| (a) Each school district must establish an admission,
review, and dismissal (ARD) committee for each eligible student with
a disability and for each student for whom a full individual and initial
evaluation is conducted pursuant to §89.1011 of this title (relating
to Full Individual and Initial Evaluation). The ARD committee is the
individualized education program (IEP) team defined in federal law
and regulations, including, specifically, 34 Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR), §300.321. The school district is responsible for all of
the functions for which the IEP team is responsible under federal
law and regulations and for which the ARD committee is responsible
under state law, including the following:
(1) 34 CFR, §§300.320-300.325, and Texas
Education Code (TEC), §29.005 (individualized education programs);
(2) 34 CFR, §§300.145-300.147 (relating to
placement of eligible students in private schools by a school district);
(3) 34 CFR, §§300.132, 300.138, and 300.139
(relating to the development and implementation of service plans for
eligible students placed by parents in private school who have been
designated to receive special education and related services);
(4) 34 CFR, §300.530 and §300.531, and TEC, §37.004
(disciplinary placement of students with disabilities);
(5) 34 CFR, §§300.302-300.306 (relating to
evaluations, re-evaluations, and determination of eligibility);
(6) 34 CFR, §§300.114-300.117 (relating to
least restrictive environment);
(7) TEC, §28.006 (Reading Diagnosis);
(8) TEC, §28.0211 (Satisfactory Performance on
Assessment Instruments Required; Accelerated Instruction);
(9) TEC, §28.0212 (Junior High or Middle School
Personal Graduation Plan);
(10) TEC, §28.0213 (Intensive Program of Instruction);
(11) TEC, Chapter 29, Subchapter I (Programs for Students
Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing);
(12) TEC, §30.002 (Education for Children with
Visual Impairments);
(13) TEC, §30.003 (Support of Students Enrolled
in the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired or Texas School
for the Deaf);
(14) TEC, §33.081 (Extracurricular Activities);
(15) TEC, Chapter 39, Subchapter B (Assessment of Academic
Skills); and
(16) TEC, §48.102 (Special Education).
(b) For a student from birth through two years of age
with a visual impairment or who is deaf or hard of hearing, an individualized
family services plan (IFSP) meeting must be held in place of an ARD
committee meeting in accordance with 34 CFR, §§300.320-300.324,
and the memorandum of understanding between the Texas Education Agency
and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. For students three
years of age and older, school districts must develop an IEP.
(c) ARD committee membership.
(1) ARD committees must include the following:
(A) the parents of the student;
(B) not less than one regular education teacher of
the student (if the student is, or may be, participating in the regular
education environment) who must, to the extent practicable, be a teacher
who is responsible for implementing a portion of the student's IEP;
(C) not less than one special education teacher of
the student, or where appropriate, not less than one special education
provider of the student;
(D) a representative of the school district who:
(i) is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision
of, specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of students
with disabilities;
(ii) is knowledgeable about the general education curriculum;
and
(iii) is knowledgeable about the availability of resources
of the school district;
(E) an individual who can interpret the instructional
implications of evaluation results, who may be a member of the committee
described in subparagraphs (B)-(D) and (F) of this paragraph;
(F) at the discretion of the parent or the school district,
other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding
the student, including related services personnel, as appropriate;
(G) whenever appropriate, the student with a disability;
(H) to the extent appropriate, with the consent of
the parents or a student who has reached the age of majority, a representative
of any participating agency that is likely to be responsible for providing
or paying for transition services;
(I) a representative from career and technical education
(CTE), preferably the teacher, when considering initial or continued
placement of a student in CTE; and
(J) a professional staff member who is on the language
proficiency assessment committee who may be a member of the committee
described in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of this paragraph, if the student
is identified as an English language learner.
(2) The special education teacher or special education
provider that participates in the ARD committee meeting must be appropriately
certified or licensed as required by 34 CFR, §300.156.
(3) If the student is:
(A) a student with a suspected or documented visual
impairment, the ARD committee must include a teacher who is certified
in the education of students with visual impairments;
(B) a student who is suspected or documented to be
deaf or hard of hearing, the ARD committee must include a teacher
who is certified in the education of students who are deaf or hard
of hearing; or
(C) a student with suspected or documented deaf-blindness,
the ARD committee must include a teacher who is certified in the education
of students with visual impairments and a teacher who is certified
in the education of students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
(4) An ARD committee member is not required to attend
an ARD committee meeting if the conditions of either 34 CFR, §300.321(e)(1),
regarding attendance, or 34 CFR, §300.321(e)(2), regarding excusal,
have been met.
(d) The school district must take steps to ensure that
one or both parents are present at each ARD committee meeting or are
afforded the opportunity to participate, including notifying the parents
of the meeting early enough to ensure that they will have an opportunity
to attend and scheduling the meeting at a mutually agreed upon time
and place. Additionally, a school district must allow parents who
cannot attend an ARD committee meeting to participate in the meeting
through other methods such as through telephone calls or video conferencing.
The school district must provide the parents with written notice of
the ARD committee meeting that meets the requirements in 34 CFR, §300.322,
at least five school days before the meeting unless the parents agree
to a shorter timeframe.
(e) Upon receipt of a written request for an ARD committee
meeting from a parent, the school district must:
(1) schedule and convene a meeting in accordance with
the procedures in subsection (d) of this section; or
(2) within five school days, provide the parent with
written notice explaining why the district refuses to convene a meeting.
(f) The school district must provide the parent with
a written notice required under subsection (d) or (e)(2) of this section
in the parent's native language, unless it is clearly not feasible
to do so. If the parent's native language is not a written language,
the school district must take steps to ensure that the notice is translated
orally or by other means to the parent in his or her native language
or other mode of communication so that the parent understands the
content of the notice.
(g) All members of the ARD committee must have the
opportunity to participate in a collaborative manner in developing
the IEP. The school district must take all reasonable actions necessary
to ensure that the parent understands the proceedings of the ARD committee
meeting, including arranging for an interpreter for parents who are
deaf or hard of hearing or whose native language is a language other
than English. A decision of the ARD committee concerning required
elements of the IEP must be made by mutual agreement if possible.
The ARD committee may agree to an annual IEP or an IEP of shorter
duration.
(1) When mutual agreement about all required elements
of the IEP is not achieved, the parent who disagrees must be offered
a single opportunity to recess and reconvene the ARD committee meeting.
The period of time for reconvening the ARD committee meeting must
not exceed ten school days, unless the parties mutually agree otherwise.
The ARD committee must schedule the reconvened meeting at a mutually
agreed upon time and place. The opportunity to recess and reconvene
is not required when the student's presence on the campus presents
a danger of physical harm to the student or others or when the student
has committed an expellable offense or an offense that may lead to
a placement in a disciplinary alternative education program. The requirements
of this subsection do not prohibit the ARD committee from recessing
an ARD committee meeting for reasons other than the failure to reach
mutual agreement about all required elements of an IEP.
(2) During the recess, the ARD committee members must
consider alternatives, gather additional data, prepare further documentation,
and/or obtain additional resource persons who may assist in enabling
the ARD committee to reach mutual agreement.
(3) If a recess is implemented as provided in paragraph
(1) of this subsection and the ARD committee still cannot reach mutual
agreement, the school district must implement the IEP that it has
determined to be appropriate for the student.
(4) Each member of the ARD committee who disagrees
with the IEP developed by the ARD committee is entitled to include
a statement of disagreement in the IEP.
(h) Whenever a school district proposes or refuses
to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational
placement of a student or the provision of a free appropriate public
education to the student, the school district must provide prior written
notice as required in 34 CFR, §300.503, including providing the
notice in the parent's native language or other mode of communication.
This notice must be provided to the parent at least five school days
before the school district proposes or refuses the action unless the
parent agrees to a shorter timeframe.
(i) If the student's parent is unable to speak English
and the parent's native language is Spanish, the school district must
provide a written copy or audio recording of the student's IEP translated
into Spanish. If the student's parent is unable to speak English and
the parent's native language is a language other than Spanish, the
school district must make a good faith effort to provide a written
copy or audio recording of the student's IEP translated into the parent's
native language.
(1) For purposes of this subsection, a written copy
of the student's IEP translated into Spanish or the parent's native
language means that all of the text in the student's IEP in English
is accurately translated into the target language in written form.
The IEP translated into the target language must be a comparable rendition
of the IEP in English and not a partial translation or summary of
the IEP in English.
(2) For purposes of this subsection, an audio recording
of the student's IEP translated into Spanish or the parent's native
language means that all of the content in the student's IEP in English
is orally translated into the target language and recorded with an
audio device. A school district is not prohibited from providing the
parent with an audio recording of an ARD committee meeting at which
the parent was assisted by an interpreter as long as the audio recording
provided to the parent contains an oral translation into the target
language of all of the content in the student's IEP in English.
(3) If a parent's native language is not a written
language, the school district must take steps to ensure that the student's
IEP is translated orally or by other means to the parent in his or
her native language or other mode of communication.
(4) Under 34 CFR, §300.322(f), a school district
must give a parent a written copy of the student's IEP at no cost
to the parent. A school district meets this requirement by providing
a parent with a written copy of the student's IEP in English or by
providing a parent with a written translation of the student's IEP
in the parent's native language in accordance with paragraph (1) of
this subsection.
(j) A school district must comply with the following
for a student who is new to the school district.
(1) When a student transfers to a new school district
within the state in the same school year and the parents or previous
school district verifies that the student had an IEP that was in effect
in the previous district, the new school district must meet the requirements
of 34 CFR, §300.323(e), regarding the provision of special education
services. The timeline for completing the requirements outlined in
34 CFR, §300.323(e)(1) or (2), is 20 school days from the date
the student is verified as being a student eligible for special education
services.
Cont'd... |
