Starting Point: ADHD

School-aged children with ADHD

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurological disorder affecting between 4-12 % of school aged children. It is a deficiency of a specific neurotransmitter called norepinephrine. The ADHD brain matures at a different rate than a typical brain, resulting in a delay of 3-5 years of the frontal cortex area, and a faster than typical motor cortex. Among other things, the frontal cortex is responsible for suppressing inappropriate actions and thoughts, focusing attention, short term memory and the ability to work for rewards. Two thirds of children with ADHD have at least one other co-existing condition such as a learning disability, anxiety, depression, oppositional defiant Disorder, or others. Common symptoms of ADHD are inattention, impulsivity, poor social skills, and poor concentration.

Many children with ADHD are not appropriately evaluated for a disability or accommodations in school. According to the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), ten percent of OCR complaints in the last 5 years have dealt with allegations of discrimination against students with ADHD. Because of this, in July 2016 OCR issued a guidance document for students with ADHD.

The guidance clarifies:

• when a student may be eligible for special education or related services;

• makes clear that even students who perform well academically may have a disability if also substantially limited in major life activities such as such as reading, learning, writing and thinking; and

• reminds schools to provide parents with information regarding due process and how to appeal a decision involving identification, evaluation, or educational placement of students with disabilities.

This guide is available on the Office for Civil Rights’ website at http://www.ed.gov/ocr.

Questions? Call us! 614.745.2001

School Dress Codes

Public schools in Ohio have a substantial amount of discretion in implementing dress codes in order to maintain a safe learning environment for students. However, this discretion is not unlimited. Courts may consider dress code policies overbroad if the restrictions imposed on students are not necessary to prevent a substantial disruption or not related to the promotion of health and safety.

When implementing dress code policies, public boards of education must also consider students’ rights to free speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The United States Supreme Court held in 1969 that student speech can be regulated if a school proves it “materially and substantially interfere[s]” in school operations.

Q: Can a public school require students to cut their hair? 

A: In most cases, yes. So long as the school’s policy governing length of hair is necessary for the government of schools and related to some educational purpose, the policy will usually be upheld by the courts. On the federal level, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (covering Ohio) has held that hair length restrictions do not typically infringe on student constitutional rights under the First Amendment (regarding freedom of speech and expression). However, some Ohio courts, including the Ohio Supreme Court, have overturned hair length restrictions that were considered arbitrary or unreasonable.

Q: Can a public school restrict the clothing that students wear? 

A: Yes. Schools are given great latitude in implementing policies governing student clothing. Schools may implement dress codes in order to limit disruptions on campus. Courts have upheld dress codes prohibiting vulgar writing, earrings, body piercings, sagging pants, torn clothing, bare midriffs and other sexually suggestive clothing. Policies that attempt to limit students from wearing gang-related or violence-based clothing are usually upheld where the schools can show the potential for disruption is real.

Q: Are there limits on what clothing public schools can ban? 

A: Yes. As indicated above, schools must be able to show that the risk of disruption is real in order to enforce a dress code prohibition. Students also have freedom of expression and freedom of religion rights under the First Amendment, although schools may weigh these rights against the potential for disruption in school. By way of example, in a 2007 case, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a ban on wearing the confederate flag was appropriate where the school had demonstrated that racial tensions existed in the school.

Alternatively, in 2013, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Pennsylvania held in favor of students who challenged a school district’s policy banning “I heart boobies” bracelets that the students wore in support of breast cancer awareness. The court held that the school district did not prove that the bracelets were disruptive.

Q: Can a public school require student uniforms? 

A: Yes. Ohio has adopted a statute indicating that schools may require a school uniform to be worn by the students attending one or more district schools, so long as the policy promotes a safe and healthy school setting and enhances the educational environment. The policy must be included in the school’s general code of conduct or discipline policy, be posted in a central location and be made available upon request.

Q: Are there steps that a public school must take to adopt a school uniform? 

A: Yes. The board of education must provide six months notice in advance of requiring uniforms and afford “ample opportunity” for principal, staff, and parents to offer suggestions and comments on the proposed uniforms. The board of education must also include a procedure to assist parents of economically disadvantaged students to obtain uniforms, which may include using school district funds or funds from other sources to provide this assistance.

Q: Can students be disciplined for violations of grooming, dress code or uniform violations? 

A: Yes, so long as the school has adopted a policy that is sufficiently clear on the issue of grooming (e.g. hair length), prohibited clothing or uniforms. Students must always be placed “on notice” in regards to the policies in which they are disciplined.

The Intersection of Special Education & Social Security Eligibility

Meet Emmy (pictured). She is our Special Education Advocate. 

You can read more about her here: Emily Haynes 

Social Security Eligibility As a parent with a child receiving Social Security benefits, you are most likely aware that to be eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), your child has “a physical or mental condition or a combination of conditions that results in “marked and severe functional limitations. This means that the condition(s) must very seriously limit your child’s activities.” Examples include: HIV infection; Total blindness; Total deafness; Cerebral palsy; Down syndrome; Muscular dystrophy; Severe intellectual disability (child age 7 or older); Low Birth weight

Social Security Benefits In addition to Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a child with disabilities as defined by the Social Security Administration may also be eligible for: Rehabilitation and training if older that age 15, Medicare/Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Special Education In addition to SSI, you may also be eligible for special education for your child. All children have the right to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). Children with disabilities may need to be taught in a different way than typical children, and may not be able access that free and appropriate public education without support. There are two main Acts that protect children with disabilities: the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and Section 504.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): Generally The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) may protect your child. IDEA provides federal assistance to State and local education agencies to guarantee special education and related services to eligible children with disabilities, ages 3-21. The goal of IDEA is to serve children with disabilities by meeting their “unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living.”

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): Eligibility An important part of the IDEA called Child Find requires schools to identify, locate and evaluate all children with disabilities, regardless of their situations, who have significant, individual needs and require intensive interventions through special education and related services.

In other words, your child must be found to meet all three factors:1. Have a disabling condition2. Have an adverse effect on education performance3. Need for special education

IDEA has 13 categories, and children must be identified in one of them to be eligible. These are: Autism, Blindness, Deafness, Emotional Disturbance, Hearing Impairment, Intellectual Disability, Multiple Disabilities, Orthopedic Impairment, Other Health Impaired, Specific Learning Disability, Speech or Language Impairment, Traumatic Brain Injury, Visual Impairment

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): Benefits Parents can request that their child be evaluated, and schools must respond appropriately. Reevaluation of the child occurs every three years, and a knowledgeable team must conduct both the initial evaluation and all subsequent evaluations. Parents have the right to request an Independent Education Evaluation at public expense one time for every evaluation.

Once children have been identified, the schools are required to determine if they are eligible for special education services, and if they are, to provide those services in an appropriate manner. This plan is called an Individualized Education Program (IEP), and parents are valuable and contributing members of the IEP team. IEPs outline the strengths and weaknesses of the child, and set out goals for the child to work toward with specific instruction and accommodations. Parents must be updated at regular intervals with actual data showing progress towards those goals. Finally, IDEA provides important protections children with disabilities in the area of discipline, if the reason for the disruptive behavior is related to their disability.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): Protections If you believe your child needs special education, or is receiving services but is not progressing, your IEP and/or Evaluation may not be adequate.

In 2015, the Federal government determined that Ohio “Needs Assistance” because of low scores in special education. Specifically, our percentage of children with disabilities who drop out of high school is dangerously low: 22%. Only 47% of children with disabilities graduate with a regular diploma. Both these measures suggest that special education in Ohio is not meeting the requirement to provide those children with a free and appropriate public education.

You have options under IDEA to raise questions, disagree with schools, and to ensure that your child’s individual needs are being met. These include notice, consent, available complaint procedures, mediation, and due process.

Section 504: Generally IDEA provides specialized special education to children with disabilities, but not all children are adversely affected by their disability. Section 504 is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability.

Section 504: Eligibility A similar Child Find is found in Section 504. It requires schools to evaluate any student “who, because of a handicap, needs or is believed to need special education and related services.” That handicap or impairment must substantially limit a major life activity, have a record of such impairment or be regarded as having such impairment. Major life activities include: Caring for one's self, Performing manual tasks, Walking, Seeing, Hearing, Speaking, Breathing, Learning, Working. Eating, Sleeping, Standing, Lifting, Bending, Reading, Concentrating, Thinking, Communicating, and finally, “major bodily functions” that are major life activities.

Section 504: Benefits Section 504 generally provides accommodations to children with disabilities. For example, a child with a severe peanut allergy would be protected under a 504 plan, as would a child with ADHD who needs movement breaks during testing. Because 504 targets nondiscrimination, a 504 plan delineates reasonable accommodations and services so that education, nonacademic and extracurricular services are provided with non-disabled students to the maximum extent appropriate for the child with the disability. These activities may include counseling, athletics, transportation, health services, and special interests groups or clubs.

Section 504: Protections The Office of Civil Rights regulates a 504 plan. Procedures available to parents are notice, grievance procedures and due process hearings. Discipline of children under a 504 is also protected, although not to the same extent of children under IEPs .

Questions? Call us! 614.745.2001