(a) Referral of students for a full individual and
initial evaluation for possible special education services must be
a part of the district's overall, general education referral or screening
system. Students experiencing difficulty in the general classroom
should be considered for all support services available to all students,
such as tutorial; remedial; compensatory; response to evidence-based
intervention; and other academic or behavior support services. A student
is not required to be provided with interventions for any specific
length of time prior to a referral being made or a full individual
and initial evaluation being conducted. If the student continues to
experience difficulty in the general classroom with the provision
of interventions, district personnel must refer the student for a
full individual and initial evaluation. A referral for a full individual
and initial evaluation may be initiated at any time by school personnel,
the student's parents or legal guardian, or another person involved
in the education or care of the student.
(b) If a parent submits a written request to a school
district's director of special education services or to a district
administrative employee for a full individual and initial evaluation
of a student, the school district must, not later than the 15th school
day after the date the district receives the request:
(1) provide the parent with prior written notice of
its proposal to conduct an evaluation consistent with 34 Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR), §300.503; a copy of the procedural safeguards
notice required by 34 CFR, §300.504; and an opportunity to give
written consent for the evaluation; or
(2) provide the parent with prior written notice of
its refusal to conduct an evaluation consistent with 34 CFR, §300.503,
and a copy of the procedural safeguards notice required by 34 CFR, §300.504.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a
written report of a full individual and initial evaluation of a student
must be completed as follows:
(1) not later than the 45th school day following the
date on which the school district receives written consent for the
evaluation from the student's parent, except that if a student has
been absent from school during that period on three or more school
days, that period must be extended by a number of school days equal
to the number of school days during that period on which the student
has been absent; or
(2) for students under five years of age by September
1 of the school year and not enrolled in public school and for students
enrolled in a private or home school setting, not later than the 45th
school day following the date on which the school district receives
written consent for the evaluation from the student's parent.
(d) The admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee
must make its decisions regarding a student's initial eligibility
determination and, if appropriate, individualized education program
(IEP) and placement within 30 calendar days from the date of the completion
of the written full individual and initial evaluation report. If the
30th day falls during the summer and school is not in session, the
student's ARD committee has until the first day of classes in the
fall to finalize decisions concerning the student's initial eligibility
determination, IEP, and placement, unless the full individual and
initial evaluation indicates that the student will need extended school
year services during that summer.
(e) Notwithstanding the timelines in subsections (c)
and (d) of this section, if the school district received the written
consent for the evaluation from the student's parent at least 35 but
less than 45 school days before the last instructional day of the
school year, the written report of a full individual and initial evaluation
of a student must be provided to the student's parent not later than
June 30 of that year. The student's ARD committee must meet not later
than the 15th school day of the following school year to consider
the evaluation. If, however, the student was absent from school three
or more days between the time that the school district received written
consent and the last instructional day of the school year, the timeline
in subsection (c)(1) of this section applies to the date the written
report of the full individual and initial evaluation is required.
If an initial evaluation completed not later than June 30 indicates
that the student will need extended school year services during that
summer, the ARD committee must meet as expeditiously as possible.
(f) If a student was in the process of being evaluated
for special education eligibility by a school district and enrolls
in another school district before the previous school district completed
the full individual and initial evaluation, the new school district
must coordinate with the previous school district as necessary and
as expeditiously as possible to ensure a prompt completion of the
evaluation in accordance with 34 CFR, §300.301(d)(2) and (e)
and §300.304(c)(5). The timelines in subsections (c) and (e)
of this section do not apply in such a situation if:
(1) the new school district is making sufficient progress
to ensure a prompt completion of the evaluation; and
(2) the parent and the new school district agree to
a specific time when the evaluation will be completed.
(g) For purposes of subsections (b), (c), and (e) of
this section, school day does not include a day that falls after the
last instructional day of the spring school term and before the first
instructional day of the subsequent fall school term.
(h) For purposes of subsections (c)(1) and (e) of this
section, a student is considered absent for the school day if the
student is not in attendance at the school's official attendance taking
time or at the alternate attendance taking time set for that student.
A student is considered in attendance if the student is off campus
participating in an activity that is approved by the school board
and is under the direction of a professional staff member of the school
district, or an adjunct staff member who has a minimum of a bachelor's
degree and is eligible for participation in the Teacher Retirement
System of Texas.
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Source Note: The provisions of this §89.1011 adopted to be effective September 1, 1996, 21 TexReg 7240; amended to be effective March 6, 2001, 26 TexReg 1837; amended to be effective November 16, 2003, 28 TexReg 9830; amended to be effective November 11, 2007, 32 TexReg 8129; amended to be effective January 1, 2015, 39 TexReg 10446; amended to be effective February 15, 2018, 43 TexReg 763; amended to be effective March 14, 2021, 46 TexReg 1466 |