Madison County School District offers students with disabilities opportunities which enable them to learn to function as independently as possible in their community when they leave school. 

When you visit local businesses in Madison County, you may notice young people working diligently at such jobs as cleaning, collating, filing, sorting, or cooking.  You could also see young people learning skills in comparison-shopping, proper restaurant use, community mobility, and communication.  These students are not on a field trip; they are transferring skills they have learned in the classroom to the community. Community-Based Instruction is an instructional program designed to prepare students to live and work independently in the community in which they live after leaving school.

Students are strategically placed at job training sites matched to their abilities and interests. These sites are carefully selected based on accessibility, skills required, social atmosphere, safety factors, opportunities for interaction, and environmental stimulation. When a student is placed at a job site, a teacher or para-professional instructs and supervises students on tasks as they learn skills in the “real world” where they will be used.  The community becomes their real-world classroom.

Understanding Parents' Rights and Responsibilities

• A Parent's Guide

IEP: Individualized Education Program

• English Fact Sheet
• Spanish Fact Sheet

Functional Behavior Assessment & Behavior Intervention Plans

• English Fact Sheet
• Spanish Fact Sheet 

District Information

•  Current Calendar

Children can be referred for special education services several ways.

• Pre-school students (ages 3-5) can be referred by parents, pediatricians, preschool providers, health department workers, or any other persons suspecting a disability.
• School age students are usually referred through the Student Support Team (SST) at their school. This team meets, discusses interventions, and develops an educational plan for students having difficulty being successful in school. If the interventions do not assist the student in making progress the SST then considers a referral for a full psychological evaluation to determine if the student may have a disability. Parent consent is required before a child is evaluated.
• If parents bring a private evaluation on their child to the school’s attention, then SST will use this information to help guide them in developing an educational plan as needed for the student.

Section 504 is a part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that prohibits discrimination based upon disability. Section 504 is an anti-discrimination, civil rights statute that requires the needs of students with disabilities to be met as adequately as the needs of the non-disabled are met.

Section 504 states:

No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States, as defined in section 706(8) of this title, shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance...” [29 U.S.C. §794(a), 34 C.F.R. §104.4(a)].

Section 504 Documentation

• Procedural Safeguards
• Written Procedures for 504 Rights and Procedural Safetguards
• Notice of Rights of Students and Parents

Who is covered under Section 504? 

To be covered under Section 504, a student must be “qualified ” (which roughly equates to being between 3 and 22 years of age, depending on the program, as well as state and federal law, and must have a disability) [34 C.F.R. §104.3(k)(2)].

What if I have questions about Section 504?

If you have questions about Section 504, contact your local school 504 Coordinator.