The school must obtain parent’s/guardian’s/other education rights holder’s consent prior to conducting the initial evaluation for eligibility and for the provision of services to the student under Section 504. The form of the consent is not specified by Section 504 and the school can follow the IDEA’s procedures. Written consent is appropriate and is required under the IDEA. If a parent/guardian/other education rights holder does not provide consent, the school may use due process to obtain an override of the parental refusal. However, OCR has reminded school districts that under the IDEA, school districts may not initiate due process to override parental refusal to consent to initial provision of services.[1]
- See Protecting Students with Disabilities, FAQs, 123 LRP 33181 (OCR 2023).[↩]