When a student with a disability is bullied, public schools have an obligation to take specific, corrective actions. The school’s response must stop the bullying and prevent it from happening again. Disability harassment can include anything from abusive jokes, crude name-calling, threats, bullying, physical abuse or assault, teasing or abuse of medical equipment, and more, and it can be done by other students, teachers, staff, or other parents within the school building.
This is a serious issue that must be addressed quickly by the school and/or district. Remember, all districts must have a Section 504 coordinator who handles disability discrimination complaints. Do not hesitate to file a complaint for each instance of bullying/disability harassment directly with that district employee if the school is not handling it quickly. See below for more information on filing complaints.
What schools must do:
- Investigate immediately: Schools must take prompt action to look into any reported bullying.
What the investigation process involves:
- Prompt, thorough, and impartial: The investigation must be conducted quickly and without bias to gather all the relevant facts. The person doing the investigation should be neutral and unbiased.
- Fact-finding: Investigators should review all evidence, including video footage, and input from outside providers regarding the impact the bullying has had on the student. The investigator must always seek to find out:
- Was the bullying based on the student’s disability?
- Was the bullying sufficient to create a hostile environment?
- Documentation: Schools should keep written records of the investigation.
- Witness interviews: Interviewing witnesses, including students, is a key part of determining what occurred.
- Stop the bullying: The school is required to take necessary steps to put a stop to the bullying behavior.
- Separating the students: The school may need to separate the student who was harassed from the student who did the harassing. This action should NOT negatively impact the student who was harassed.
- Prevent it from recurring: Beyond stopping the immediate problem, the school must take steps to prevent the bullying from happening again. A school’s response to harassment must be effective and should never punish the student who was targeted.
- Taking action: The school may take disciplinary action against the student who committed the harassment.
- Protect the student’s education: Bullying can interfere with a student’s ability to learn. The school must address how the bullying has affected the student’s education and provide any needed additional support.
- Providing support: The school can offer counseling or other support to either or both students.
- Do not punish the victim: Any solution from the school should not negatively impact the student who was harassed. For instance, the school should avoid making the student with a disability change their class schedule.
Does having an IEP or 504 plan matter?
No, the school’s responsibilities apply to all students with disabilities, regardless of whether they have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or a 504 plan. However, if the target of the disability-based harassment is not a student with a 504 Plan or IEP, there could be no FAPE violation.
What if the student has a 504 Plan or IEP?
If a student with a disability is bullied, the school must act immediately if the bullying affects the student’s education. This is true whether or not the bullying is related to the disability.
The school is required to:
- Promptly meet with the student’s support team. The school should quickly call a meeting of the IEP or Section 504 team to address the situation.
- Assess the bullying’s impact. The team should determine how the bullying has affected the student’s ability to learn and receive a “Free Appropriate Public Education” (FAPE). Signs of a problem could include:
- A sudden drop in grades
- An increase in emotional outbursts
- More frequent absences or skipped classes
- Changes in behavior or sleep patterns seen at home or by private providers
- Adjust the student’s plan. As part of the meeting, the IEP or 504 team should decide if the student’s educational needs have changed and what additional services are needed. This must be done promptly and with consideration of all input to ensure the student’s ongoing access to a quality education.
Why this process is important
Even if the bullying is not based on the student’s disability, its effects can still interfere with their access to education.
Questions Parents Should Ask
Did the school know or should it have known of the bullying/harassment?
Did the school take prompt and effective steps to:
- end the bullying/harassment
- eliminate the hostile environment
- prevent it from recurring
- remedy the effects
Does the district have:
- procedures for resolving complaints of disability discrimination, including disability-based harassment?
- policies and procedures for conducting and documenting thorough and impartial investigations of alleged disability discrimination?
- policies for evaluating previous acts of harassment and measures for preventing future acts of harassment?
- guidance for school administrators on their responsibility to investigate complaints involving students with disabilities?
- guidance for communication with the student and family of the investigation and its outcome?
- written policies regarding the district’s responsibility to consider the effects of bullying/harassment of a student with a disability who has a 504 Plan or IEP, including whether the student was denied FAPE.
It is also important to remember that districts must have ways for parents to file disability discrimination complaints with the district.
- Use the district website to look up who handles Section 504 complaints, or search for the information at this link: https://ocrcas.ed.gov/civ-rts-coordinators
- Use our Sample Letter of Complaint to the School to issue a formal complaint about the disability harassment.
Additional Resources We Love On This Topic
To connect with one of our special education advocates, please reach out to Disability Advocacy Solutions.
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