(a) A student's admission, review, and dismissal (ARD)
committee may place the student at the Texas School for the Blind
and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) or the Texas School for the Deaf (TSD)
in accordance with the provisions of 34 Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR), Part 300; the Texas Education Code (TEC), including, specifically, §§30.021,
30.051, and 30.057; and the applicable rules of this subchapter.
(b) In the event that a student is placed by his or
her ARD committee at either the TSBVI or the TSD, the student's "resident
school district," as defined in subsection (e) of this section, shall
be responsible for assuring that a free appropriate public education
(FAPE) is provided to the student at the TSBVI or the TSD, as applicable,
in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA), 20 United States Code (USC), §§1400 et seq.; 34
CFR, Part 300; state statutes; and rules of the State Board of Education
(SBOE), the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC), and the
commissioner of education. If representatives of the resident school
district and representatives of the TSBVI or the TSD disagree, as
members of a student's ARD committee, with respect to a recommendation
by one or more members of the student's ARD committee that the student
be evaluated for placement, initially placed, or continued to be placed
at the TSBVI or TSD, as applicable, the representatives of the resident
school district and the TSBVI or TSD, as applicable, may seek resolution
through the mediation procedures adopted by the Texas Education Agency
or through any due process hearing to which the resident school district
or the TSBVI or the TSD are entitled under the IDEA, 20 USC, §§1400,
et seq.
(c) When a student's ARD committee places the student
at the TSBVI or the TSD, the student's resident school district shall
comply with the following requirements.
(1) For each student, the resident school district
shall list those services in the student's individualized education
program (IEP) which the TSBVI or the TSD can appropriately provide.
(2) The district may make an onsite visit to verify
that the TSBVI or the TSD can and will offer the services listed in
the individual student's IEP and to ensure that the school offers
an appropriate educational program for the student.
(3) For each student, the resident school district
shall include in the student's IEP the criteria and estimated timelines
for returning the student to the resident school district.
(d) In addition to the provisions of subsections (a)-(c)
of this section, and as provided in TEC, §30.057, the TSD shall
provide services in accordance with TEC, §30.051, to any eligible
student with a disability for whom the TSD is an appropriate placement
if the student has been referred for admission by the student's parent
or legal guardian, a person with legal authority to act in place of
the parent or legal guardian, or the student, if the student is age
18 or older, at any time during the school year if the referring person
chooses the TSD as the appropriate placement for the student rather
than placement in the student's resident school district or regional
program determined by the student's ARD committee. For students placed
at the TSD pursuant to this subsection, the TSD shall be responsible
for assuring that a FAPE is provided to the student at the TSD, in
accordance with IDEA, 20 USC, §§1400, et seq.; 34 CFR, Part
300; state statutes; and rules of the SBOE, the SBEC, and the commissioner.
(e) For purposes of this section and §89.1090
of this title (relating to Transportation of Students Placed in the
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Texas School
for the Deaf), the "resident school district" is the school district
in which the student would be enrolled under TEC, §25.001, if
the student were not placed at the TSBVI or the TSD. If the student
is enrolled in an open-enrollment charter school at the time of placement
in the TSBVI or TSD, then the open-enrollment charter school is considered
the resident school district for purposes of this section and §89.1090
of this title, since the student's IEP will include the criteria and
estimated timelines for returning the student to that school.
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