardian(s), teachers, service providers, administrators, and others knowledgeable about the child’s needs. The IEP documents the special instruction and services that must be provided as part of the student’s right to FAPE. The IDEA also establishes dispute-resolution mechanisms parents and advocates can use to resolve disagreements over eligibility, discipline, placement, services, and accommodations.

The second federal law protecting students with disabilities is Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (“Section 504”).3  Section 504 prohibits educational programs that receive federal financial assistance from discriminating against students with disabilities and requires schools to provide FAPE to each qualified student with a disability regardless of the nature or severity of the disability. Under Section 504 regulations, FAPE includes regular or special education and related services designed to meet the individual educational needs of a child with a disability as adequately as the needs of nondisabled students are met.4  Services and accommodations provided to students with a disability under Section 504 are generally documented in what is officially called an Individual Accommodations Plan (“IAP”) in Louisiana but is more commonly referred to as a “504 plan.” Eligibility criteria under Section 504 are much broader than those under the IDEA, allowing many students with disabilities who are not eligible for an IEP to qualify for a 504 plan. While many of the same services and modifications are available under either framework, the regulations, procedural protections, and dispute-resolution mechanisms available under Section 504 are generally less robust than those available under the IDEA.5  Together, the IDEA and Section 504 ensure that every student with a disability receives FAPE.6

• 120 U.S.C. § 1412, et seq.
• 2Id.; 34 C.F.R. § 300.1, et seq.
• 329 U.S.C. § 794; 45 C.F.R. § 84.1, et seq.
• 445 C.F.R. § 300.84.33(b).
• 5For a more detailed explanation of the differences between Section 504 and the IDEA, see La. Dep’t of Educ., Louisiana Believes: Section 504 Overview and the Individual Accommodations Plan (2016).
• 6Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act also offers protections to people with disabilities that are applicable to public school settings but are focused on preventing discrimination rather than the provision of FAPE.