84R24816 MK-D
 
  By: Allen H.B. No. 3991
 
  Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3991:
 
  By:  Aycock C.S.H.B. No. 3991
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the development of an individualized education program
  for a child in public school.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 29.001, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 29.001.  STATEWIDE PLAN.  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;
               (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), is required to:
                     (A)  complete a training program that complies
  with minimum 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; and
               (11)  ensure that each district develops a process to
  be used by a teacher who instructs a student with a disability in a
  regular classroom setting:
                     (A)  to request a review of the student's
  individualized education program;
                     (B)  to provide input in the development of the
  student's individualized education program;
                     (C)  that provides for a timely district response
  to the teacher's request; and
                     (D) [(C)]  that provides for notification to the
  student's parent or legal guardian of that response.
         SECTION 2.  Section 29.005, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection (b-1) to
  read as follows:
         (a)  Before a child is enrolled in a special education
  program of a school district, the district shall establish a
  committee composed of the persons required under 20 U.S.C. Section
  1414(d) [1401(11)] to develop the child's individualized education
  program. If a committee is required to include a regular education
  teacher, the regular education teacher included must, to the extent
  practicable, be a teacher who is responsible for implementing a
  portion of the child's individualized education program.
         (b-1)  The written statement of the individualized education
  program must document the decisions of the committee with respect
  to issues discussed at each committee meeting. The written
  statement must include:
               (1)  the date of the meeting;
               (2)  the name, position, and signature of each member
  participating in the meeting; and
               (3)  an indication of whether the child's parents, the
  adult student, if applicable, and the administrator agreed or
  disagreed with the decision of the committee.
         (c)  If the individualized education program is not
  developed by agreement, the written statement of the program
  required under 20 U.S.C. Section 1414(d) [1401(11)] must include
  the basis of the disagreement. Each member of the committee who
  disagrees with the individualized education program developed by
  the committee is entitled to include a statement of disagreement in
  the written statement of the program.
         SECTION 3.  This Act applies beginning with the 2015-2016
  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, 2015.