| 15 | | - | Sec. 29.023. NOTICE OF RIGHTS; COST RECOVERY PROGRAM. (a) |
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| 16 | | - | The agency shall develop a notice for distribution as provided by |
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| 17 | | - | Subsection (c) and posting on the agency's Internet website that |
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| 18 | | - | indicates: |
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| 19 | | - | (1) the change made from 2016 to 2017 in reporting |
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| 20 | | - | requirements for school districts and open-enrollment charter |
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| 21 | | - | schools regarding the special education representation indicator |
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| 22 | | - | adopted in the Performance-Based Monitoring Analysis System |
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| 23 | | - | Manual; and |
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| 24 | | - | (2) in plain language, the rights of a child under both |
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| 25 | | - | federal and state law and the general process available to initiate |
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| 26 | | - | a referral of a child for a full individual and initial evaluation |
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| 27 | | - | under Section 29.004 to determine the child's eligibility for |
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| 28 | | - | special education services. |
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| 29 | | - | (b) A school district or open-enrollment charter school |
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| 30 | | - | shall include in the notice developed by the agency under |
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| 31 | | - | Subsection (a) information indicating where the local processes and |
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| 32 | | - | procedures for initiating a referral for special education services |
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| 33 | | - | eligibility evaluation may be found. |
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| 34 | | - | (c) By a date established by the commissioner, each school |
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| 35 | | - | district or open-enrollment charter school shall provide the notice |
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| 36 | | - | to the parent of each child who attends school in the district or at |
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| 37 | | - | the school at any time during the 2017-2018 school year. A school |
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| 38 | | - | district or open-enrollment charter school shall also make the |
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| 39 | | - | notice available on request to any person. The notice must be |
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| 40 | | - | available in English and Spanish, and a school district or |
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| 41 | | - | open-enrollment charter school shall make a good faith effort to |
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| 42 | | - | provide the notice in the parent's native language if the parent's |
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| 43 | | - | native language is a language other than English or Spanish. |
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| 44 | | - | (d) The notice is in addition to requirements imposed by |
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| 45 | | - | Section 26.0081. |
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| 46 | | - | (e) Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, from federal |
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| 47 | | - | funds available for this purpose, the agency shall establish a |
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| 48 | | - | reimbursement fund from which school districts and open-enrollment |
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| 49 | | - | charter schools may apply and receive cost reimbursement if the |
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| 50 | | - | district or school experiences a significant increase from the |
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| 51 | | - | preceding school year in the number of full individual and initial |
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| 52 | | - | evaluations conducted under Section 29.004. A decision by the |
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| 53 | | - | commissioner to provide reimbursement from the fund is final and |
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| 54 | | - | may not be appealed. |
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| 12 | + | Sec. 29.023. SPECIAL EDUCATION RECOVERY PROGRAM. (a) The |
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| 13 | + | agency shall develop and operate a special education recovery |
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| 14 | + | program for the benefit of students who may have been negatively |
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| 15 | + | affected by the agency's use of a performance indicator under the |
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| 16 | + | performance-based monitoring analysis system that evaluated the |
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| 17 | + | percentage of the total number of enrolled students of a school |
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| 18 | + | district who received special education services. |
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| 19 | + | (b) In operating the program, the agency shall: |
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| 20 | + | (1) identify each student who, during the 2004-2005 |
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| 21 | + | through 2016-2017 school years, was denied special education |
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| 22 | + | services by a school district designated for the program in |
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| 23 | + | accordance with Subsection (c); |
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| 24 | + | (2) subject to Subsection (d), provide notice to the |
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| 25 | + | parent of each identified student that the student is entitled to |
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| 26 | + | reevaluation of eligibility for special education services if |
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| 27 | + | requested by the parent; and |
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| 28 | + | (3) make arrangements for: |
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| 29 | + | (A) the reevaluation of each student whose parent |
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| 30 | + | requests reevaluation; and |
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| 31 | + | (B) the provision of special education services |
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| 32 | + | to a student determined to be eligible for services. |
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| 33 | + | (c) The agency shall designate for participation in the |
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| 34 | + | program each school district in which the participation of students |
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| 35 | + | in the district's special education program declined as follows: |
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| 36 | + | (1) the number of district students receiving special |
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| 37 | + | education services during the 2016-2017 school year was at least |
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| 38 | + | 200 fewer than the number of district students receiving special |
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| 39 | + | education services during the 2004-2005 school year; or |
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| 40 | + | (2) the district's enrollment rate of students |
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| 41 | + | receiving special education services during the 2016-2017 school |
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| 42 | + | year was at least 75 percent less than the district's enrollment |
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| 43 | + | rate of students receiving special education services during the |
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| 44 | + | 2004-2005 school year. |
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| 45 | + | (d) The agency is not required to provide notification under |
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| 46 | + | Subsection (b)(2) or take further action in accordance with this |
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| 47 | + | section if the identified student is 21 years of age or older. |
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| 48 | + | (e) The agency shall operate the program using federal funds |
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| 49 | + | available to the agency for statewide special education activities. |
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