Enrolled Bill Summary

            Senate Bill 1735 amends the Education Code to conform to federal statutes state laws regarding special education programs for students with disabilities. The bill requires any disciplinary action regarding a student with disabilities that would constitute a change in placement under federal law to occur only after a manifestation determination review by the student's admission, review, and dismissal committee, and such action must be determined in accordance with all applicable federal law and regulations. The bill requires a teacher in a disciplinary alternative education program who has a special education assignment to hold an appropriate certificate or permit for that assignment.

            The bill allows a special education hearing officer, in a due process hearing, to order without parental consent one or more evaluations of a student who is eligible, or who is thought to be eligible, for special education services, and it makes that order equivalent to a court order for purposes of any state or federal law providing for consent by order of a court.

            The bill also amends the Education Code and Family Code to transfer parental rights regarding the education of a child, including the right to make certain educational decisions, from a parent to a student who has attained the age of 18 or has been declared an adult by a court, and to grant a student with a disability who is 18 years of age or older or is no longer legally a minor the same right to make educational decisions as an adult student without a disability. The bill includes an exception to the transfer of parental rights to provide that a district that is required to provide certain parental notification under state or federal law must provide notice to both the student and the parents.