By Zaffirini S.B. No. 1141
76R8527 KKA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to surrogate parents for certain public education students
1-3 with disabilities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 29.001, Education Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 29.001. STATEWIDE PLAN. The agency shall develop, and
1-8 modify as necessary, a statewide design, consistent with federal
1-9 law, for the delivery of services to children with disabilities in
1-10 this state that includes rules for the administration and funding
1-11 of the special education program so that a free appropriate public
1-12 education is available to all of those children between the ages of
1-13 three and 21. The statewide design shall include the provision of
1-14 services primarily through school districts and shared services
1-15 arrangements, supplemented by regional education service centers.
1-16 The agency shall also develop and implement a statewide plan with
1-17 programmatic content that includes procedures designed to:
1-18 (1) ensure state compliance with requirements for
1-19 supplemental federal funding for all state-administered programs
1-20 involving the delivery of instructional or related services to
1-21 students with disabilities;
1-22 (2) facilitate interagency coordination when other
1-23 state agencies are involved in the delivery of instructional or
1-24 related services to students with disabilities;
2-1 (3) periodically assess statewide personnel needs in
2-2 all areas of specialization related to special education and pursue
2-3 strategies to meet those needs through a consortium of
2-4 representatives from regional education service centers, local
2-5 education agencies, and institutions of higher education and
2-6 through other available alternatives;
2-7 (4) ensure that regional education service centers
2-8 throughout the state maintain a regional support function, which
2-9 may include direct service delivery and a component designed to
2-10 facilitate the placement of students with disabilities who cannot
2-11 be appropriately served in their resident districts;
2-12 (5) allow the agency to effectively monitor and
2-13 periodically conduct site visits of all school districts to ensure
2-14 that rules adopted under this section are applied in a consistent
2-15 and uniform manner, to ensure that districts are complying with
2-16 those rules, and to ensure that annual statistical reports filed by
2-17 the districts and not otherwise available through the Public
2-18 Education Information Management System under Section 42.006, are
2-19 accurate and complete;
2-20 (6) ensure that appropriately trained personnel are
2-21 involved in the diagnostic and evaluative procedures operating in
2-22 all districts and that those personnel routinely serve on district
2-23 admissions, review, and dismissal committees;
2-24 (7) ensure that an individualized education program
2-25 for each student with a disability is properly developed,
2-26 implemented, and maintained in the least restrictive environment
2-27 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 for the parents of a child with a disability, as provided
3-9 by 20 U.S.C. Section 1415(b) and its subsequent amendments, is
3-10 required 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) exercise independent judgment in pursuing
3-20 the child's interests; and
3-21 (F) exercise the child's due process rights
3-22 under applicable state and federal law.
3-23 SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
3-24 amended by adding Section 29.015 to read as follows:
3-25 Sec. 29.015. ASSIGNMENT OF FOSTER PARENT AS SURROGATE
3-26 PARENT. A foster parent is entitled to be assigned to act as a
3-27 surrogate for the parents of a child with a disability, as provided
4-1 by 20 U.S.C. Section 1415(b) and its subsequent amendments, if:
4-2 (1) the Department of Protective and Regulatory
4-3 Services is appointed as the temporary or permanent managing
4-4 conservator of the child;
4-5 (2) the child has been placed with the foster parent
4-6 for at least 60 days;
4-7 (3) the foster parent agrees to:
4-8 (A) participate in making educational decisions
4-9 on the child's behalf; and
4-10 (B) complete a training program for surrogate
4-11 parents that complies with minimum standards established by agency
4-12 rule; and
4-13 (4) the foster parent has no interest that conflicts
4-14 with the child's interests.
4-15 SECTION 3. Section 107.031, Family Code, is amended by
4-16 adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
4-17 (e) A court-certified volunteer advocate appointed under
4-18 this section for a child with a disability may be assigned to act
4-19 as a surrogate for the child's parents, as provided by 20 U.S.C.
4-20 Section 1415(b) and its subsequent amendments, if:
4-21 (1) the child is in the conservatorship of the
4-22 Department of Protective and Regulatory Services;
4-23 (2) the volunteer advocate is serving as guardian ad
4-24 litem for the child; and
4-25 (3) a foster parent of the child has not been assigned
4-26 to act as a surrogate for the child's parents under Section 29.015,
4-27 Education Code.
5-1 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
5-2 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
5-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.