By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1119
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the educational rights of students who are deaf and/or
1-2 hard of hearing.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Chapter 21, Education Code, is amended by adding
1-5 Subchapter W to read as follows:
1-6 SUBCHAPTER W. EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS OF STUDENTS WHO ARE
1-7 DEAF AND/OR HARD OF HEARING
1-8 Sec. 21.801. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
1-9 (1) "Admission, review, and dismissal committee" means
1-10 the committee required by State Board of Education rules to develop
1-11 the individualized education program required by the federal
1-12 Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1400
1-13 et seq.) for any student needing special education.
1-14 (2) "English" includes writing, reading, speech,
1-15 speech reading, cued speech, and any English-based manual-visual
1-16 method of communication.
1-17 (3) "American Sign Language" means a complete, visual,
1-18 and manual language with its own grammar and syntax.
1-19 (4) "Unique or appropriate communication or language
1-20 modes" includes English and American Sign Language.
1-21 Sec. 21.802. FINDINGS. (a) The legislature finds that it
1-22 is essential for the well-being and growth of students who are deaf
1-23 and/or hard of hearing that educational programs recognize the
1-24 unique nature of deafness and the hard-of-hearing condition and
2-1 ensure that all students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing have
2-2 appropriate, ongoing, and fully accessible educational
2-3 opportunities. Students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing may
2-4 choose to use a variety of language modes and languages, including
2-5 oral and manual-visual language. Students who are deaf may choose
2-6 to communicate through the language of the deaf community, American
2-7 Sign Language, or through any of a number of English-based
2-8 manual-visual languages. Students who are hard of hearing may
2-9 choose to use spoken and written English, including speech reading
2-10 or lip reading, together with amplification instruments, such as
2-11 hearing aids, cochlear implants, or assistive listening systems, to
2-12 communicate with the hearing population. Students who are deaf
2-13 and/or hard of hearing may choose to use a combination of oral or
2-14 manual-visual language systems, including cued speech, manual
2-15 signed systems, and American Sign Language, or may rely exclusively
2-16 on the oral-aural language of their choice. Students who are deaf
2-17 and/or hard of hearing also may use other technologies to enhance
2-18 language learning.
2-19 (b) The legislature recognizes that students who are deaf
2-20 and/or hard of hearing should have the opportunity to develop
2-21 proficiency in English, including oral or manual-visual methods of
2-22 communication, and American Sign Language.
2-23 Sec. 21.803. UNIQUE COMMUNICATION. Students who are deaf
2-24 and/or hard of hearing must have an education in which their unique
2-25 communication mode is respected, used, and developed to an
2-26 appropriate level of proficiency.
2-27 Sec. 21.804. QUALIFICATIONS OF PERSONNEL. (a) Students who
3-1 are deaf and/or hard of hearing must have an education in which
3-2 teachers, psychologists, speech therapists, progress assessors,
3-3 administrators, and others involved in education understand the
3-4 unique nature of deafness and the hard-of-hearing condition.
3-5 Teachers of students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing either
3-6 must be proficient in appropriate language modes or use an
3-7 interpreter certified in appropriate language modes if
3-8 certification is available.
3-9 (b) Appropriate qualified staff shall be employed with
3-10 proficient communications skills, consistent with credentialing
3-11 requirements, to fulfill the responsibilities of the local school
3-12 district, and positive efforts must be made to employ qualified
3-13 individuals with disabilities.
3-14 (c) Regular and special personnel who work with students who
3-15 are deaf and/or hard of hearing must be adequately prepared to
3-16 provide educational instruction and services to those students.
3-17 Sec. 21.805. LANGUAGE MODE PEERS. If practicable and not in
3-18 conflict with any admission, review, and dismissal committee
3-19 recommendations, students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing must
3-20 have an education in the company of a sufficient number of peers
3-21 using the same language mode and with whom they can communicate
3-22 directly. If practicable, the peers must be of the same or
3-23 approximately the same age and ability.
3-24 Sec. 21.806. FAMILIAL AND ADVOCATE INVOLVEMENT. Students
3-25 who are deaf and/or hard of hearing must have an education in which
3-26 their parents or legal guardians and advocates for their parents or
3-27 legal guardians are involved in determining the extent, content,
4-1 and purpose of programs. Other individuals, including individuals
4-2 who are deaf and/or hard of hearing, may be involved at the
4-3 discretion of parents or legal guardians or the school district.
4-4 Sec. 21.807. ROLE MODELS. Students who are deaf and/or hard
4-5 of hearing shall be given the opportunity to be exposed to deaf or
4-6 hard-of-hearing role models.
4-7 Sec. 21.808. REGIONAL PROGRAMS. Regional programs for
4-8 students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing shall meet the unique
4-9 communication needs of students who can benefit from those
4-10 programs. Appropriate funding for those programs shall be
4-11 consistent with federal and state law, and money appropriated to
4-12 school districts for educational programs and services for students
4-13 who are deaf and/or hard of hearing may not be allocated or used
4-14 for any other program or service.
4-15 Sec. 21.809. COMPOSITION OF LOCAL SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY
4-16 COMMITTEE. If practicable, in a school district in which there are
4-17 students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing, the local special
4-18 education advisory committee required under State Board of
4-19 Education rule must include persons who are deaf and/or hard of
4-20 hearing and parents and legal guardians of students who are deaf
4-21 and/or hard of hearing.
4-22 Sec. 21.810. PROCEDURES AND MATERIALS FOR ASSESSMENT AND
4-23 PLACEMENT. (a) Procedures and materials for assessment and
4-24 placement of students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing shall be
4-25 selected and administered so as not to be racially, culturally, or
4-26 sexually discriminatory.
4-27 (b) A single assessment instrument may not be the sole
5-1 criterion for determining the placement of a child.
5-2 (c) The procedures and materials for the assessment and
5-3 placement of a student who is deaf and/or hard of hearing shall be
5-4 in the student's preferred mode of communication. All other
5-5 procedures and materials used with any student who is deaf and/or
5-6 hard of hearing who has limited English proficiency shall be in the
5-7 student's preferred mode of communication.
5-8 Sec. 21.811. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS. (a) Educational
5-9 programs for students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing must be
5-10 coordinated with other public and private agencies, including:
5-11 (1) early childhood intervention programs;
5-12 (2) preschools;
5-13 (3) child development programs;
5-14 (4) nonpublic, nonsectarian schools;
5-15 (5) regional occupational centers and programs; and
5-16 (6) the Texas School for the Deaf.
5-17 (b) As appropriate, the programs must also be coordinated
5-18 with postsecondary and adult programs for persons who are deaf
5-19 and/or hard of hearing.
5-20 Sec. 21.812. PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING SERVICES. Appropriate
5-21 psychological counseling services for a student who is deaf and/or
5-22 hard of hearing shall be made available at the student's school
5-23 site in the student's primary mode of communication. In the case
5-24 of a student who is hard of hearing, appropriate auditory systems
5-25 to enhance oral communication shall be used if required by the
5-26 student's admission, review, and dismissal committee.
5-27 Sec. 21.813. EVALUATION OF PROGRAMS. Each school district
6-1 must provide continuous evaluation of the effectiveness of programs
6-2 of the district for students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing.
6-3 If practicable, evaluations shall follow program excellence
6-4 indicators established by the Central Education Agency.
6-5 Sec. 21.814. TRANSITION INTO REGULAR CLASS. In addition to
6-6 satisfying requirements of the admission, review, and dismissal
6-7 committee and to satisfying requirements under state and federal
6-8 law for vocational training, each school district shall develop and
6-9 implement a transition plan for the transition of a student who is
6-10 deaf and/or hard of hearing into a regular class program if the
6-11 student is to be transferred from a special class or center or
6-12 nonpublic, nonsectarian school into a regular class in a public
6-13 school for any part of the school day. The transition plan must
6-14 provide for activities:
6-15 (1) to integrate the student into the regular
6-16 education program and specify the nature of each activity and the
6-17 time spent on the activity each day; and
6-18 (2) to support the transition of the student from the
6-19 special education program into the regular education program.
6-20 SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 1993-1994
6-21 school year.
6-22 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
6-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-27 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
7-1 passage, and it is so enacted.