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By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 589
(In the Senate - Filed February 19, 2003; February 24, 2003,
read first time and referred to Committee on Education;
March 13, 2003, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; March 13, 2003,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 589 By: Zaffirini
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the purposes of the Texas School for the Blind and
Visually Impaired and the Texas School for the Deaf.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsections (a) and (c), Section 30.021,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired is
a state agency established to serve as a special school in the
continuum of statewide [alternative] placements for students who
are 21 years of age or younger on September 1 of any school year and
who have a visual impairment and who may have one or more other
disabilities. The school shall provide comprehensive educational
services to [is intended to serve] students who require specialized
or intensive educational or related services related to the visual
impairment. The school is not intended to serve:
(1) students whose needs are appropriately addressed
in a home or hospital setting or in a residential treatment
facility; or
(2) students whose primary, ongoing needs are related
to a severe or profound emotional, behavioral, or cognitive
deficit.
(c) The school shall provide short-term [conduct
supplemental] programs, such as summer programs [and student
exchange programs], to:
(1) enable students who have a visual impairment to
develop skills so that they can benefit from educational programs
offered by the school districts in which the students reside; and
(2) prepare students who have a visual impairment for
independent functioning as adults [and shall consider information
from sources throughout the state regarding the nature of those
programs and students to be served].
SECTION 2. Section 30.051, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 30.051. PURPOSE OF TEXAS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF. (a) The
Texas School for the Deaf is a state agency established to serve as
a special school in the continuum of statewide placements for
students [provide educational services to persons] who are 21 years
of age or younger on September 1 of any school year and who are deaf
or hard of hearing and who may have one or more other disabilities.
The following provisions apply to the school [shall provide]:
(1) the school shall provide comprehensive
educational services, on a day or residential basis;
(2) the school shall provide short-term programs,
including summer programs, [services] to:
(A) enable students who are deaf or hard of
hearing to develop skills so that they can benefit from educational
programs offered by the school districts in which the students
reside; and
(B) prepare students who are deaf or hard of
hearing for independent functioning as adults [allow a student to
better achieve educational results from services available in the
community]; and
(3) the school is not intended to serve students whose
needs are appropriately addressed in a residential treatment
facility, a hospital, or in the student's home, for a student
needing homebound services [for any student who is deaf or hard of
hearing and also has an additional disability and who requires a
specialized support program but does not require a residential
treatment facility].
(b) The school shall serve as a primary statewide resource
center promoting excellence in education for students who are deaf
or hard of hearing through research, training, and demonstration
projects by providing services such as:
(1) developing and providing local, regional, and
statewide training for parents of students who are deaf or hard of
hearing and professionals who work with students who are deaf or
hard of hearing;
(2) providing consultation and technical assistance
to parents and professionals related to special education and
related services for students;
(3) supporting the needs of students, parents, and
families through videoconferencing and distance learning;
(4) developing and disseminating reference materials,
including materials in the areas of curriculum, instructional
methodology, and educational technology;
(5) providing information related to library
resources, adapted materials, current research, and technology
resources, and the teaching, assessment, and transition of students
who are deaf or hard of hearing;
(6) operating programs for lending educational and
technological materials to school districts, regional education
service centers, and parents; and
(7) facilitating the preparation of teachers for
students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
(c) [The school shall work in partnership with state,
regional, and local agencies to provide new or improved programs or
methods to serve the previously unmet or future needs of persons
throughout the state who are deaf or hard of hearing.
[(d)] The school shall cooperate with public and private
agencies and organizations serving students and other persons who
are deaf or hard of hearing [impaired] in the planning,
development, and implementation of effective educational and
rehabilitative service delivery systems associated with educating
students who are deaf or hard of hearing. To maximize and make
efficient use of state facilities, funding, and resources, the
services provided in this area may include conducting a cooperative
program with other agencies to serve persons who have graduated
from high school and who have identified needs related to
vocational training, independent living skills, [and] social and
leisure skills, compensatory skills, or remedial academic skills.
SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2003-2004
school year.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
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