Professional Liability

Eastern District of PA Finds that Section 504 of Rehabilitation Act Does Not Create a Stand-Alone Federal Cause of Action Based Upon Denial of Educational Records
Sandra S. v. Upper Darby Sch. Dist., No. CV 25-2389, 2025 WL 2724380, at *1 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 24, 2025)

The parents of a 12-year-old autistic student requested his educational records from the Upper Darby School District under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. The District allegedly provided some of the student’s educational records, but not all. The parents then filed a due process complaint, alleging failures under both IDEA and Section 504, including a failure to provide records. 

The specific question before the court was “whether one or both statutes [IDEA and Section 504] give parents a stand-alone private right of action when a school fails to provide educational records.” The Eastern District Court concluded that the IDEA creates a private cause of action in federal court for violations arising out of the denial of access to educational records, but that Section 504 does not.

The court noted that the IDEA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act “work in tandem to provide students with disabilities with the right to a free appropriate public education and to receive accommodations in education,” including providing parents an entitlement to receive certain educational records and undergo an administrative complaint process. However, the court explained that there are subtle differences in the statute’s structures. Where the IDEA explicitly grants parents the right to “examine all records” relating to identification, evaluation, placement or FAPE, parents may file a complaint with respect to any matter relating to these issues. Under the IDEA, procedural violations are actionable if they impede FAPE, significantly restrict parent participation or result in loss of educational benefit. Thus, denial of records is a procedural violation that may impair parents’ participation.

While Section 504 does broadly allow private enforcement, not every regulation under this statute is privately actionable. The regulation requiring a records-access procedure is institutional in nature (focused on systems schools must implement), not a direct individual right. Therefore, no private federal cause of action exists solely for record-access violations under Section 504.

The court opined: 

The regulation at issue is directed towards a regulated entity—’a recipient that operates a public elementary or secondary education program’—rather than protected individuals. It requires such institutions to establish and implement ... a system of procedural safeguards, thus focusing on the creation of institutional procedures rather than the personal rights of individuals. And though one mandated procedural safeguard is ‘an opportunity for the parents or guardian of the person to examine relevant records,’ the regulation is focused on the broader processes that funding recipients must establish. (Internal citations omitted). 
Accordingly, the Section 504 claim could not proceed.

It must be noted, however, that the dispositive question was whether a private cause of action exists in a federal court, not whether there is a right to file an administrative complaint. 

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