Legal Rights of Children with Epilepsy in School & Child Care

Legal Rights of Children with Epilepsy in School and Child Care
Case Scenario 2 — Application of School-Wide Policy to Student with Seizures
Abby is a seven-year-old child with epilepsy who attends Lincoln Park Elementary
School. She sometimes falls asleep after seizures and may sleep anywhere from half an
hour to three hours. Under the school district’s policy, if a child is asleep for one hour
for any reason, the parent will be asked to pick up the child and take him or her home.
Lincoln Park has applied this policy to Abby and will not make an exception for her on
the basis of her seizure disorder. Lincoln Park says that Abby must sleep in the nurse’s
office, but the nurse needs the space for other students. Abby’s parents have asked that
she be allowed to sleep elsewhere, but Lincoln Park has refused, saying that she must be
monitored by the nurse, even though Abby is sleeping, and that the nurse has too many
other things to do. Abby’s parents point out that Abby has a one-to-one aide who can
monitor her; Lincoln Park’s first response is that the monitoring must be done by a nurse.
Lincoln Park then says that even if the aide could monitor Abby, it does not matter,
because she must be treated the same way as all other students who sleep for more than
an hour, since that is the district policy. When Abby wakes up, she is alert and ready to
learn. Often, however, she is at home instead of at school, because Lincoln Park has
made her leave to “sleep off” the seizure, and it would take too long to drive her back to
school. Abby’s parents contact an attorney because they feel that lately, Abby has spent
more time out of school than in school.
Discussion and Advocacy Strategy: This application of the policy clearly violates
Section 504. When a school district applies a general policy in a rigid way without
looking at the individual situation presented by a child with disabilities, the likelihood of
a violation of Section 504 grows greater. The following advocacy strategy may be helpful
to Abby’s parents:
1) Obtain a copy of the school district’s policy regarding the one-hour sleep rule and
confirm that there are no exceptions for students with disabilities.
2) Contact the Section 504 coordinator for the school district to discuss the matter.
Explain that when Abby falls asleep in school after a seizure, it is a direct result of
her disability, and that by failing to accommodate her by making an exception to
the district’s policy, Lincoln Park and the district are violating Section 504.
3) If the Section 504 coordinator cannot resolve the matter, contact the attorney for
the district and attempt to resolve the matter informally through a telephone call
or meeting.
4) If necessary, file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights for the region in
which Abby’s family lives.
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