1-1 By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1141
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 10, 1999; March 11, 1999, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Human Services;
1-4 March 25, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; March 25, 1999,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1141 By: Zaffirini
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to surrogate parents for certain public education students
1-11 with disabilities.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Section 29.001, Education Code, is amended to
1-14 read as follows:
1-15 Sec. 29.001. STATEWIDE PLAN. The agency shall develop, and
1-16 modify as necessary, a statewide design, consistent with federal
1-17 law, for the delivery of services to children with disabilities in
1-18 this state that includes rules for the administration and funding
1-19 of the special education program so that a free appropriate public
1-20 education is available to all of those children between the ages of
1-21 three and 21. The statewide design shall include the provision of
1-22 services primarily through school districts and shared services
1-23 arrangements, supplemented by regional education service centers.
1-24 The agency shall also develop and implement a statewide plan with
1-25 programmatic content that includes procedures designed to:
1-26 (1) ensure state compliance with requirements for
1-27 supplemental federal funding for all state-administered programs
1-28 involving the delivery of instructional or related services to
1-29 students with disabilities;
1-30 (2) facilitate interagency coordination when other
1-31 state agencies are involved in the delivery of instructional or
1-32 related services to students with disabilities;
1-33 (3) periodically assess statewide personnel needs in
1-34 all areas of specialization related to special education and pursue
1-35 strategies to meet those needs through a consortium of
1-36 representatives from regional education service centers, local
1-37 education agencies, and institutions of higher education and
1-38 through other available alternatives;
1-39 (4) ensure that regional education service centers
1-40 throughout the state maintain a regional support function, which
1-41 may include direct service delivery and a component designed to
1-42 facilitate the placement of students with disabilities who cannot
1-43 be appropriately served in their resident districts;
1-44 (5) allow the agency to effectively monitor and
1-45 periodically conduct site visits of all school districts to ensure
1-46 that rules adopted under this section are applied in a consistent
1-47 and uniform manner, to ensure that districts are complying with
1-48 those rules, and to ensure that annual statistical reports filed by
1-49 the districts and not otherwise available through the Public
1-50 Education Information Management System under Section 42.006, are
1-51 accurate and complete;
1-52 (6) ensure that appropriately trained personnel are
1-53 involved in the diagnostic and evaluative procedures operating in
1-54 all districts and that those personnel routinely serve on district
1-55 admissions, review, and dismissal committees;
1-56 (7) ensure that an individualized education program
1-57 for each student with a disability is properly developed,
1-58 implemented, and maintained in the least restrictive environment
1-59 that is appropriate to meet the student's educational needs;
1-60 (8) ensure that, when appropriate, each student with a
1-61 disability is provided an opportunity to participate in career and
1-62 technology and physical education classes, in addition to
1-63 participating in regular or special classes; [and]
1-64 (9) ensure that each student with a disability is
2-1 provided necessary related services; and
2-2 (10) ensure that an individual assigned to act as a
2-3 surrogate parent for a child with a disability, as provided by 20
2-4 U.S.C. Section 1415(b) and its subsequent amendments, is required
2-5 to:
2-6 (A) complete a training program that complies
2-7 with minimum standards established by agency rule;
2-8 (B) visit the child and the child's school;
2-9 (C) consult with persons involved in the child's
2-10 education, including teachers, caseworkers, court-appointed
2-11 volunteers, guardians ad litem, attorneys ad litem, foster parents,
2-12 and caretakers;
2-13 (D) review the child's educational records;
2-14 (E) attend meetings of the child's admission,
2-15 review, and dismissal committee;
2-16 (F) exercise independent judgment in pursuing
2-17 the child's interests; and
2-18 (G) exercise the child's due process rights
2-19 under applicable state and federal law.
2-20 SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
2-21 amended by adding Section 29.015 to read as follows:
2-22 Sec. 29.015. FOSTER PARENTS. (a) The school district shall
2-23 give preferential consideration to a foster parent of a child with
2-24 a disability when assigning a surrogate parent for the child.
2-25 (b) A foster parent may act as a parent of a child with a
2-26 disability, as authorized under 20 U.S.C. Section 1415(b) and its
2-27 subsequent amendments, if:
2-28 (1) the Department of Protective and Regulatory
2-29 Services is appointed as the temporary or permanent managing
2-30 conservator of the child;
2-31 (2) the child has been placed with the foster parent
2-32 for at least 60 days;
2-33 (3) the foster parent agrees to:
2-34 (A) participate in making educational decisions
2-35 on the child's behalf; and
2-36 (B) complete a training program for surrogate
2-37 parents that complies with minimum standards established by agency
2-38 rule; and
2-39 (4) the foster parent has no interest that conflicts
2-40 with the child's interests.
2-41 (c) A foster parent who is denied the right to act as a
2-42 surrogate parent or a parent under this section by a school
2-43 district may file a complaint with the agency in accordance with
2-44 federal law and regulations.
2-45 SECTION 3. Section 107.031, Family Code, is amended by
2-46 adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
2-47 (e) A court-certified volunteer advocate appointed under
2-48 this section for a child with a disability may be assigned to act
2-49 as a surrogate parent for the child, as provided by 20 U.S.C.
2-50 Section 1415(b) and its subsequent amendments, if:
2-51 (1) the child is in the conservatorship of the
2-52 Department of Protective and Regulatory Services;
2-53 (2) the volunteer advocate is serving as guardian ad
2-54 litem for the child; and
2-55 (3) a foster parent of the child is not acting as the
2-56 child's parent under Section 29.015, Education Code.
2-57 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-58 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
2-59 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-60 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-61 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-62 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-63 * * * * *