88R2599 DIO-F
By: Bucy H.B. No. 2125
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 or as facilitators for
individualized education program facilitation.
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 AND INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACILITATION. (a) In this section, "council" means the Texas
Council for Developmental Disabilities.
(b) The agency shall contract with the council to have the
council 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 or as
facilitators for individualized education program facilitation.
The course must be approved by the executive director of the council
and require a participant to:
(1) complete at least 30 hours of instruction in
special education law; and
(2) pass an examination adopted by the council.
(c) The executive director of the council must approve any
examination administered under this section.
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), a person may not
serve as a representative for a student or as a hearing officer at
an impartial due process hearing or as a facilitator for
individualized education program facilitation under this chapter
unless the person has completed the training required by this
section and satisfactorily passed the course examination.
(e) A person may serve as a facilitator for a school
district's individualized education program facilitation under
Section 29.019 without completing the training required by
Subsection (b)(1) if:
(1) the person:
(A) is certified in special education; or
(B) has served as a facilitator for at least five
years; and
(2) the person satisfactorily passes the examination
administered under Subsection (b)(2).
(f) The agency may use any federal funds received under Part
B, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)(20 U.S.C.
Section 1411 et seq.), to administer this section.
SECTION 3. (a) This Act applies beginning with the
2023-2024 school year.
(b) As soon as practicable after the effective date of this
Act:
(1) the commissioner of education or the Texas Council
for Developmental Disabilities, as appropriate, shall adopt rules
necessary to implement the changes in law made by this Act; and
(2) the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities
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, 2023.