In OneLaw’s April newsletter, I write about “the busy season” for education law, Attorney Chris Connolly shares his thoughts and a brief case review regarding disability accommodations at school, and there is a reminder that we represent clients in estate planning and special needs planning.

Read the full April 2025 newsletter HERE.

A text version is below.

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This is “the busy season” for our school cases. Kind of like tax season for accountants (but very different!). Special education matters come to fruition. Families finally lose their patience with schools. Students get in more trouble. It’s a fascinating annual cycle. We certainly have school cases all year round, but they definitely go into another gear in the spring.

Not too long after last month’s client testimonial, I received another one. It’s always great to hear back about our successes! Read on for more.

In the newsletter this month, Attorney Chris Connolly shares his thoughts and a brief case review regarding disability accommodations at school, including decisions from the United States District Court and the Bureau of Special Education Appeals.

There is also a reminder that we represent clients in estate planning and special needs planning. Let us know if you need to draft a will, update your estate plan, consider a health care proxy or power of attorney, or set up a trust to manage assets.

As always, OneLaw is dedicated to serving the personal legal needs of families and individuals across a variety of practice areas. How can we help you? Visit our website (https://www.one-law.us) or give us a call at 617-831-4355.

Peter A. Hahn, Esq. Principal Attorney

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CLIENT TESTIMONIAL

“After working vigilantly to advocate for our daughter in our school district, and 19 years of sleepless nights, I reached out to Attorney Hahn for assistance. He not only understood our frustrations and supplied us a road map, he also suggested a Special Needs Advocate to help obtain our daughters goals. For the first time I was confident in the team around my daughter. That confidence became surety, and success when our goal of a residential program was realized. Our family has been changed for the better, and our daughter is thriving like never before.

Attorney Hahn was recommended to me by a Pupil Services Director in another school district. ‘This is the guy our attorney is always concerned about. I know you, he’s the guy that you want to work with.’ As a parent, I couldn’t have asked for a more qualified recommendation. Or someone who would have worked better with us.

Attorney Hahn worked to ensure we were clear about our options, and what could be the best and worst case scenarios for each decision we made. Finally, after years of feeling as though we weren’t being given the full story in relation to our daughter’s education and rights, we were confident about how to best obtain her goals.

Not only did Attorney Hahn supply us with a roadmap to success, he gave us outstanding recommendations of others in the community to work with. Together we built a successful, connected team that achieved our daughter’s goal, in an extremely short time frame. Attorney Hahn’s guidance took the guesswork out of advocating for our daughter’s long-term transition goals. And helped us to achieve them.”

– S.E. (March 2025)

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Disability Accommodations at School

by Chris Connolly, Esq.

Frequently discussed, but rarely defined, reasonable accommodations under Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (commonly referred to as the ‘ADA’) are seen in many classrooms K-12, college and universities, and workplaces. The accommodations can include extra time to take testing, preferential seating for hearing, visual, or attentional disability symptoms, or a great many other approaches to ensure that people with disabilities have equal (or ‘meaningful’) access to work and education.

What makes an accommodation reasonable, however, particularly if the student or employee disagree with the school or employer about what is necessary to allow the aggrieved person to have an equal opportunity with able bodied or typical age peers?

Like in many things in the law, it depends. Some factors include whether the person with the disability is an adult or child, attending school or trying to join a trade, and what the scale of access is being denied. Caselaw is clear that generally the greater expert opinion from a qualified physician or other expertise, the stronger the case is for the student or worker, but not always.

Federal courts have taken great care to review the purpose of the exam or rationale for not providing an accommodation. For example, where an examinee seeks an accommodation that would preclude an accurate evaluation of abilities measured by the test, denial of the requested accommodation is not unlawful.

But sometimes it works in favor of the plaintiffs. In a class action lawsuit against Boston University regarding eligibility and application of reasonable accommodation requests, the students won. “[The dean’s] reliance on discriminatory stereotypes, together with his failure to consider carefully the effect of course substitutions on BU’s liberal arts programs and to consult with academics and experts in learning disabilities, constitutes a failure of BU’s obligation to make a rational judgment that course substitutions would fundamentally alter the course of study. Although BU ultimately has the right to decline to modify its degree requirements – and that decision will be given great deference – it must do so after reasoned deliberations as to whether modifications would change the essential academic standards of its liberal arts curriculum.” Guckenberger v. Boston Univ., 974 F.Supp. 106, 149 (D.Mass.1997). In other words, the courts have said that the school can’t arbitrarily dismiss requests for reasonable accommodations and schools need to have thoughtful expertise about the interaction of the material and the need to access it.

Recently, the Bureau of Special Education Appeals (“BSEA”) addressed a hearing request from parents seeking accommodations in the classroom for the serving of snacks to adjust sugar levels and monitoring of glucose levels for their diabetic child. The BSEA hearing officer found that teachers in the classroom could not monitor the administering insulin because a state regulation specifically prohibits non-medical staff from doing so. “The BSEA simply does not have the authority to order Milton to act in contravention of state law or to make a determination regarding whether the state law conflicts with Section 504 [the basis of the accommodation request]”. In re: Student v. Milton Public Schools, BSEA # 25-06739. But the other aspects of the due process complaint regarding reasonable accommodations could move forward to hearing which might allow the student greater access to class time without having to travel to the nurse’s office all the time.

Whether you can receive a disability related accommodation or not depends on the circumstances and the law. If you are seeking reasonable accommodation or having a hard time at school with getting the school to address your requests, please contact our office. We’re here to help.

Attorney Chris Connolly represents OneLaw clients in several practice areas, including education, civil rights, and criminal matters.

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Time to update your estate plan? Have you been meaning to draft your will? In need of a health care proxy or power of attorney? Or a trust to manage your assets or for someone with special needs? Contact OneLaw for a consultation.

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OneLaw specializes in education, estate planning, residential real estate, civil rights, family law, criminal and victim rights, discrimination, special needs, guardianship, consumer protection, juvenile and child welfare, probate administration, Title IX, HPO/RO, and related matters.