{"id":9271,"date":"2013-08-15T09:00:26","date_gmt":"2013-08-15T13:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=9271"},"modified":"2016-04-06T16:33:30","modified_gmt":"2016-04-06T20:33:30","slug":"doe-guidance-on-legal-obligations-for-extracurricular-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/doe-guidance-on-legal-obligations-for-extracurricular-activities\/","title":{"rendered":"DOE Guidance on Legal Obligations for Extracurricular Activities"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_pop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/gallery\/share-button-gray.png\" style=\"border:0px\" alt=\"Share\" \/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_icon_type = \"labels\";var hupso_background=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_border=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"wrightslaw\";var hupso_url=\"\";var hupso_title=\"DOE%20Guidance%20on%20Legal%20Obligations%20for%20Extracurricular%20Activities\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" style=\"border: 1px solid black; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; float: right;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/images\/inhouse\/ape\/golf.alex.tony.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"212\" height=\"193\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ed.gov\/news\/press-releases\/us-department-education-clarifies-schools-obligation-provide-equal-opportunity-s\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">U.S. Department of Education Clarifies Schools&#8217; Obligation to Provide Equal Opportunity to Students with Disabilities to Participate in Extracurricular Athletics<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Participation in extracurricular athletics can be a critical part of a student&#8217;s overall educational experience, said Seth Galanter, acting assistant secretary for the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). &#8220;Schools <strong>must ensure equal access<\/strong> to that rewarding experience for students with disabilities.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Extracurricular athletics which include club, intramural, or interscholastic (e.g., freshman, junior varsity, varsity) athletics at all education levels\u2014are an important component of an overall education program.<\/p>\n<p>The Department&#8217;s Office for Civil Rights issued guidance clarifying school districts&#8217; existing legal obligations to <strong>provide equal access to extracurricular athletic activities<\/strong> to students with disabilities.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ed.gov\/news\/press-releases\/us-department-education-clarifies-schools-obligation-provide-equal-opportunity-s\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">http:\/\/www.ed.gov\/news\/press-releases\/us-department-education-clarifies-schools-obligation-provide-equal-opportunity-s<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In addition to explaining those legal obligations, the guidance urges school districts to work with community organizations to increase athletic opportunities for students with disabilities, such as opportunities outside of the existing extracurricular athletic program.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>This guidance provides:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>an overview of the obligations of public elementary and secondary schools under Section 504<\/li>\n<li>cautions against making decisions based on presumptions and stereotypes<\/li>\n<li>details the specific Section 504 regulations that require students with disabilities to have an equal opportunity for participation in nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities<\/li>\n<li>discusses the provision of separate or different athletic opportunities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/about\/offices\/list\/ocr\/letters\/colleague-201301-504.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Download<\/span><\/a> the Guidance Document (Jan 25 2013). \u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/about\/offices\/list\/ocr\/letters\/colleague-201301-504.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">http:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/about\/offices\/list\/ocr\/letters\/colleague-201301-504.pdf<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In August 2011, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) published <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/pubs\/usdoe.pe.athletics.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">a report<\/span><\/a> that underscored that access to, and participation in, extracurricular athletic opportunities provide important health and social benefits to all students, particularly those with disabilities.<\/p>\n<p>These benefits can include socialization, improved teamwork and leadership skills, and fitness. Unfortunately, the GAO found that students with disabilities are not being afforded an equal opportunity to participate in extracurricular athletics in public elementary and secondary schools.<\/p>\n<p>GAO recommended that the United States Department of Education (Department) clarify and communicate schools\u2019 responsibilities under Section 504. This <a href=\"http:\/\/www2.ed.gov\/about\/offices\/list\/ocr\/letters\/colleague-201301-504.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">guidance document<\/span><\/a> provides that clarification.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=4125\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Can my child\u2019s IEP include supplementary aids and services for extracurricular activities and after-school programs?<\/span><\/a> <strong>Yes.<\/strong><br \/>\nSchools tell parents they are not required to provide assistance for these activities since they occur after school, take place off the school grounds, or do not involve academics.<\/p>\n<p>IEP Pop-Up Question 9.<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000080;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/info\/iep.develop.popup.resp9.htm\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">What about extracurricular activities\u00a0 in the IEP?<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. Department of Education Clarifies Schools&#8217; Obligation to Provide Equal Opportunity to Students with Disabilities to Participate in Extracurricular Athletics &#8220;Participation in extracurricular athletics can be a critical part of <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/doe-guidance-on-legal-obligations-for-extracurricular-activities\/\">Continue Reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,9],"tags":[1074,1076,1075,1077,1073],"class_list":["post-9271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-news","category-section-504","tag-athletic-activities","tag-equal-opportunity","tag-extracurricular-activities","tag-gao-reports","tag-legal-obligations-for-equal-access"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9271"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15748,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9271\/revisions\/15748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}