Evaluation and Reevaluation in Discipline Decisions
Read § 104.35 (evaluation and placement), which requires an evaluation before “any subsequent significant change in placement,” and Appendix A, ¶ 25. For comparison, read the IDEA discipline provision 34 CFR § 300.530, including the manifestation determination in paragraph (e). IDEA is a separate statute; it is assigned because many districts borrow its procedures and terminology for Section 504 discipline decisions.
34 CFR Part 104 — Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance
Open § 104.35 on eCFR →- When discipline triggers an evaluation requirement
- What counts as a significant change in placement
- How patterns of shorter removals are analyzed
- What information the Section 504 team should consider
- Why the timing of the evaluation matters
Details Hidden in the Evaluation Rules
The evaluation requirements in disciplinary situations contain several details that are easy to miss if teams focus only on a simple “10-day rule.”
“Manifestation determination” is not a term in the Section 504 regulations.
Section 504 regulations require an evaluation before a significant change in placement. The regulations themselves (34 CFR § 104.35(a)) do not use the term “manifestation determination.” The term and its defined standard come from IDEA (34 CFR § 300.530(e)). Under Section 504, OCR has historically described the required evaluation as including whether the misconduct is based on the student’s disability, but that description was agency interpretation, and the 2022 guidance in which OCR most recently set it out has been rescinded.
Ten days is not only about one long suspension.
More than 10 consecutive school days can constitute a significant change in placement, but a series of shorter, nonconsecutive removals may also do so when they create a pattern.
Patterns are not determined by arithmetic alone.
Part 104 does not define “significant change in placement.” IDEA’s discipline regulation (34 CFR § 300.536) lists the factors that determine whether shorter removals form a pattern: whether they total more than 10 school days in a school year, whether the behavior is substantially similar across incidents, and additional factors such as the length of each removal, the total time removed, and the proximity of the removals to one another. OCR has historically applied a parallel analysis under Section 504.
The evaluation must occur before the significant change is implemented.
A school should not first implement a disciplinary removal that constitutes a significant change in placement and then conduct the required evaluation afterward. In some situations, the school may need to expedite the evaluation process.
The team must use information from a variety of sources.
Section 104.35(c)(1) requires placement decisions to “draw upon information from a variety of sources.” In a discipline case, the team needs information sufficient to determine whether the behavior is based on the student’s disability. Relevant information may include prior evaluations, the student’s plan, teacher observations, parent information, behavioral data, and other relevant records.
The information must be documented and carefully considered.
Section 104.35(c)(2) requires procedures ensuring that information from all sources “is documented and carefully considered.” It is not enough for relevant information to simply exist somewhere in the student’s file. The decision-making group must actually consider the information used in reaching the determination.
A procedural failure may require more than simply completing the evaluation late.
If a school implements a significant disciplinary change in placement without first completing the evaluation required by § 104.35(a), the regulations require more than a late evaluation. When the Department finds a violation, the recipient must take the remedial action needed “to overcome the effects of the discrimination” (34 CFR § 104.6(a)(1)). Depending on the circumstances, that can include compensatory services for lost instruction.
The school is considering a disciplinary removal that may constitute a significant change in placement. Sort each item into the category that best describes its role in the team’s analysis.
Behavior Evidence
Information describing the conduct and its context.
Disability & Support Evidence
Information connecting the behavior to disability-related needs.
Removal Pattern Evidence
Information relevant to whether discipline changes placement.
Click a card, then click the category where you want to place it.
Match each situation with the Section 504 principle that is most directly implicated.
A school is considering discipline that may significantly change the placement of a student receiving Section 504 services.
Put the steps below into the most defensible order.
Apply What You Learned
Analyze the situation below using the evaluation and reevaluation principles from this lesson. Support your recommendation with the information the team would need to consider.
Evaluation must come before a disciplinary change in placement, not after it.
Strong decision-making requires teams to monitor removal patterns, gather information from multiple sources, examine the relationship between behavior and disability, and complete required evaluation procedures before implementing a significant disciplinary change.