| 1 | 1 | | By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 38 |
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| 2 | 2 | | (In the Senate - Filed November 12, 2012; January 28, 2013, |
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| 3 | 3 | | read first time and referred to Committee on Education; |
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| 4 | 4 | | April 29, 2013, reported favorably by the following vote: |
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| 5 | 5 | | Yeas 8, Nays 0; April 29, 2013, sent to printer.) |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | |
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| 8 | 8 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 9 | 9 | | AN ACT |
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| 10 | 10 | | relating to determining a child's eligibility for a school |
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| 11 | 11 | | district's special education program on the basis of a visual |
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| 12 | 12 | | impairment. |
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| 13 | 13 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 14 | 14 | | SECTION 1. Section 30.002, Education Code, is amended by |
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| 15 | 15 | | adding Subsections (c-1) and (c-2) to read as follows: |
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| 16 | 16 | | (c-1) To implement Subsection (c)(1) and to determine a |
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| 17 | 17 | | child's eligibility for a school district's special education |
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| 18 | 18 | | program on the basis of a visual impairment, the full individual and |
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| 19 | 19 | | initial evaluation of the student required by Section 29.004 must, |
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| 20 | 20 | | in accordance with commissioner rule: |
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| 21 | 21 | | (1) include an orientation and mobility evaluation |
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| 22 | 22 | | conducted: |
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| 23 | 23 | | (A) by a person who is appropriately certified as |
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| 24 | 24 | | an orientation and mobility specialist, as determined under |
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| 25 | 25 | | commissioner rule; and |
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| 26 | 26 | | (B) in a variety of lighting conditions and in a |
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| 27 | 27 | | variety of settings, including in the student's home, school, and |
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| 28 | 28 | | community and in settings unfamiliar to the student; and |
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| 29 | 29 | | (2) provide for a person who is appropriately |
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| 30 | 30 | | certified as an orientation and mobility specialist to participate, |
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| 31 | 31 | | as part of a multidisciplinary team, in evaluating data on which the |
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| 32 | 32 | | determination of the child's eligibility is based. |
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| 33 | 33 | | (c-2) The scope of any reevaluation by a school district of |
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| 34 | 34 | | a student who has been determined, after the full individual and |
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| 35 | 35 | | initial evaluation, to be eligible for the district's special |
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| 36 | 36 | | education program on the basis of a visual impairment shall be |
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| 37 | 37 | | determined, in accordance with 34 C.F.R. Sections 300.122 and |
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| 38 | 38 | | 300.303 through 300.311, by a multidisciplinary team that includes, |
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| 39 | 39 | | as provided by commissioner rule, a person described by Subsection |
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| 40 | 40 | | (c-1)(1)(A). |
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| 41 | 41 | | SECTION 2. (a) Not later than January 1, 2014, the |
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| 42 | 42 | | commissioner of education shall adopt rules necessary to implement |
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| 43 | 43 | | Subsections (c-1) and (c-2), Section 30.002, Education Code, as |
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| 44 | 44 | | added by this Act. |
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| 45 | 45 | | (b) Not later than the beginning of the 2014-2015 school |
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| 46 | 46 | | year, Subsections (c-1) and (c-2), Section 30.002, Education Code, |
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| 47 | 47 | | as added by this Act, shall be implemented. |
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| 48 | 48 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 49 | 49 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 50 | 50 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 51 | 51 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 52 | 52 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |
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| 53 | 53 | | * * * * * |
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