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Ashley Sutton’s daughter was recommended for a plan by Children’s Hospital Colorado that would provide her with accommodations for her disabilities at the beginning of the school year.
But Sutton said she’s run into trouble getting Palmer Ridge High School, which is just north of Colorado Springs, to follow her daughter’s 504 plan. She filed grievances with the district, then tried the state — which said it doesn’t enforce federal disabilities accommodation law.
She then filed a complaint to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. But after that office acknowledged it had received the complaint in December, Sutton hasn’t heard back from the federal government.
“My daughter’s approved accommodation still has not been implemented, and the situation at school has become increasingly difficult for my daughter to navigate,” Sutton said.
It’s a similar story to what other parents and disability rights advocates shared at Wednesday’s Senate Education Committee hearing, where lawmakers heard Senate Bill 125. The legislation would allow Colorado’s Department of Education to begin hearing complaints tied to 504 plans.
The state process created by the bill would expand the Colorado Department of Education’s existing ability to mediate other complaints about alleged violations of students’ Individualized Education Programs, or IEPs. An IEP entitles students to special education services, whereas a 504 plan spells out accommodations that students are entitled to receive in schools.
Lawmakers, who approved the bill unanimously Wednesday, said they hope the bill eventually helps parents like Sutton, given the mass firings and shifting priorities at the federal Education Department during the Trump administration.
The federal Education Department investigates such complaints through its Office for Civil Rights. But many complaints have gone unresolved in the last year due to staff cuts. At the same time, the Trump administration has launched new state investigations, including one in Denver Public Schools related to East High School’s all-gender restrooms.
In light of that lack of progress, Colorado lawmakers are part of a growing number nationwide who want their states to help families find resolutions.
In response to questions from Chalkbeat, Rick Frampton, director of student services for Lewis-Palmer School District 38, where Palmer Ridge High School is located, didn’t comment on Sutton’s daughter’s case. But he said in a Wednesday statement that the district provides families information about Section 504 parent and student rights. He said the district follows a structured process and works with families to implement and develop those plans.
“Lewis-Palmer School District 38 believes in implementing all 504 plans with integrity and a commitment to ensuring that students with disabilities receive equal access to education,” Frampton said.
State Sen. Chris Kolker, a Democrat and bill sponsor, said during the hearing that the bill doesn’t create new requirements for schools.
“As the agency shrinks, its ability to respond to complaints and enforce this law shrinks with it,” said Kolker, the chair of the Senate Education Committee, referring to the federal department. “The new reality is that it becomes a new responsibility of the states.”
The legislation would codify federal disability laws into Colorado state law. These laws, known as Section 504, provide protections to people with disabilities. These include ensuring public schools make accommodations available to students with disabilities to access school buildings or spaces, and that they can participate in nonacademic and extracurricular activities.
The legislation would also create a path for parents, students, or groups to file a complaint to the Colorado Department of Education if schools don’t provide accommodations for students. These grievances would need to be filed within 60 days, with the entire process of resolving a grievance needing to be completed within 180 days. Some exceptions would apply, such as a pause for a voluntary fix of the issue.
Disability advocates said although federal law that protects individuals with disabilities still exists, the federal government has left many families in limbo. The bill ensures Colorado can step in, said Emily Harvey, Disability Law Colorado’s co-legal director.
“It really is a way for families to seek a remedy without having to take extreme measures of going to court,” Harvey said.
Colorado lawmakers also filed House Bill 1141 that would allow the Colorado Civil Rights Division’s to investigate alleged K-12 and higher education violations of Title VI, a section of federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin.
That bill passed its first hearing last month in the House Education Committee by a 9-3 vote and will be heard next in the House Appropriations Committee, where lawmakers will discuss the financial impact to the state.
Both bills will require state spending if they become law. Lawmakers need to make budget cuts for a second year in a row, which has complicated the odds for new state initiatives and mandates that would require funding.
The disabilities bill would require the state to spend about $668,000 in the first year and $581,000 in the years after, according to a legislative analysis. The civil rights enforcement bill would cost the state about $815,000 in its first year and $686,000 in subsequent years. But advocates of the bills have also argued the bills would ultimately save money by reducing the number of lawsuits against schools.
Some who testified about the civil rights bill on Wednesday unsuccessfully asked lawmakers to amend it so that the Colorado Civil Rights Division would be allowed to hear complaints.
Lawmakers said the new complaint process would fit into the Colorado Department of Education’s current enforcement of disability laws. They added that the bill also wouldn’t stop parents from filing complaints to the civil rights division or the federal Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights.
Sutton said a state complaint process would help fix a gap in the system for parents like herself. Her daughter’s health has since gotten worse, and Sutton has had to pull her out of school.
“Every month that systems fail to respond is a month of education that cannot be recovered. She is living that reality today,” Sutton said. “That is why a clear state pathway with independent review matters so deeply for families like ours.”
Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at jgonzales@chalkbeat.org.
