WorkflowSpecial Education & Disability Services

Section 504 Plan Management

Every Section 504 plan reaches every teacher, and every test is checked before it starts

Every teacher sees the plan, and every test is checked before it starts.

See one case, screen by screen ↓
demo68minutesAva T.'s plan needs on a test timed at 45 — caught two hours before it started, fixed in one click
demo612testsfixed before they started this semester, across 62 schools and 2,912 plans
target98%or more of teachers acknowledge a plan within 2 school days of receiving it
target100%of learning-system tests checked before they start, for students with a timer or setting accommodation
In short

What is Section 504 Plan Management?

Section 504 Plan Management runs the Section 504 plan cycle for 504 coordinators, from referral, evaluation and eligibility to the plan, annual review and reevaluation, and confirms that teachers apply each plan. Eight agents draft cited plans, send the plan to new teachers the day a schedule changes, check timers, rooms and seats before every test and follow up when proof is missing. The coordinator approves, and an assistant principal co-signs eligibility and every removal.

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Updated

The problem

Why a Section 504 plan is broken quietly, in class

A Section 504 plan is a promise a school district makes to a student with a disability: extra time on tests, a seat near the teacher, a quiet room, a copy of the notes. The 504 coordinator writes it once, and six or seven teachers keep it, or break it, every day. The plan PDF is emailed to the teachers on that day's schedule. Some open it. Nobody checks the learning system's test timer or the seating chart, and when a schedule changes, nobody sends it again.

The district finds out after the harm. A 45-minute test given to a student owed 68 minutes cannot be un-given. A schedule change hands the plan to a teacher who has never seen it and leaves it with one who no longer teaches the student. Families who write in Spanish or Vietnamese get answers in English. And when the Office for Civil Rights asks about one student, the acknowledgments are in email, the evidence is in the learning system and the notes are in a drive.

typical27,620complaintsabout disability to the Office for Civil Rights, 2021 to 2024
typical78%rise in those complaints over the period
typical1.5M+studentsin US public schools on 504-only plans
Where the hours on one student's plan go, in a school yearestimated
By hand19 hours
With the solution3.1 hours
  • Gathering grades, attendance, the nurse log and teacher input for the evaluation4 → 1 h
  • Writing the eligibility worksheet and the plan3 → 1 h
  • Sending the plan and chasing teacher acknowledgments2 → 0.3 h
  • Re-sending the plan after schedule changes1 → 0.1 h
  • Checking timers, rooms and seats before tests3 → 0.3 h
  • Assembling the record for a review or an inquiry6 → 0.5 h

Estimated split for one student's 504 plan over a school year, by hand and with the solution. By hand, the checks before each test are rarely done at all.

How it works

How a plan is kept

Eight agents draft, route, check and follow up every plan; the coordinator approves and an assistant principal co-signs.

What comes in
Records in6 systems · student information, learning, plans, families
Agents at work
Referral intake agentconsent · clock
Then
Eligibility agentthree questions, cited
Plan agenteach need cited
Then
Schedule agentsame-day re-route
Evidence agentbefore every test
Then
Nudge agentday 5 → principal
Family language agenthome language + English
A person decides
504 coordinatorapproves · co-signed by an assistant principal
What comes out
Plan applied
Proof per test
Inquiry pack
One case, step by step

One Section 504 plan, from a timer caught to a sealed inquiry pack

Ava T. is in grade 9 at Marlow Bay High School, one of 171 students there on a Section 504 plan. She has ADHD with test anxiety; her plan, in effect since Oct 12, gives her 1.5 times the time on tests and quizzes. It is Thursday, Oct 22, and her chemistry unit test starts at 10:10 a.m. Here is what happens, screen by screen, in the working solution.

  1. 018:12 a.m.

    Ava's plan, accommodation by teacher

    Renée Castellanos · Section 504 Coordinator

    Ava's six accommodations run down the left and her six teachers across the top. Of the 30 cells that apply, 21 are verified, 2 are missing, 6 wait on Priya Fenwick's acknowledgment and 1 could not be checked. A thin line above the grid shows the plan's path, from referral on Sep 8 to reevaluation by Oct 6, 2029, with today marked.

    “Waiting for Ms. Fenwick to acknowledge the plan” — the algebra class moved from Tomás Delacroix on Oct 20.

  2. 028:10 a.m., two hours before

    The timer is 45 minutes; the plan needs 68

    Evidence agent

    The Evidence agent read §2.1 of Ava's plan, found the period 4 Chemistry Unit 2 test in the learning system and read its timer: 45 minutes, with no accommodation set. It worked out 45 × 1.5 = 67.5, rounded up to 68, and sent Owen Lindqvist a notice. Each step cites the plan section, the evaluation finding and the learning system setting.

    The Evidence agent never changes a setting itself. The teacher makes the fix.

  3. 03One click

    The teacher fixes it from the notice

    Owen Lindqvist · Chemistry teacher

    Mr. Lindqvist's own view opens on the notice: Ava T.'s Unit 2 test timer is 45 minutes, and her plan needs 68. He clicks Set timer to 68 minutes, and the cell fills on Renée's grid. Below, his nine students on 504 plans and what each needs in his class, with acknowledgment dates and next tests. He never sees a diagnosis or an evaluation.

    “Set timer to 68 minutes”

  4. 04Before the bell

    Fourteen tests, checked before they start

    Renée Castellanos · Section 504 Coordinator

    Today's 14 tests with a student on a 504 plan sit period by period. 62 of 63 checks have passed. One fix is left: Malik R.'s Spanish II listening quiz at 11:40 has read-aloud turned off, and Elena Velasco has the notice. The agents' brief also says the Art I seating chart did not answer at 7:40 and will be tried again.

    “Mr. Lindqvist set Ava T.'s timer to 68 minutes at 8:19.”

  5. 05Tuesday, 22 minutes later

    The plan followed Ava's schedule the same day

    Schedule agent

    On Tue Oct 20 at 1:52 p.m., Simone Achebe moved Ava's Algebra I from period 3 to period 5. At 2:14 p.m. the Schedule agent sent the plan to Priya Fenwick, started her two-day acknowledgment clock and ended Tomás Delacroix's access. Six schedule changes touched a plan this week, and all six plans were re-routed.

  6. 06Day 1 of 5

    One teacher asked for one missing proof

    Nudge agent

    World History notes for Oct 19–21 were not posted, so the Nudge agent asked Naomi Abara directly on Oct 21. It counts school days: Devon L.'s follow-up is on day 4 of 5 and escalates tomorrow. Jordan P.'s U.S. History notes went 6 school days without proof, so the agent escalated to the principal, Dr. Helen Okafor, with the evidence attached.

    No blanket emails: the escalation reaches the principal only after five school days.

  7. 07A referral

    504 eligibility: proposed by one person, co-signed by another

    Eligibility agent · Marcus Bell, Assistant Principal

    Jalen M., grade 10, has had type 1 diabetes since 2019. The Eligibility agent answers the three questions of the 504 test from cited sources and flags the ADA Amendments Act rule: the limit is judged without the pump and monitor. Renée proposed eligible at 8:24 a.m., day 11 of the district's 45 school days. Marcus Bell co-signs; the person who proposes cannot.

    The Eligibility agent lays the sources against the test. It does not propose or sign.

  8. 08The draft

    Every accommodation cited to the need it meets

    Plan agent

    The Plan agent drafted six accommodations for Jalen from the evaluation and the team's notes: glucose checks anywhere with the monitor app, water, snacks and the restroom without asking, a test rescheduled below 70 or above 250 mg/dL, up to 15 extra minutes after a low, a trained adult on field trips and excused medical absences. Renée approves, edits or rejects each one with a reason.

  9. 09The same week

    A question in Spanish, a reply in Spanish

    Family language agent · Lucía Torres, Ava's mother

    Ava's mother asks in Spanish whether the plan covers state testing. The Family language agent shows the original beside the English and drafts a reply in Spanish with the English beside it: §3.1 gives Ava 1.5 times the time and a separate room on state assessments, and the testing window opens January 12, 2027. Only the 504 coordinator can send it.

    Below 0.90 confidence, or for a meeting, the agent offers a human interpreter.

  10. 10One step

    Ava's whole record, sealed for an inquiry

    Audit pack agent

    Every action by a person or an agent since Sep 8 is on the audit trail, with who, what, when, why and the evidence. One click builds the inquiry pack for Sep 4 to Oct 22: 46 records and 212 pages, including family messages in both languages, with 11 other students' names redacted, sealed with SHA-256 and ready for the auditor.

Who it’s for

Built for everyone who keeps a Section 504 plan.

The same plan, seen by the five people who carry it: what their week looked like, and what it looks like now.

RC
Renée CastellanosSection 504 Coordinator, Marlow Bay High School · 171 students on plans
Section 504 Coordinator
Before
Writes a perfect plan, then cannot see whether period 4 used it, on top of a counselor's caseload.
Now
Sees each student's plan as a grid of evidence, fixes problems before the bell and approves every plan the agents draft.
OL
Owen LindqvistChemistry teacher · 152 students, nine with 504 plans
Classroom teacher
Before
Gets a PDF once and finds out after the test that a timer was wrong.
Now
Gets the one thing to change before the bell, and fixes it in one click from the notice.
MB
Marcus BellAssistant Principal · co-signs eligibility and every removal
Assistant Principal
Before
Signs eligibility worksheets and changes without seeing what the team relied on.
Now
Sees every source cited before he co-signs, and every removal arrives with its reason code and the data behind it.
SA
Simone AchebeSchool Counselor · takes referrals and changes schedules
School Counselor
Before
Moves a student to a new section, and the plan stays behind with the former teacher.
Now
Changes the schedule; the new teacher has the plan the same day and the former teacher's access ends.
LW
Dr. Leon WhitakerDistrict Section 504 Coordinator · 62 schools, 2,912 plans
District Section 504 Coordinator
Before
Spends weeks collecting email when the Office for Civil Rights asks about one student.
Now
Sees delivery for every school in four numbers, and builds a sealed inquiry pack in one step.
Built on the engine

8 agents. Each with one job, and hard limits.

Eight agents draft, route, check and follow up every plan; the coordinator approves and an assistant principal co-signs.

Referral intake agent

Reads each referral, opens the file, sends the notice of rights and the consent form in the family's home language, gathers grades, attendance, the nurse log and teacher input, and starts the 45-school-day evaluation clock.

  • Never decides whether to evaluate
  • Never contacts an outside provider
Eligibility agent

Lays every source against the three questions of the 504 test (impairment, major life activity, substantially limits), cites each one and flags the ADA Amendments Act rule on mitigating measures.

  • Never proposes or signs eligibility; the team decides
Plan agent

Drafts the plan from the evaluation and the team's notes, with each accommodation cited to the need it meets, and pre-fills annual review packets a week ahead.

  • Never removes or narrows an accommodation
  • Never finalizes a plan
Schedule agent

Watches the student information system for section changes, sends the plan to each new teacher the same day, restarts the acknowledgment clock and removes the former teacher's access.

  • Never changes a schedule
  • Never shows a diagnosis to teachers
Evidence agent

Two hours before each test and at 7 p.m. the evening before, reads the learning system's timers and settings, the testing-room bookings and the seating charts, and records the evidence in each cell.

  • Never changes a setting itself; the teacher triggers the fix
  • Never marks a cell verified without a source
Nudge agent

Asks the one teacher for the one missing proof, counts school days, and escalates to the principal after five, with the evidence attached.

  • Never escalates before day 5 unless the coordinator says so
  • Never messages families
Family language agent

Translates family messages and notices, and drafts replies in the home language with the English beside them, each statement cited to the plan section.

  • Never sends; the coordinator does
  • Offers a human interpreter below 0.90 confidence or for meetings
Audit pack agent

Builds the inquiry pack for one student or a school and a date range, redacts other students and seals it with a hash.

  • Never includes records outside the scope
  • Every pack is logged
504 coordinator and assistant principal

Approve and co-sign. The agents propose; a named person decides.

Ask in plain words

Ask about any student, plan, teacher or test

Ask in plain words, or say what to follow up. Every answer cites its source and opens the screen it talks about.

Which of today's tests are not ready?

Two of 14, from 63 checks: Ava T.'s Chemistry Unit 2 test at 10:10 has a 45-minute timer and her plan needs 68, and Malik R.'s Spanish II quiz at 11:40 has read-aloud off. The teachers have a one-click fix.

Who still has to acknowledge Ava's plan?

One teacher: Priya Fenwick, Algebra I. Ava moved to her period 5 class on Oct 20; the plan reached her at 2:14 p.m. the same day and is due today. Tomás Delacroix, her former teacher, no longer has access. The other five acknowledged between Oct 12 and 14.

Does Ava's plan cover state testing?

Yes. Section 3.1 gives her 1.5× time and a separate setting on state assessments, registered in the state testing portal on Oct 13 for the spring window, which opens January 12, 2027. Her mother asked the same question in Spanish; the reply is drafted and waiting for you.

Build the inquiry pack for Ava T.

Building it for Sep 4 – Oct 22, 2026: plan v1 and signatures, the evaluation (restricted), 6 current and 1 former teacher acknowledgments, delivery evidence test by test, family messages in both languages, the access log and the audit trail. Other students' names are redacted.

Every screen

The working solution, as it ships.

13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.

One student's Section 504 plan as a delivery gridAva T.'s Section 504 plan: six accommodations down the side, her six teachers across the top, each cell's evidence, and the plan's path from referral to reevaluation with today marked.
The timer caught two hours before the testThe Evidence agent's check on a chemistry unit test, step by step: 45 minutes set, 68 required, with the plan section, the evaluation finding and the learning system setting cited.
The teacher fixes it in one clickA teacher's own view: the one 504 accommodation to fix before 10:10, and his nine students' accommodations — never a diagnosis or an evaluation.
Before the bellThe 504 coordinator's morning: today's 14 tests with a student on a 504 plan, period by period, each checked before it starts, with a short brief from the agents.
The plan follows the scheduleEvery schedule change that touches a 504 plan this week: the new teacher gets the plan the same day, and the former teacher's access ends.
Teacher follow-upsEach missing proof, the teacher who owes it and the school-day clock; after five school days the Nudge agent escalates to the principal, with reminders one at a time or in bulk.
504 eligibility, co-signedThe three 504 eligibility questions for a student with type 1 diabetes, answered from cited sources, with the mitigating-measures rule and a proposal waiting for the assistant principal.
A draft plan, cited to each needA 504 plan for diabetes in school, drafted from the evaluation: each accommodation with the need it meets, its source and the coordinator's decision.
Families answered in their languageA parent's question in Spanish beside the English, and a reply drafted in Spanish, cited to the plan's state-testing section, for the coordinator to send.
Annual reviews and co-signed changes504 plan annual reviews and reevaluations on their clocks, and each removal or narrowing of an accommodation waiting for a co-signature, with its reason code and data.
One sealed pack for an inquiryThe audit trail of every person and agent for one student, and the inquiry pack built in one step for OCR, DOJ or a state review, with other students redacted.
District delivery in four numbersThe district 504 coordinator's view across 62 schools: plans, teacher acknowledgments, tests checked before they started and open escalations, with each school's rates.
Roles and separation of dutiesSeven roles, what each can and cannot do, and the rules the system enforces: no one proposes and co-signs the same decision, and agents never sign, send or change a setting.
Governance

Built for civil rights review: cited, co-signed, on the record.

Every value cites its sourceEvery cell, eligibility answer, accommodation and family reply links to the passage behind it: the plan section, the evaluation page, the learning system setting, the physician letter.
No one decides eligibility aloneThe 504 coordinator proposes eligibility and an assistant principal co-signs it. The person who proposes cannot co-sign, and the system enforces it.
Removals need a second signatureRemoving or narrowing an accommodation needs a reason code and the assistant principal's co-signature. The agents draft plans; only the coordinator approves one.
Agents never sign, send or change a settingThe teacher makes the fix in the learning system, the coordinator sends every family reply, and marking a cell verified by hand needs a reason code.
Teachers see their own sections onlyTeachers see accommodations, never a diagnosis or an evaluation. Former teachers lose access the day the schedule changes, and every view of a plan is logged.
A sealed record for any inquiryThe audit trail records who, what, when, why and the evidence for every person and agent. An inquiry pack for OCR, DOJ or a state review is built in one step, with other students redacted, and sealed with SHA-256.
Configuration

Your district's rules and clocks

The rules every plan is checked against are settings. Each change makes a new version and goes on the audit trail; roles, connected systems, privacy and the agents' thresholds sit beside them.

SettingDefaultChoose from
Extended time roundingRound up to the whole minuteRound up to the whole minute · Round to the nearest 5 minutes
Check each test before it starts2 hours before, and at 7:00 p.m. the evening before1 to 4 hours before · evening check on or off
Teacher acknowledgment due2 school days1 to 5 school days
Escalate to the principal after5 school days3 to 10 school days
Evaluation completed within45 school days of consent30 to 60 school days
Annual reviewEvery 12 monthsEvery 12 months · Every school year by May 31
ReevaluationEvery 3 yearsEvery 3 years · Every 2 years
Keep records after the student leaves6 years5 years · 6 years · 7 years
Connections

Works with the systems a school already runs

Student information systemschedules, enrollment and home language, every 15 minutes
Learning management systemtest timers and settings, posted notes, reminders
504 plan recordsevaluations, plans and signatures in document management
Family communication platformmessages and notices in the family's language
Seating charts and testing roomsseats per section and testing-room bookings
State testing portalaccommodation registration, read nightly
What it changes

The difference, in numbers.

Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.

target
100%
of learning-system tests checked before they start
Checked before the bell
timers, rooms and seats
target
98%+
of teachers acknowledge a plan within 2 school days
By emailunknown
With agents98.5% in the demo district
target
Minutes
to an inquiry pack for one student, not weeks
By handWith agents

“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample district data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate · “typical” = published figures (Office for Civil Rights, Protecting Civil Rights: Highlights of Activities 2021–25, on disability complaints; Civil Rights Data Collection on students with 504-only plans; 34 CFR Part 104 on evaluation, placement and procedural safeguards). People, schools and the district named on this page are fictional: characters and sample data in the working solution.

Questions

What 504 coordinators ask us.

What is Section 504 Plan Management?

Section 504 Plan Management runs the Section 504 plan cycle for 504 coordinators, from referral, evaluation and eligibility to the plan, annual review and reevaluation, and confirms that teachers apply each plan. Eight agents draft cited plans, send the plan to new teachers the day a schedule changes, check timers, rooms and seats before every test and follow up when proof is missing. The coordinator approves, and an assistant principal co-signs eligibility and every removal.

How do you make sure teachers follow 504 plan accommodations?

The Evidence agent reads the learning system's test timers and settings, the testing-room bookings and the seating charts two hours before each test and at 7 p.m. the evening before. When something is wrong, the teacher gets a notice with a one-click fix, such as setting a 45-minute timer to 68 minutes. When proof is missing, the Nudge agent asks that teacher and escalates to the principal after five school days.

Who decides 504 eligibility?

The team decides. The Eligibility agent answers the three questions of the 504 test (impairment, major life activity, substantially limits) from cited sources and flags the ADA Amendments Act rule on mitigating measures. The 504 coordinator proposes the decision and an assistant principal co-signs it; the person who proposes cannot co-sign.

What happens to a 504 plan when a student's schedule changes?

The Schedule agent watches the student information system. When a student moves sections, it sends the plan to the new teacher the same day, starts a two-day acknowledgment clock and ends the former teacher's access. A coordinator can undo a re-route with a reason code.

Can parents get answers about the plan in their own language?

Yes. The Family language agent shows each message in the family's language with the English beside it, and drafts the reply the same way, each statement cited to the plan. Only the 504 coordinator can send it, and below 0.90 confidence, or for a meeting, the agent offers a human interpreter.

What does a teacher see?

Only the students in their own sections, and only the accommodations they need in that class, never a diagnosis or an evaluation. Diagnoses and evaluations are visible to the 504 coordinator, assistant principal, counselor and district coordinator, and every view of a plan is logged.

How does it go live in our district?

The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys Section 504 Plan Management from your requirements and documents: your rules and clocks, roles and connected systems. It goes live once every quality gate has passed.

Do people stay in control?

Yes. The agents draft, check and ask; they never sign, send to families or change a setting. The coordinator approves every plan and every family reply, an assistant principal co-signs eligibility and every removal, and a human override always needs a reason code.

See it on
your 504 plans.

We'll run Section 504 Plan Management on a de-identified sample of your own plans and schedules.