|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the evaluation and instruction of public school |
|
students with visual impairments. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Subsections (b), (c), and (e), Section 30.002, |
|
Education Code, are amended to read as follows: |
|
(b) The agency shall: |
|
(1) develop standards and guidelines for all special |
|
education services for children with visual impairments that it is |
|
authorized to provide or support under this code; |
|
(2) supervise regional education service centers and |
|
other entities in assisting school districts in serving children |
|
with visual impairments more effectively; |
|
(3) develop and administer special education services |
|
for students with both serious visual and auditory impairments; |
|
(4) evaluate special education services provided for |
|
children with visual impairments by school districts and approve or |
|
disapprove state funding of those services; and |
|
(5) maintain an effective liaison between special |
|
education programs provided for children with visual impairments by |
|
school districts and related initiatives of the Department of |
|
Assistive and Rehabilitative Services Division [Texas Commission] |
|
for [the] Blind Services, the [Texas] Department of State [Mental] |
|
Health Services Mental Health and Substance Abuse Division [and
|
|
Mental Retardation], the Texas School for the Blind and Visually |
|
Impaired, and other related programs, agencies, or facilities as |
|
appropriate. |
|
(c) The comprehensive statewide plan for the education of |
|
children with visual impairments must: |
|
(1) adequately provide for comprehensive diagnosis |
|
and evaluation of each school-age child with a serious visual |
|
impairment; |
|
(2) include the procedures, format, and content of the |
|
individualized education program for each child with a visual |
|
impairment; |
|
(3) emphasize providing educational services to |
|
children with visual impairments in their home communities whenever |
|
possible; |
|
(4) include methods to ensure that children with |
|
visual impairments receiving special education services in school |
|
districts receive, before being placed in a classroom setting or |
|
within a reasonable time after placement: |
|
(A) evaluation of the impairment; and |
|
(B) instruction in an expanded core curriculum, |
|
which is required for students with visual impairments to succeed |
|
in classroom settings and to derive lasting, practical benefits |
|
from the education provided by school districts, including |
|
instruction in: |
|
(i) [, the training in] compensatory |
|
skills, such as braille and concept development, and other skills |
|
needed to access the rest of the curriculum; |
|
(ii) [communicative skills,] orientation |
|
and mobility; |
|
(iii) [, and] social interaction |
|
[adjustment] skills; |
|
(iv) [, and the vocational or] career |
|
planning; |
|
(v) assistive technology, including |
|
optical devices; |
|
(vi) independent living skills; |
|
(vii) recreation and leisure enjoyment; |
|
(viii) self-determination; and |
|
(ix) sensory efficiency [counseling,
|
|
required for those students to succeed in classroom settings and to
|
|
derive lasting, practical benefits from the education in the school
|
|
district]; |
|
(5) provide for flexibility on the part of school |
|
districts to meet the special needs of children with visual |
|
impairments through: |
|
(A) specialty staff and resources provided by the |
|
district; |
|
(B) contractual arrangements with other |
|
qualified public or private agencies; |
|
(C) supportive assistance from regional |
|
education service centers or adjacent school districts; |
|
(D) short-term or long-term services through the |
|
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired or related |
|
facilities or programs; or |
|
(E) other instructional and service arrangements |
|
approved by the agency; |
|
(6) include a statewide admission, review, and |
|
dismissal process; |
|
(7) provide for effective interaction between the |
|
visually impaired child's classroom setting and the child's home |
|
environment, including providing for parental training and |
|
counseling either by school district staff or by representatives of |
|
other organizations directly involved in the development and |
|
implementation of the individualized education program for the |
|
child; |
|
(8) require the continuing education and professional |
|
development of school district staff providing special education |
|
services to children with visual impairments; |
|
(9) provide for adequate monitoring and precise |
|
evaluation of special education services provided to children with |
|
visual impairments through school districts; and |
|
(10) require that school districts providing special |
|
education services to children with visual impairments develop |
|
procedures for assuring that staff assigned to work with the |
|
children have prompt and effective access directly to resources |
|
available through: |
|
(A) cooperating agencies in the area; |
|
(B) the Texas School for the Blind and Visually |
|
Impaired; |
|
(C) the Central Media Depository for specialized |
|
instructional materials and aids made specifically for use by |
|
students with visual impairments; |
|
(D) sheltered workshops participating in the |
|
state program of purchases of blind-made goods and services; and |
|
(E) related sources. |
|
(e) Each eligible blind or visually impaired student is |
|
entitled to receive educational programs according to an |
|
individualized education program that: |
|
(1) is developed in accordance with federal and state |
|
requirements for providing special education services; |
|
(2) is developed by a committee composed as required |
|
by federal law; |
|
(3) reflects that the student has been provided a |
|
detailed explanation of the various service resources available to |
|
the student in the community and throughout the state; |
|
(4) provides a detailed description of the |
|
arrangements made to provide the student with the evaluation and |
|
instruction required under Subsection (c)(4) [orientation and
|
|
mobility training, instruction in braille or use of large print,
|
|
other training to compensate for serious visual loss, access to
|
|
special media and special tools, appliances, aids, or devices
|
|
commonly used by individuals with serious visual impairments]; and |
|
(5) sets forth the plans and arrangements made for |
|
contacts with and continuing services to the student beyond regular |
|
school hours to ensure the student learns the skills and receives |
|
the instruction [training] required under Subsection (c)(4)(B) |
|
[(c)(4)]. |
|
SECTION 2. Subsection (e), Section 30.002, Education Code, |
|
as amended by this Act, applies beginning with the 2013-2014 school |
|
year. |
|
SECTION 3. 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, 2013. |
|
|
|
* * * * * |