My colleague Mary-Ellen Deily blogged about the decision, which came down last week. Her blog entry provides plenty of interesting details on the case, which says that students with disabilities must be given accommodations for after-school activities, even if those activities are not related to a student’s academic program.
Matthew Stoloff, a New Jersey lawyer who specializes in special education, has also blogged about extracurricular activities in children with disabilities; this piece was written before the Minnesota decision was announced but gives a thorough overview of what kinds of accommodations schools should provide, along with links to other decisions.
As Stoloff notes, many of the protections given to students in this area fall under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, as opposed to (or sometimes, in addition to) the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. For a quick-and-dirty description of Section 504 and how it intersects with IDEA, check out my post from 2008.