San Francisco Unified School District
Administrative Regulation 6146.7
Effective Communication
This Administrative Regulation applies to the San Francisco Unified School District and the County Office of Education.
The Governing Board recognizes that students with disabilities, like all students, must have the opportunity to fully participate in district schools. A critical aspect of participation is communication with others. Three federal laws – the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”) (“Title II”), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“Section 504”) – address the obligations of public schools to meet the communication needs of students with disabilities.
This regulation delineates the district’s obligations to students with a hearing, vision, and/or speech disability. While the IDEA requires that schools make available a free appropriate public education (“FAPE”), consisting of special education and related services, to all eligible children with disabilities (including those with communication needs), the Title II regulations have a specific effective communication requirement for individuals with disabilities. Public schools must consider the obligations of the IDEA and effective communication requirements of Title II in determining how to meet the communication needs of an IDEA-eligible student with a hearing, vision, and/or speech disability.
Title II and Section 504 also apply to individuals with disabilities who are not students, such as family members and members of the public seeking information from, or access to, the services, programs, and activities of the public school. These individuals also have a right to effective communication.
Definitions
Student Rights Under Title II, Section 504, and the IDEA
Title II and Section 504 are similar, but not identical in their scope. They both use the same definition of disability; they both protect individuals with disabilities regardless of their eligibility for special education and related services under the IDEA; and they both apply to elementary and secondary public schools.
Title II prohibits disability discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities by all state and local governments, regardless of whether or not those entities receive federal funds. Title II applies to all programs, activities, and services of public school districts, including all public schools within school districts. Under the ADA (including Title II), the definition of “disability” is construed broadly in favor of expansive coverage, to the maximum extent permitted by the terms of the ADA, and includes (1) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity; (2) a record of such an impairment; or (3) being regarded as having such an impairment. Public school students with disabilities are covered by Title II regardless of their eligibility for special education and related services under the IDEA. Title II requires, among other things, that public schools provide students with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in all school activities and that public schools ensure, through the provision of auxiliary aids and services, that communication with students with disabilities is as effective as communication with students without disabilities.
Like Title II, Section 504 also prohibits disability discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities and uses the same broad definition of disability. Because all school districts receive federal funds, Section 504 applies to all the operations of all public school districts, including all public schools within those school districts. Public school students with disabilities are covered by Section 504 regardless of their eligibility for special education and related services under the IDEA. Section 504 requires, among other things, that public school students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in school and that they receive FAPE consisting of regular or special education and related aids and services designed to meet their individual educational needs as adequately as the needs of nondisabled students are met.
The vast majority of students with hearing, vision, and/or speech disabilities are IDEA-eligible, and one way of meeting Section 504’s FAPE requirements is to comply with the IDEA FAPE requirements through the development of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) plan. Part B of the IDEA provides federal funds to state educational agencies, and through them local educational agencies, for the purpose of assisting them in providing FAPE to eligible children with disabilities through the provision of special education and related services. States receiving IDEA funds must ensure that school districts locate, identify, and evaluate children who are suspected of having disabilities and who need special education and related services. Each child with a disability that meets one or more of the IDEA’s eligibility criteria must have a written IEP, developed by an IEP team, that, among other things, includes a statement of the special education and related services that the school district will provide to ensure that the child receives a FAPE. School districts also must ensure that FAPE is provided in the least restrictive environment to all eligible children with disabilities. Among other things, the IEP must address the communication needs of eligible children.
A district must ensure that it meets both its FAPE obligations as well as its obligation to provide effective communication under Title II, as discussed below, and that none of the student’s rights under Section 504 or Title II are diminished or ignored. If the special education and related services provided as part of FAPE are not sufficient to ensure that communication with the student is as effective as communication with other persons, the Title II obligations concerning effective communication have not been met.
Effective Communication
Under Title II, Section 504, and the IDEA, public entities including school districts must provide “auxiliary aids and services” if necessary to ensure effective communication for people with disabilities. This obligation applies to both students with disabilities and their parents/guardians. When a school district knows that an individual needs assistance with communication because, for example, that individual has a hearing, vision, or speech disability, the district has an affirmative obligation to provide effective communication so that individuals with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in, and enjoy the benefits of, the services, programs, and activities of the public school district.
“Effective communication” means that whatever is written or spoken must be as clear and
understandable to people with disabilities as it is for people who do not have disabilities. This is
important because some people have disabilities that affect how they communicate.
Communication with individuals with disabilities is often no different from communication with
people without disabilities. However, people who have disabilities that affect hearing, seeing,
speaking, reading, writing, or understanding may use different modes of communication than people who do not.
An auxiliary aid or service provides equal access to communications and information and is required when a person with a disability requests it. Consulting with the individual making the request will increase the effectiveness of the selected means of communication, and public schools and other entities covered under Title II must give primary consideration to the auxiliary aid or service requested by the individual with the disability when determining what is appropriate.
The type of aid or service necessary will depend on the length and complexity of the communication as well as the format. Auxiliary aids and services must be provided in a timely manner, and in such a way as to protect the privacy and independence of a student with a disability. Additionally, the auxiliary aid or service provided must permit the person with the disability to access the information. For example, if a blind student is not able to read Braille, then provision of written material in Braille would not be accessible for that student. For the auxiliary aid to be provided in a timely manner, it means that once the student has indicated a need for an auxiliary aid or service or requested a particular auxiliary aid or service, the district must provide it as soon as possible. If the student is waiting for the auxiliary aid or service, the district should keep the student (and parent) informed of when the auxiliary aid or service will be provided.
Examples of auxiliary aids and services may include the following (please note this list is not exhaustive):
- Qualified American Sign Language interpreters,
- Notetakers
- Written materials
- Exchange of written notes
- Computer-Aided Real-Time Transcription (“CART”)
- Video interpreting services
- Open or closed captioning
- Videotext displays
- Assistive listening systems
- Communication boards
- Description of visually presented materials
- Qualified readers
- Audio recordings
- Braille materials
- Large print materials
- Email or text messages
- Materials in electronic format (materials in plain text or word format)
- Assistance filling out forms
The district will, upon request, provide appropriate aids and services leading to effective communication for qualified persons with disabilities so they can participate equally in its programs, services, and activities.
Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, should contact the district’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Coordinator (“DHH Coordinator”) as soon as possible:
Name: Margaret Michels Espinosa
Title: Director of Special Education Services
3045 Santiago Street
San Francisco, CA 94116
Phone: 415-823-0356
Email: michelsm@sfusd.edu
Note that school districts are not required to provide auxiliary aids and services if it would fundamentally alter the nature of the services they provide or impose an undue financial and administrative burden. (28 C.F.R. § 35.160; see also Frequently Asked Questions on Effective Communication for Students with Hearing, Vision, or Speech Disabilities in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools (Nov. 2014) U.S. Department of Education [as of Sept. 12, 2023].)
Reasonable Modifications to Policies and Procedures
The district will make all reasonable modifications to policies, practices, procedures, and programs to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to enjoy all of its programs, services, and activities.
(cf. 0410 – Nondiscrimination In District Programs)
(cf. 6142.1 – Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention)
(c.f. 6145 Extracurricular & Cocurricular Activities)
(cf. 6164.6 – Identification and Education Under Section 504)
(cf. 9320 – BP 9320 Meetings and Notices)
(cf. 9322 – Agenda/Meeting Materials)
Title II does not require the district to take any action that would fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or services, or impose an undue financial or administrative burden.
Complaints that a program, service, or activity of the district is not accessible to persons with a hearing, vision, and/or speech disability should be directed to the district’s DHH Coordinator.
The district will not place a surcharge on a particular individual with a disability or any group of individuals with disabilities to cover the cost of providing auxiliary aids/services or reasonable modifications of policy.
Legal Reference:
UNITED STATES CODE, TITLE 20
§§1411 -1419-Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B
UNITED STATES CODE, TITLE 29
§ 705 Definitions; Vocational Rehabilitation Act
§ 794 Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504
UNITED STATES CODE, TITLE 42
§§ 12131–12134, Americans with Disabilities Act
Management Resources:
WEB SITES
US Department of Justice ADA Requirements: Effective Communication
US Department of Justice ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments; Chapter 3, General Effective Communication Requirements under Title II of the ADA