The secondary program of a student receiving special education services shall terminate either with graduation or when the student no longer meets the age requirement for eligibility in the Texas Education Code (TEC), §29.001 and §29.003. A student receiving special education services who is younger than 22 years of age on September 1 of a scholastic year shall be eligible for services through the end of that scholastic year or until graduation, whichever comes first. (1) Graduation constitutes a release from services and is a change in placement. A student may be graduated according to the provisions specified in either paragraph (2), (3), or (6) of this section. (2) A student receiving special education services may graduate upon satisfactorily completing the minimum academic credit requirements for graduation applicable to students in regular education, including satisfactory performance on the exit level assessment
instrument. (3) A student receiving special education services may also graduate upon the admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee determining that the student has completed requirements specified in the individual educational plan (IEP), including minimum credit requirements, which have resulted in one of the following: (A) full-time employment, based on the student's abilities and local employment opportunities, in addition to sufficient self-help skills to enable the student to maintain the employment without direct and ongoing educational support of the local school district; (B) demonstrated mastery of specific employability skills and self-help skills which do not require direct ongoing educational support of the local school district; or (C) access to services which are not within the legal responsibility of public education, or employment or educational options for which the student
has been prepared by the academic program. (4) When considering graduation under paragraph (3) of this subsection, the ARD committee shall, when appropriate, seek in writing and consider written recommendations from appropriate adult service agencies and the views of the parent and, when appropriate, the student. (5) Employability and self-help skills referenced under paragraph (3) of this subsection are those skills directly related to the preparation of students for employment, including general skills necessary to obtain or retain employment. (6) A student receiving special education services may also graduate upon the ARD committee determining that the student no longer meets age eligibility requirements and has completed the requirements specified in the IEP. (7) For students who graduate according to paragraph (3) of this subsection, the ARD committee shall determine whether educational services will
be resumed upon the request of the student or parent, as appropriate, so long as the student meets the age eligibility requirement. (8) Students with disabilities who are eligible to take the exit level assessment instrument but have not performed satisfactorily are eligible for instruction in accordance with the TEC, §39.024.
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