An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 9 – Interactive Process: Employees and Students

2. I DENTIFYING R EASONABLE A CCOMMODATIONS The ADA and its regulations envision an interactive process requiring participation by both the school and the student/student’s parents. 1633 The interactive process involves the school working with a disabled student and his or her parents or medical providers to identify reasonable accommodations that provide equitable opportunity to participate in the school’s educational programs. The determination of what accommodations are reasonable may be reached via a deliberative and collaborative dialogue and exchange of information between the student, the student’s parents, medical providers, teachers, deans, and others at the school that takes into account the unique experience of each student. The student’s and his or her parent’s role in the interactive process is to discuss the impact of the disability, provide information/documentation on an as-needed basis, and share what disability accommodations, if any, have worked in the past. The school, through its designated representative, should work with the student and teachers to identify any barriers to accessing the academic program or activity at issue and to recommend reasonable accommodations that mitigate the impacts, but do not fundamentally alter, the essential functions of the academic program or activity. An important part of a school’s obligation to reasonably accommodate a disabled student includes engaging in the interactive process in a timely manner, and not delaying its response to a family’s request. Schools should ensure that upon receipt of a request for accommodations, they have a process in place that guarantees a timely analysis of whether the request is reasonable, and whether the school will grant it. 1634 A school will be liable under Title III if it fails to make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures, when such modifications are necessary to afford participation by a student or student applicant with a disability. 1635 Title III prohibits schools subject to its provisions from the use of “eligibility criteria that screen out or tend to screen out an individual with a disability.” 1636 Schools must provide an accommodation to a student or a student applicant if the accommodation is reasonable, necessary, and does not fundamentally alter the school’s program or cause an undue burden. 1637 Whether an accommodation will be considered reasonable will be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. However, a modification will be considered unreasonable if it imposes an “undue financial and administrative burden” or requires a “fundamental alteration” in the nature of the program. 1638 Some examples of reasonable academic accommodations include:  Providing additional time for assignments and for taking tests.

 Providing tests orally instead of in writing.  Modifying a certain course requirement.

 Providing auxiliary aids for students with sensory, speaking or motor impairments, including audio taped lectures, transcriptions, or the use of smart pens. 1639

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 367