Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1487 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Watson S.B. No. 1487
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the statewide plan for delivery of services to public
7	7	school students with disabilities and resources for teachers of
8	8	public school students with special health needs.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 29.001, Education Code, is amended to
11	11	read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 29.001. STATEWIDE PLAN. (a) The agency shall
13	13	develop, and modify as necessary, a statewide design, consistent
14	14	with federal law, for the delivery of services to children with
15	15	disabilities in this state that includes rules for the
16	16	administration and funding of the special education program so that
17	17	a free appropriate public education is available to all of those
18	18	children between the ages of three and 21. The statewide design
19	19	shall include the provision of services primarily through school
20	20	districts and shared services arrangements, supplemented by
21	21	regional education service centers. The agency shall also develop
22	22	and implement a statewide plan with programmatic content that
23	23	includes procedures designed to:
24	24	(1) ensure state compliance with requirements for
25	25	supplemental federal funding for all state-administered programs
26	26	involving the delivery of instructional or related services to
27	27	students with disabilities;
28	28	(2) facilitate interagency coordination when other
29	29	state agencies are involved in the delivery of instructional or
30	30	related services to students with disabilities;
31	31	(3) periodically assess statewide personnel needs in
32	32	all areas of specialization related to special education and pursue
33	33	strategies to meet those needs through a consortium of
34	34	representatives from regional education service centers, local
35	35	education agencies, and institutions of higher education and
36	36	through other available alternatives;
37	37	(4) ensure that regional education service centers
38	38	throughout the state maintain a regional support function, which
39	39	may include direct service delivery and a component designed to
40	40	facilitate the placement of students with disabilities who cannot
41	41	be appropriately served in their resident districts;
42	42	(5) allow the agency to effectively monitor and
43	43	periodically conduct site visits of all school districts to ensure
44	44	that rules adopted under this section are applied in a consistent
45	45	and uniform manner, to ensure that districts are complying with
46	46	those rules, and to ensure that annual statistical reports filed by
47	47	the districts and not otherwise available through the Public
48	48	Education Information Management System under Section 42.006, are
49	49	accurate and complete;
50	50	(6) ensure that appropriately trained personnel are
51	51	involved in the diagnostic and evaluative procedures operating in
52	52	all districts and that those personnel routinely serve on district
53	53	admissions, review, and dismissal committees;
54	54	(7) ensure that an individualized education program
55	55	for each student with a disability is properly developed,
56	56	implemented, and maintained in the least restrictive environment
57	57	that is appropriate to meet the student's educational needs;
58	58	(8) ensure that, when appropriate, each student with a
59	59	disability is provided an opportunity to participate in career and
60	60	technology and physical education classes, in addition to
61	61	participating in regular or special classes;
62	62	(9) ensure that each student with a disability is
63	63	provided necessary related services; [and]
64	64	(10) ensure that an individual assigned to act as a
65	65	surrogate parent for a child with a disability, as provided by 20
66	66	U.S.C. Section 1415(b) [and its subsequent amendments], is required
67	67	to:
68	68	(A) complete a training program that complies
69	69	with minimum standards established by agency rule;
70	70	(B) visit the child and the child's school;
71	71	(C) consult with persons involved in the child's
72	72	education, including teachers, caseworkers, court-appointed
73	73	volunteers, guardians ad litem, attorneys ad litem, foster parents,
74	74	and caretakers;
75	75	(D) review the child's educational records;
76	76	(E) attend meetings of the child's admission,
77	77	review, and dismissal committee;
78	78	(F) exercise independent judgment in pursuing
79	79	the child's interests; and
80	80	(G) exercise the child's due process rights under
81	81	applicable state and federal law;
82	82	(11) ensure that a school district provides to a
83	83	teacher who instructs a student with a disability in a regular
84	84	classroom setting:
85	85	(A) on the request of the teacher or by agreement
86	86	of the admission, review and dismissal committee and as soon as
87	87	practicable, training in providing appropriate educational
88	88	services to a student with a disability, including training in
89	89	research-based best practices for meeting the academic and
90	90	behavioral needs of a student with a disability assigned to the
91	91	teacher's classroom;
92	92	(B) on the request of the teacher or by agreement
93	93	of the admission, review and dismissal committee and as soon as
94	94	practicable, assistance from appropriately trained personnel, as
95	95	determined by the district, in meeting the academic and behavioral
96	96	needs of a student with a disability assigned to the teacher's
97	97	classroom;
98	98	(C) before the placement of a student with a
99	99	disability in the teacher's classroom, relevant information in the
100	100	student's individualized education program;
101	101	(D) the opportunity to request staffing and
102	102	intervention team meetings and meetings of the student's admission,
103	103	review, and dismissal committee regarding a student with a
104	104	disability assigned to the teacher's classroom; and
105	105	(E) the opportunity to participate in staffing
106	106	and intervention team meetings and, as determined by the district,
107	107	the relevant portion of meetings of the student's admission,
108	108	review, and dismissal committee regarding a student with a
109	109	disability assigned to the teacher's classroom, including meetings
110	110	of the admission, review, and dismissal committee as provided by
111	111	subsection (d);
112	112	(12) ensure that a school district develops a process
113	113	for responding to concerns regarding implementation of the
114	114	student's individualized education program by a teacher who
115	115	instructs the student in a regular classroom setting and for
116	116	notifying the student's parents of such response.
117	117	(13) ensure that school health services for a student
118	118	with a disability are performed by:
119	119	(A) a qualified school nurse; or
120	120	(B) if a qualified school nurse is unavailable,
121	121	by other qualified and trained personnel; and
122	122	(14) ensure that, on the request of the teacher or by
123	123	the admission, review and dismissal committee, the teacher receives
124	124	training and/or assistance from appropriately trained personnel,
125	125	as determined by the school district, to perform necessary tasks
126	126	that the teacher is required to perform related to the student's
127	127	hygiene and care, including diapering needs.
128	128	(b) Subsection (a)(13) or (14) may not result in a change of
129	129	classroom placement for a student with a disability unless the
130	130	change in classroom placement is made in accordance with applicable
131	131	federal and state laws.
132	132	SECTION 2. Subchapter J, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
133	133	amended by adding Section 21.463 to read as follows:
134	134	Sec. 21.463. RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS OF STUDENTS WITH
135	135	SPECIAL HEALTH NEEDS. The agency, in coordination with the Health
136	136	and Human Services Commission, shall establish and maintain an
137	137	Internet website to provide resources for teachers who teach
138	138	students with special health needs. The agency shall include on the
139	139	website information about the treatment and management of chronic
140	140	illnesses and how such illnesses impact a student's well-being or
141	141	ability to succeed in school.
142	142	SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2009-2010
143	143	school year.
144	144	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
145	145	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
146	146	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
147	147	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
148	148	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.