AN ACT
1-1 relating to surrogate parents for certain public education students
1-2 with disabilities.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 29.001, Education Code, is amended to
1-5 read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 29.001. STATEWIDE PLAN. The agency shall develop, and
1-7 modify as necessary, a statewide design, consistent with federal
1-8 law, for the delivery of services to children with disabilities in
1-9 this state that includes rules for the administration and funding
1-10 of the special education program so that a free appropriate public
1-11 education is available to all of those children between the ages of
1-12 three and 21. The statewide design shall include the provision of
1-13 services primarily through school districts and shared services
1-14 arrangements, supplemented by regional education service centers.
1-15 The agency shall also develop and implement a statewide plan with
1-16 programmatic content that includes procedures designed to:
1-17 (1) ensure state compliance with requirements for
1-18 supplemental federal funding for all state-administered programs
1-19 involving the delivery of instructional or related services to
1-20 students with disabilities;
1-21 (2) facilitate interagency coordination when other
1-22 state agencies are involved in the delivery of instructional or
1-23 related services to students with disabilities;
1-24 (3) periodically assess statewide personnel needs in
2-1 all areas of specialization related to special education and pursue
2-2 strategies to meet those needs through a consortium of
2-3 representatives from regional education service centers, local
2-4 education agencies, and institutions of higher education and
2-5 through other available alternatives;
2-6 (4) ensure that regional education service centers
2-7 throughout the state maintain a regional support function, which
2-8 may include direct service delivery and a component designed to
2-9 facilitate the placement of students with disabilities who cannot
2-10 be appropriately served in their resident districts;
2-11 (5) allow the agency to effectively monitor and
2-12 periodically conduct site visits of all school districts to ensure
2-13 that rules adopted under this section are applied in a consistent
2-14 and uniform manner, to ensure that districts are complying with
2-15 those rules, and to ensure that annual statistical reports filed by
2-16 the districts and not otherwise available through the Public
2-17 Education Information Management System under Section 42.006, are
2-18 accurate and complete;
2-19 (6) ensure that appropriately trained personnel are
2-20 involved in the diagnostic and evaluative procedures operating in
2-21 all districts and that those personnel routinely serve on district
2-22 admissions, review, and dismissal committees;
2-23 (7) ensure that an individualized education program
2-24 for each student with a disability is properly developed,
2-25 implemented, and maintained in the least restrictive environment
2-26 that is appropriate to meet the student's educational needs;
3-1 (8) ensure that, when appropriate, each student with a
3-2 disability is provided an opportunity to participate in career and
3-3 technology and physical education classes, in addition to
3-4 participating in regular or special classes; [and]
3-5 (9) ensure that each student with a disability is
3-6 provided necessary related services; and
3-7 (10) ensure that an individual assigned to act as a
3-8 surrogate parent for a child with a disability, as provided by 20
3-9 U.S.C. Section 1415(b) and its subsequent amendments, is required
3-10 to:
3-11 (A) complete a training program that complies
3-12 with minimum standards established by agency rule;
3-13 (B) visit the child and the child's school;
3-14 (C) consult with persons involved in the child's
3-15 education, including teachers, caseworkers, court-appointed
3-16 volunteers, guardians ad litem, attorneys ad litem, foster parents,
3-17 and caretakers;
3-18 (D) review the child's educational records;
3-19 (E) attend meetings of the child's admission,
3-20 review, and dismissal committee;
3-21 (F) exercise independent judgment in pursuing
3-22 the child's interests; and
3-23 (G) exercise the child's due process rights
3-24 under applicable state and federal law.
3-25 SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
3-26 amended by adding Section 29.015 to read as follows:
4-1 Sec. 29.015. FOSTER PARENTS. (a) The school district shall
4-2 give preferential consideration to a foster parent of a child with
4-3 a disability when assigning a surrogate parent for the child.
4-4 (b) A foster parent may act as a parent of a child with a
4-5 disability, as authorized under 20 U.S.C. Section 1415(b) and its
4-6 subsequent amendments, if:
4-7 (1) the Department of Protective and Regulatory
4-8 Services is appointed as the temporary or permanent managing
4-9 conservator of the child;
4-10 (2) the child has been placed with the foster parent
4-11 for at least 60 days;
4-12 (3) the foster parent agrees to:
4-13 (A) participate in making educational decisions
4-14 on the child's behalf; and
4-15 (B) complete a training program for surrogate
4-16 parents that complies with minimum standards established by agency
4-17 rule; and
4-18 (4) the foster parent has no interest that conflicts
4-19 with the child's interests.
4-20 (c) A foster parent who is denied the right to act as a
4-21 surrogate parent or a parent under this section by a school
4-22 district may file a complaint with the agency in accordance with
4-23 federal law and regulations.
4-24 SECTION 3. Section 107.031, Family Code, is amended by
4-25 adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
4-26 (e) A court-certified volunteer advocate appointed under
5-1 this section for a child with a disability may be assigned to act
5-2 as a surrogate parent for the child, as provided by 20 U.S.C.
5-3 Section 1415(b) and its subsequent amendments, if:
5-4 (1) the child is in the conservatorship of the
5-5 Department of Protective and Regulatory Services;
5-6 (2) the volunteer advocate is serving as guardian ad
5-7 litem for the child; and
5-8 (3) a foster parent of the child is not acting as the
5-9 child's parent under Section 29.015, Education Code.
5-10 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
5-11 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
5-12 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-13 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-14 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-15 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1141 passed the Senate on
April 8, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1141 passed the House on
May 19, 1999, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor