Comments that Parents Hear: “We cannot/will not provide services to your child during after school activities or nonacademic services.”

Recall the Law: Schools (a) “must take steps, including, the provision of supplementary aids and services determined appropriate and necessary by the child’s IEP Team, to provide nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities in the manner necessary to afford children with disabilities an equal opportunity for participation in those services and activities.” “(b) Nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities may include counseling services, athletics, transportation, health services, recreational activities, special interest groups or clubs sponsored by the public agency, referrals to agencies that provide assistance to individuals with disabilities, and employment of students, including both employment by the public agency and assistance in making outside employment available.” 300.107 “Supplementary aids and services means aids, services, and other supports that are provided to regular education classes, other education-related settings, and in extracurricular and nonacademic settings, to enable children with disabilities to be educated with nondisabled children to the maximum extent appropriate”. 300.42

Options: If a parent, student or the school decides that the student will or should participate in nonacademic or extracurricular services and activities, the school must make plans that will allow the student to participate in these services and activities. As part of this process the IEP team must consider whether supplementary aids and services are “appropriate and necessary” to allow “an equal opportunity for participation”.

If the student is provided aids, services or accommodations to allow them to participate in academic activities, then it would seem that these would probably be needed to allow “an equal opportunity for participation” in nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities. If the IEP team should feel that this is not the case, the school should provide the parent with prior written notice of why these are not needed.

The school should be able to articulate the steps taken to provide the student the opportunity to participate in the services and activities. If the parent can document that these steps have not lead to an equal opportunity to participate, they can share this with the school in writing, and request a meeting to discuss “appropriate” steps to achieve the opportunity for participation. The parent can also use the IDEA and state dispute resolution processes to try to resolve disagreements on this issue.

Possible Parent Responses:

“My child wants/needs to participate in X activity/service. What steps needed to put into place to achieve this?”

“I am requesting that my child receive X aids, service(s) to allow them to participate in (list services and activities).”

“I do not understand why the aids, services, and supports my child receives in other settings cannot or do not need to be provided for nonacademic and extracurricular aids and services. Please try to explain again so I can understand.”

“I am requesting written notice of why my child will not receive the aids, or services they are receiving in other settings in (list nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities).”