10 STEPS TO COMPLETE AN 504 PLAN

1) Click on the Choose Student icon to get your student list; click on student name to go to 504 Manager. Let your 504 Coordinator staff know if any of your students do not appear or if you see any students on your list that are not yours.

2) Go to Student Profile to check accuracy of information that will go directly onto 504 forms:

• Demographics: ethnicity, race, EL type
• Contacts: must at least have one primary contact
• Providers: must have case manager, all service providers should be listed
• Vision/Hearing results; Medication; Overall health: can enter entire caseload under Student Info/Student Profile/Medical tab when you get report from nurse. Lists/reports can be created once this information is in SIRAS.

3) Select meeting purpose on 504 Manager to get all forms associated with that meeting type.

• 504 Eligibility - determine eligibility for 504.
• 504 Review - periodic review (usually annual) on existing 504 Plan
• 504 Amendment - change or amend current 504 Plan

4) Enter meeting date, time, and location, if known. You may enter this information at any time.

5)  504 Manager Tabs: Basic forms (IEP forms); Pre-IEP forms; Other forms and Upload Documents.

• Pre-IEP tab contains the forms used prior to the meeting such as the Meeting Notice and the Assessment Plan.
• Basic Forms tab opens as the default and contains all the forms that are used at the time of the actual meeting. Once all the required forms have been submitted click the ‘Preview/Print’ link to assemble the 504 Plan.
• Other forms tab contains other forms that may be necessary for the IEP meeting but is not a numbered page in the IEP such as the Health History or Parent Interview forms.
• Uploaded Documents tab is used to upload any document associated with the meeting such as doctor’s notes or an evaluation from an outside source, etc. If the form is uploaded as a PDF document it can be appended as a numbered form with the 504 Plan. If you designate it as a copy of the signed signature page under ‘Category’ SIRAS will replace the uploaded signature page with the blank one. Click the blue question mark button located in the lower left corner for more details. DO NOT enter periods in the file name of an uploaded form.
• Open form (all required forms must be submitted before the 504 Plan can be assembled)
• Make changes as needed to existing information. Click blue question mark button at the top of the form page for directions on how to complete the form.
• Add information as needed.
• Save the form. You have a choice between "Save" (which simply saves the information and keeps you on the same page) and "Save and return…” (which saves the information and takes you to the location that you select from the menu). The menu defaults to "504 Manager" but this feature allows you to bypass the 504 Manager and go directly to the next 504 form that you want to access.

6) Fill out all required (red) 504 forms and desired optional forms for meeting. A green check mark will appear on all forms you have opened and saved. This does not mean you have successfully completed the forms, just that they have been opened and saved. All ‘Required’ forms must be addressed prior to clicking the Preview/Print link above.

7) Use the ‘Print/Preview’ button on the 504 Manager to preview the paginated 504 Plan for the meeting. It is recommended that if there are errors, go back to the 504 Manager, and click on the page, make the correction, and save; then do ‘Print/Preview’ again. It is highly recommended that a complete draft of the 504 Plan is developed and printed prior to the meeting.

• If you will be using a computer during the meeting, you may wish to bring drafts for team members to look at unless you will be projecting the 504 pages onto a screen. In either case, you can make any corrections or changes directly onto the forms. At the close of the meeting, use ‘Print/Preview’ to print out a paginated copy for the team to sign. This is the official copy of the 504 Plan.
• If you will not have access to a computer during the 504 meeting to make changes, print out the forms to present at the 504 meeting. Make copies of the forms for 504 team members to refer to during the meeting and mark “Draft” on those copies, but not on the original document. A “Draft” watermark can be placed on the 504 Plan by clicking the little triangle to the right of the ‘Preview/Print’ link and then select ‘Add draft watermark’.
• Any changes or corrections made at the meeting will need to be made in handwriting on the original. Once signed, this becomes the official copy of the 504 Plan. Destroy all draft copies.
• Address the orange form warnings. Some may not be known until after the meeting, (the orange form warnings will not prevent you from checking meeting held or Finalizing the meeting.)

8) After the meeting

• Click on “Meeting Held” checkbox . That will push all the important data for the completed 504 Plan over onto the MIS Summary page for reporting purposes. If you made any handwritten changes on the printed copy during the meeting, go back into the forms on the computer and enter the information so the electronic and printed copies of the 504 Plan are the exactly same.
•  Use the ‘Print/Preview’ feature to compile the final 504 Plan for proofreading located above. The ‘Preview/Print’ will be inactive until ALL the required (red) forms have been submitted.
• Proofread the 504 Plan carefully to be sure all corrections were made.
• If anything was missed, you can still make changes on the form and reprint that page if needed.

9) Final steps (504 Manager):

• Check “Translation Needed” where appropriate. Translations can be done any time even after the 504 Plan has been ‘Finalized’.  It is preferable not to begin the translation before finalizing the 504 Plan to ensure all changes have been made to the 504 Plan before translating.

• Fill in information on drop down menu regarding Parent Participation & Response.

• Check any notes you have put in the Scheduling Notes box on the 504 Manager to be sure they reflect the comments you want to remain in the record after the meeting has been finalized. Delete any working notes or resolved issues. Enter any other information pertinent to the meeting outcome (e.g. "Meeting finalized even though parents did not sign; additional assessment to be conducted before scheduling another meeting.")
• Click on ‘Finalize’ to lock the 504 Plan so no further changes can be made.
• Send signed original paper copy to the office and click "Sent to district office" from the menu in the Forms Status box under ‘Follow-up’.
• • The signature page can be scanned and uploaded as a PDF file into the Upload Documents tab or under Student Info / Student Profile / Upload Documents tab if the meeting had already been Finalized.
• Depending on your district’s policy, normally 504 Coordinator staff will do a final review of the paper and electronic copies to be sure they are the same and validate the data.
• General Users will only see ‘Sent to District Office’ checkbox while the Admin users will see both ‘Sent to District Office’ checkbox ‘Form status’ which contains the options.
• Refer to the document on Issues Related to Finalizing and Reactivating for policy of when to re-activate a meeting, or when to do an Amendment.

10) If there are inconsistencies or errors on the electronic copy the 504 Coordinator staff person will ‘Reactivate’ the 504 Plan and return it to you for corrections. Note, no data will transfer into the MIS Summary page after a meeting has been ‘Held’. If a 504 Plan has been ‘Reactivated’ and it required a change to a data item, that 504 Coordinator will need to change that item on the MIS Summary page separately.

Issue Related to Finalizing and Reactivating 504 Plans

After a 504 Plan is developed in the 504 Manager, it is expected that the 504 Coordinator will click on the ‘Print/Preview’ to create a draft of the 504 Plan. After the meeting, is held, the 504 Coordinator should click the Meeting Held button and enter the Parent Participation information. This lets anyone who looks at the 504 Manager know the status of the meeting.

The 504 Coordinator is now responsible for going into the electronic copy of the 504 Plan, and entering all changes made by hand on the paper copy so that the electronic copy of the 504 Plan in SIRAS matches the hard copy of the 504 Plan signed by the parent. Once this process is complete, the 504 Coordinator should Finalize the meeting, enter the Parent Input and Follow-up information on the 504 Manager, and send the hard copy of the 504 Plan to the district office

The 504 Plan should never be Finalized before the 504 Coordinator or the case manager has a chance to make the electronic copy in SIRAS the same as the hard copy of the 504 Plan because once the 504 Plan has been Finalized, it no longer pushes new information into the MIS Summary page. In the event that the case manager accidentally ‘Finalizes’ a meeting prior to completing the electronic copy, s/he will need to contact the 504 Coordinator staff person who can go to the archived meeting in the 504 Manager and Re-activate that meeting.

Once the meeting has been reactivated the 504 Coordinator or the case manager can enter the corrections to the 504 Plan forms and Finalize the meeting again; however, once a meeting has been Finalized there is NO data transfer between the re-activated forms and SIRAS. This could result in compliance errors. For this reason, any corrections and/or changes to MIS Summary page data after a meeting has been reactivated must be entered on the MIS Summary page as well as on the 504 Plan meeting forms.

In the event that something superficial was left out on the 504 Plan which was noticed AFTER the parent signed the hard copy, it is permissible for the case manager to do an Addendum (per district policy). Some examples would be things like entering vision or hearing test results, adding an accommodation, or checking a box on one of the pages. 

It is not permissible to make changes to the electronic copy of the 504 Plan that are not on the original hard copy of the 504 Plan signed by the parents. The 504 Plan document is an agreement between the parent/guardian/adult student and it cannot be altered after it is signed without permission from the parent/guardian/adult student. Any changes to the 504 Plan must be made by one of the methods listed above.

Editing the Meeting Purpose

The user that created the meeting has the ability to edit the Meeting Purpose. In the 504 Manager, next to the Meeting Purpose, the user who created the meeting will have an edit button available to them. Clicking on the edit button will unlock the Meeting Purpose and allow you to choose a new Meeting Purpose from a drop down menu. Do not delete any forms that may have been completed. The program will redistribute the 504 forms based on the new Meeting Purpose selected. All forms that were completed for the previous Meeting Purpose will be saved; any forms completed and saved that are no longer applicable may be deleted by clicking on the red X in the action column to the right of the form.

Rescheduling a Meeting

A meeting may be rescheduled by changing the meeting date to a later date, time, and location if needed. Do not delete the meeting or you will lose all the work that has been done to the meeting. Send out a new Notice of 504 Plan meeting to the parents informing the parent/s of the new date, time and location.

Deleting a Meeting

The user that created the meeting has the ability to delete the meeting. In order to delete a meeting, the user must delete all submitted forms by clicking on the red X to the right of the form link. Be sure to delete all the other submitted forms in the Basic forms tab, as well as, the Pre-IEP forms tab and the Other Forms tab. You will also need to delete the Meeting Date. After this has been completed the meeting may be deleted by clicking on the red X that is labeled delete in the right of the menu bar of the 504 Manager.

Finalizing a Meeting

Before a meeting is Finalized, the case manager is responsible for going into the electronic copy of the 504 Plan and entering all changes made to the 504 Plan during the 504 Plan meeting. This is to ensure the electronic copy of the 504 Plan is the same as the copy of the 504 Plan given to the parent. Once this process is complete, the case manager can Finalize the meeting and enter the Parent Input and Follow-up information on the 504 Manager. A hard copy of the 504 Plan may be sent to the 504 Coordinator staff to verify that the hard copy and electronic copy match.

Once the 504 Plan has been Finalized, it no longer pushes new information into the MIS Summary page. In the event that the case manager accidentally Finalizes a meeting prior to completing the electronic copy, s/he will need to contact a 504 Coordinator staff person who can go to the archived meeting in the 504 Manager and Re-activate that meeting.

Once the meeting has been reactivated the case manager can enter the corrections on the 504 Plan forms and Finalize the meeting again. Any corrections and/or changes to MIS Summary data after a meeting has been reactivated must be entered on the MIS Summary page as well as on the 504 Plan meeting forms.

It is never permissible to make changes to the electronic copy of the 504 Plan that are not on the original hard copy of the 504 Plan signed by the parents. The 504 Plan document is a legal agreement between the parent/guardian/adult student and the document cannot be altered after it is signed without the permission from the parent/guardian/adult student.