It depends on the nature of the service your child requires because there is a difference between “medical services” and “health services”. “Medical services” are “services provided by a licensed physician.”^[1] Except for those medical services that are for “diagnostic or evaluation purposes,” districts are not responsible for providing medical services as related services.^[2] However, if a service can be performed by a school nurse or other qualified person, and is not one that must be provided by a licensed physician, then it is not a medical service. In that instance, a district could provide the service as a health service. Cedar Rapids Community School Dist. v. Garret F., 526 U.S. 66 (1999). ”Health services” are services that are necessary to help a student with a disability attend school. If your child needs the health service to be able to attend school at all, then they need it to benefit from special education.^[3] Even if the services are expensive or time-consuming, such as continuous nursing services throughout the day, the district must provide them if they are “supportive services” that enable a child to remain at school during the day and provide meaningful access to education.^[4]

1. 34 C.F.R. Sec. 300.34(c)(5).[↩]
2. 34 C.F.R. Sec. 300.34(a).[↩]
3. Irving Independent School Dist. v. Tatro, 468 U.S. 883, 892 (U.S. 1984).[↩]
4. Cedar Rapids Community School Dist.; see also Chapter 14, Information on the Rights of Students with Significant Health Conditions.[↩]