86R12273 JES-F
By: Howard H.B. No. 4126
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a required training course for persons serving as
special education representatives and hearing officers at
impartial due process hearings.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 29.0162(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The commissioner by rule shall adopt additional
qualifications and requirements for a representative for purposes
of Subsection (a)(2). The rules must:
(1) prohibit an individual from being a representative
under Subsection (a)(2) opposing a school district if:
(A) the individual has prior employment
experience with the district; and
(B) the district raises an objection to the
individual serving as a representative;
(2) include requirements that the representative have
knowledge of:
(A) special education due process rules,
hearings, and procedure; and
(B) federal and state special education laws;
(3) require, if the representative receives monetary
compensation from a person for representation in an impartial due
process hearing, that the representative agree to abide by a
[voluntary] code of ethics and professional conduct during the
period of representation; [and]
(4) require, if the representative receives monetary
compensation from a person for representation in an impartial due
process hearing, that the representative enter into a written
agreement for representation with the person who is the subject of
the special education due process hearing that includes a process
for resolving any disputes between the representative and the
person; and
(5) require, if the representative is not a parent of
or person standing in parental relation to the student being
represented in an impartial due process hearing, that the
representative complete a special education law training course in
accordance with Section 29.0165 before the hearing.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.0165 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.0165. SPECIAL EDUCATION LAW TRAINING COURSE FOR DUE
PROCESS HEARINGS. (a) The agency shall develop and offer a
training course on special education law for persons serving as
representatives for students or as hearing officers for impartial
due process hearings. The course must be approved by the
commissioner and require a participant to:
(1) complete at least 30 hours of instruction in
special education law; and
(2) pass an examination at the end of the course.
(b) The commissioner must approve any examination
administered under this section.
(c) A person may not serve as a representative for a student
or a hearing officer at an impartial due process hearing under this
chapter unless the person has completed the training required by
this section and satisfactorily passed the course examination.
SECTION 3. (a) This Act applies beginning with the
2020-2021 school year.
(b) As soon as practicable after the effective date of this
Act:
(1) the commissioner of education shall adopt rules
necessary to implement the changes in law made by this Act; and
(2) the Texas Education Agency shall develop the
special education law training course required by Section 29.0165,
Education Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2019.