Improved extracurricular activities book provides new guidance on school athletics and students with disabilities

This update gives a fresh look at a district's duties under Section 504 and the IDEA to ensure that students with disabilities can participate in extracurricular activities

LRP Media Group, a recognized leader in the special education publishing industry, has released an update to the pamphlet, Athletics, Extracurricular Activities and Students with Disabilities: District Obligations Under the IDEA and Section 504. With it, districts can ensure that they are providing students with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities such as daycare, field trips, and school sports. It further clarifies OCR’s guidance regarding district-created athletic programs for students with disabilities and what a district’s duties are in light of this guidance.

This revised pamphlet also includes dozens of new cases from OCR, providing examples of districts who complied with their duties to provide students with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities, as well as districts who fell short. It also contains recent court decisions discussing the parameters of an individualized inquiry into this equal participation requirement.

Readers can feel confident that they can:

  • Identify the steps a district should take to ensure that a student with a disability has an equal opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities, including notice and in some circumstances, providing transportation;
  • Spot potential areas of liability for a third party’s actions, such as when an interscholastic athletic association engages in disability-based discrimination;
  • Learn how the participation requirement applies to field trips, class excursions, and other school functions outside of regular school hours;
  • Identify the circumstances when modifying an athletic program would “fundamentally alter” the program;
  • And more!

Athletics, Extracurricular Activities and Students with Disabilities: District Obligations Under the IDEA and Section 504 is available for purchase from LRP Publications’ online store.

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