By Zaffirini S.B. No. 227
74R1424 KKA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the educational rights of students who are deaf or hard
1-3 of hearing.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 21, Education Code, is amended by adding
1-6 Subchapter W to read as follows:
1-7 SUBCHAPTER W. EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS OF STUDENTS WHO ARE
1-8 DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING
1-9 Sec. 21.801. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
1-10 (1) "Admission, review, and dismissal committee" means
1-11 the committee required by State Board of Education rules to develop
1-12 the individualized education program required by the Individuals
1-13 With Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1400 et seq.)
1-14 for any student needing special education.
1-15 (2) "American Sign Language" means a complete, visual,
1-16 and manual language with its own grammar and syntax.
1-17 (3) "English" includes writing, reading, speech,
1-18 speech reading, cued speech, and any English-based manual-visual
1-19 method of communication.
1-20 (4) "Unique communication mode" or "appropriate
1-21 language mode" includes English and American Sign Language.
1-22 Sec. 21.802. FINDINGS. (a) The legislature finds that it
1-23 is essential for the well-being and growth of students who are deaf
1-24 or hard of hearing that educational programs recognize the unique
2-1 nature of deafness and the hard-of-hearing condition and ensure
2-2 that all students who are deaf or hard of hearing have appropriate,
2-3 ongoing, and fully accessible educational opportunities. Students
2-4 who are deaf or hard of hearing may choose to use a variety of
2-5 language modes and languages, including oral and manual-visual
2-6 language. Students who are deaf may choose to communicate through
2-7 the language of the deaf community, American Sign Language, or
2-8 through any of a number of English-based manual-visual languages.
2-9 Students who are hard of hearing may choose to use spoken and
2-10 written English, including speech reading or lip reading, together
2-11 with amplification instruments, such as hearing aids, cochlear
2-12 implants, or assistive listening systems, to communicate with the
2-13 hearing population. Students who are deaf or hard of hearing may
2-14 choose to use a combination of oral or manual-visual language
2-15 systems, including cued speech, manual signed systems, and American
2-16 Sign Language, or may rely exclusively on the oral-aural language
2-17 of their choice. Students who are deaf or hard of hearing also may
2-18 use other technologies to enhance language learning.
2-19 (b) The legislature recognizes that students who are deaf or
2-20 hard of hearing should have the opportunity to develop proficiency
2-21 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 or
2-24 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) A student
3-1 who is deaf 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. A
3-5 teacher of students who are deaf or hard of hearing either must be
3-6 proficient in appropriate language modes or use an interpreter
3-7 certified in appropriate language modes if certification is
3-8 available.
3-9 (b) Each local school district shall employ appropriate
3-10 qualified staff with proficient communications skills, consistent
3-11 with credentialing requirements, to fulfill the responsibilities of
3-12 the local school district, and shall make positive efforts to
3-13 employ qualified individuals with disabilities.
3-14 (c) Regular and special personnel who work with students who
3-15 are deaf or hard of hearing must be adequately prepared to provide
3-16 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, a student who is deaf or hard of hearing must have
3-20 an education in the company of a sufficient number of peers using
3-21 the same language mode and with whom the student 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. A student
3-25 who is deaf or hard of hearing must have an education in which the
3-26 student's parents or legal guardians and advocates for the
3-27 student's parents or legal guardians are involved in determining
4-1 the extent, content, and purpose of programs. Other individuals,
4-2 including individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, may be
4-3 involved at the discretion of parents or legal guardians or the
4-4 school district.
4-5 Sec. 21.807. ROLE MODELS. A student who is deaf or hard of
4-6 hearing shall be given the opportunity to be exposed to deaf or
4-7 hard-of-hearing role models.
4-8 Sec. 21.808. REGIONAL PROGRAMS. Regional programs for
4-9 students who are deaf or hard of hearing shall meet the unique
4-10 communication needs of students who can benefit from those
4-11 programs. Appropriate funding for those programs shall be
4-12 consistent with federal and state law, and money appropriated to
4-13 school districts for educational programs and services for students
4-14 who are deaf or hard of hearing may not be allocated or used for
4-15 any other program or service.
4-16 Sec. 21.809. COMPOSITION OF LOCAL SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY
4-17 COMMITTEE. If practicable, in a school district in which there are
4-18 students who are deaf or hard of hearing, the local special
4-19 education advisory committee required under State Board of
4-20 Education rule must include persons who are deaf or hard of hearing
4-21 and parents and legal guardians of students who are deaf or hard of
4-22 hearing.
4-23 Sec. 21.810. PROCEDURES AND MATERIALS FOR ASSESSMENT AND
4-24 PLACEMENT. (a) Procedures and materials for assessment and
4-25 placement of students who are deaf or hard of hearing shall be
4-26 selected and administered so as not to be racially, culturally, or
4-27 sexually discriminatory.
5-1 (b) A single assessment instrument may not be the sole
5-2 criterion for determining the placement of a student.
5-3 (c) The procedures and materials for the assessment and
5-4 placement of a student who is deaf or hard of hearing shall be in
5-5 the student's preferred mode of communication. All other
5-6 procedures and materials used with any student who is deaf or hard
5-7 of hearing and who has limited English proficiency shall be in the
5-8 student's preferred mode of communication.
5-9 Sec. 21.811. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS. (a) Educational
5-10 programs for students who are deaf or hard of hearing must be
5-11 coordinated with other public and private agencies, including:
5-12 (1) agencies operating early childhood intervention
5-13 programs;
5-14 (2) preschools;
5-15 (3) agencies operating child development programs;
5-16 (4) nonpublic, nonsectarian schools;
5-17 (5) agencies operating regional occupational centers
5-18 and programs; and
5-19 (6) the Texas School for the Deaf.
5-20 (b) As appropriate, the programs must also be coordinated
5-21 with postsecondary and adult programs for persons who are deaf or
5-22 hard of hearing.
5-23 Sec. 21.812. PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING SERVICES. Appropriate
5-24 psychological counseling services for a student who is deaf or hard
5-25 of hearing shall be made available at the student's school site in
5-26 the student's primary mode of communication. In the case of a
5-27 student who is hard of hearing, appropriate auditory systems to
6-1 enhance oral communication shall be used if required by the
6-2 student's admission, review, and dismissal committee.
6-3 Sec. 21.813. EVALUATION OF PROGRAMS. Each school district
6-4 must provide continuous evaluation of the effectiveness of programs
6-5 of the district for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. If
6-6 practicable, evaluations shall follow program excellence indicators
6-7 established by the Central Education Agency.
6-8 Sec. 21.814. TRANSITION INTO REGULAR CLASS. In addition to
6-9 satisfying requirements of the admission, review, and dismissal
6-10 committee and to satisfying requirements under state and federal
6-11 law for vocational training, each school district shall develop and
6-12 implement a transition plan for the transition of a student who is
6-13 deaf or hard of hearing into a regular class program if the student
6-14 is to be transferred from a special class or center or nonpublic,
6-15 nonsectarian school into a regular class in a public school for any
6-16 part of the school day. The transition plan must provide for
6-17 activities:
6-18 (1) to integrate the student into the regular
6-19 education program and specify the nature of each activity and the
6-20 time spent on the activity each day; and
6-21 (2) to support the transition of the student from the
6-22 special education program into the regular education program.
6-23 SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 1995-1996
6-24 school year.
6-25 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
6-26 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-27 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-3 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
7-4 passage, and it is so enacted.