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Amend CSHB 3487 as follows:
(1) Immediately following SECTION 1 of the bill (page 2,
between lines 13 and 14), insert the following appropriately
numbered SECTIONS and renumber the subsequent SECTIONS
accordingly:
SECTION ____. Section 29.001, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 29.001. STATEWIDE PLAN. (a) The agency shall develop,
and modify as necessary, a statewide design, consistent with
federal law, for the delivery of services to children with
disabilities in this state that includes rules for the
administration and funding of the special education program so that
a free appropriate public education is available to all of those
children between the ages of three and 21. The statewide design
shall include the provision of services primarily through school
districts and shared services arrangements, supplemented by
regional education service centers. The agency shall also develop
and implement a statewide plan with programmatic content that
includes procedures designed to:
(1) ensure state compliance with requirements for
supplemental federal funding for all state-administered programs
involving the delivery of instructional or related services to
students with disabilities;
(2) facilitate interagency coordination when other
state agencies are involved in the delivery of instructional or
related services to students with disabilities;
(3) periodically assess statewide personnel needs in
all areas of specialization related to special education and pursue
strategies to meet those needs through a consortium of
representatives from regional education service centers, local
education agencies, and institutions of higher education and
through other available alternatives;
(4) ensure that regional education service centers
throughout the state maintain a regional support function, which
may include direct service delivery and a component designed to
facilitate the placement of students with disabilities who cannot
be appropriately served in their resident districts;
(5) allow the agency to effectively monitor and
periodically conduct site visits of all school districts to ensure
that rules adopted under this section are applied in a consistent
and uniform manner, to ensure that districts are complying with
those rules, and to ensure that annual statistical reports filed by
the districts and not otherwise available through the Public
Education Information Management System under Section 42.006, are
accurate and complete;
(6) ensure that appropriately trained personnel are
involved in the diagnostic and evaluative procedures operating in
all districts and that those personnel routinely serve on district
admissions, review, and dismissal committees;
(7) ensure that an individualized education program for
each student with a disability is properly developed, implemented,
and maintained in the least restrictive environment that is
appropriate to meet the student's educational needs;
(8) ensure that, when appropriate, each student with a
disability is provided an opportunity to participate in career and
technology and physical education classes, in addition to
participating in regular or special classes;
(9) ensure that each student with a disability is
provided necessary related services; [and]
(10) ensure that an individual assigned to act as a
surrogate parent for a child with a disability, as provided by 20
U.S.C. Section 1415(b) [and its subsequent amendments], is required
to:
(A) complete a training program that complies with
minumum standards established by agency rule;
(B) visit the child and the child's school;
(C) consult with persons involved in the child's
education, including teachers, caseworkers, court-appointed
volunteers, guardians ad litem, attorneys ad litem, foster parents,
and caretakers;
(D) review the child's educational records;
(E) attend meetings of the child's admission,
review, and dismissal committee;
(F) exercise independent judgment in pursuing the
child's interests; and
(G) exercise the child's due process rights under
applicable state and federal law;
(11) ensure that a school district provides to a teacher
who instructs a student with a disability in a regular classroom
setting:
(A) on the request of the teacher and as soon as
practicable, training in providing appropriate educational
services to a student with a disability, including training in
research-based best practices for meeting the academic and
behavioral needs of a student with a disability assigned to the
teacher's classroom;
(B) on the request of the teacher and as soon as
practicable, assistance from appropriately trained personnel, as
determined by the district, in meeting the academic and behavioral
needs of a student with a disability assigned to the teacher's
classroom;
(C) before the placement of a student with a
disability in the teacher's classroom, relevant information in the
student's individualized education program.
(2) Immediately following SECTION 1 of the bill (page 2,
between lines 14 and 15), insert the following appropriately
numbered SECTION and renumber the subsequent SECTIONS accordingly:
SECTION ____. Subchapter J, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 21.459 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.459. RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS OF STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL
HEALTH NEEDS. The agency, in coordination with the Health and Human
Services Commission, shall establish and maintain an Internet
website to provide resources for teachers who teach students with
special health needs. The agency shall include on the website
information about the treatment and management of chronic illnesses
and how such illnesses impact a student's well-being or ability to
succeed in school.