2024 -- S 2526 | |
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LC005149 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO EDUCATION -- CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES | |
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Introduced By: Senators DiMario, Lauria, and Valverde | |
Date Introduced: March 01, 2024 | |
Referred To: Senate Education | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Chapter 16-24 of the General Laws entitled "Children With Disabilities [See |
2 | Title 16 Chapter 97 — The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is hereby amended by adding |
3 | thereto the following section: |
4 | 16-24-1.1. Parental consent required. |
5 | (a) Unless expressly preempted by federal law, local education agencies (LEAs) shall |
6 | obtain written parental consent before conducting an initial evaluation or making an initial |
7 | placement of a student in a special education program of services. Except when the parent is |
8 | unresponsive as described in the exception provided in this section, written parental consent shall |
9 | also be obtained before: |
10 | (1) Conducting a reevaluation; |
11 | (2) Placing a student in a special education placement subsequent to the initial placement |
12 | in special education; and/or |
13 | (3) Making any changes to services in an existing special education program of services. |
14 | (b) A parent may revoke consent at any time for all special education and related services |
15 | or for any service that is a component of an overall individualized education program (IEP). Except |
16 | for initial evaluation and initial placement, consent may not be required as a condition of any |
17 | continuing benefit to the student of existing services while disagreements about services are being |
18 | resolved. |
19 | (c) In order that parental consent be properly fully informed, parents have the right, upon |
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1 | request, to observe any placement proposed for their child if the child is identified as eligible for |
2 | special education services. An LEA may implement reasonable limitations on the timing, duration, |
3 | and frequency of observation visits, but may only prohibit parents from visiting a placement with |
4 | students present in limited special circumstances when such prohibition is necessary to protect: |
5 | (1) The safety of the children in the program during the observation; |
6 | (2) The integrity of the program during the observation; or |
7 | (3) Children in the program from disclosure by an observer of confidential, personally |
8 | identifiable information obtained during the observation. |
9 | (d) When imposing any such prohibition, the LEA shall: |
10 | (1) Allow parents to visit the placement or setting without students present; and |
11 | (2) Issue a written notification to the parents explaining why it was necessary to prohibit |
12 | observation with students present. |
13 | (e) For forty-five (45) day emergency placements in interim alternative educational settings |
14 | under 34 CFR § 300.530(g), LEAs shall offer parents an opportunity to observe the placement |
15 | within a reasonable time following the placement, subject to the same reasonable limitations as |
16 | described for other observation visits in this section. In implementing regulations, the Rhode Island |
17 | department of education (RIDE) may issue standards or guidance further detailing reasonable |
18 | limitations or restrictions allowable hereunder. |
19 | (f) To further ensure informed parental consent, parents shall receive evaluation reports |
20 | and other relevant written materials that will be considered at the IEP meeting, including proposed |
21 | goals and objectives for the IEP if they have been drafted, at least three (3) calendar days prior to |
22 | attending an IEP meeting at which those materials will be discussed. To address parental scheduling |
23 | needs, parents can agree to the sharing of this material less than three (3) calendar days ahead of |
24 | the IEP meeting. All materials provided shall comply with legal requirements for language |
25 | accessibility. |
26 | (g) The LEA’s timeframe for conducting initial evaluations and convening a meeting (as |
27 | described in 200-RICR-20-30-6.7.2(A)(1)(b)) and for conducting revaluations and convening a |
28 | meeting (as described in 200-RICR-20-30-6.7.2(C)(1)(b)) shall be extended from the current sixty |
29 | (60) calendar days to sixty-three (63) calendar days. |
30 | (h)(1) No later than ten (10) school days after receipt of any proposed IEP and/or proposed |
31 | placement, the parents shall: |
32 | (i) Accept or reject the IEP, in whole or in part, in writing; or |
33 | (ii) Accept or reject the proposed placement in writing. |
34 | (2) If the IEP is rejected, in whole or in part, the parents may request a meeting to discuss |
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1 | the rejected portions of the IEP or the overall adequacy of the IEP. |
2 | (3) Upon receipt of the written parental response to the proposed IEP and/or proposed |
3 | placement, the LEA shall implement all accepted elements of the IEP on the date specified in the |
4 | proposed IEP, while existing services from the prior IEP will remain in place with respect to |
5 | rejected elements of the proposed IEP. |
6 | (4) If the parents fail to respond within ten (10) school days after receipt of the proposed |
7 | IEP and proposed placement, the LEA shall implement the proposed IEP and proposed placement |
8 | on the date specified in the IEP. |
9 | (i) An LEA shall not use a parent’s refusal to consent to one service or activity or request |
10 | of additional services, or activities to deny the child any other services or activities to which the |
11 | parent has consented. An LEA shall not be considered to be in violation of the requirement to make |
12 | free and appropriate public education available to the child merely because of the failure to provide |
13 | the child with the special education and related services for which the parent refuses to provide |
14 | consent. |
15 | (j) If, subsequent to initial evaluation and initial placement, the LEA is unable to obtain |
16 | parental consent to a reevaluation or to placement in a special education program subsequent to the |
17 | initial placement, or the parent revokes consent to such reevaluation or placement, the LEA shall |
18 | consider whether such action will result in the denial of a free, appropriate public education to the |
19 | student. If, after consideration, the LEA determines that the parent's failure or refusal to consent |
20 | will result in a denial of a free, appropriate public education to the student, it may seek resolution |
21 | of the dispute through mediation and/or a due process hearing. This subsection shall not apply if |
22 | the parent has revoked consent to all special education and related services. |
23 | (k) When LEAs are required to notify parents of proposed reevaluation, placement |
24 | subsequent to the initial placement in a special education program, or changes to an IEP, the LEA |
25 | shall make and document at least three (3) efforts to contact the parent, utilizing at least two (2) of |
26 | the following means: written notices sent by certified mail; electronic mail (email); telephone call, |
27 | or, if appropriate, teletypewriter communications to the home; and home visits at such time as the |
28 | parent is likely to be home. The LEA shall ensure that its efforts to notify the parent meet a |
29 | reasonable measure standard, guided by analogous requirements articulated in federal law at 34 |
30 | CFR §§300.300(c)(2) and 300.322(d). If the above efforts are attempted and documented, and the |
31 | district is unable to secure parental response to a proposed reevaluation, placement subsequent to |
32 | the initial placement in a special education program, or change to an IEP, the LEA may move |
33 | forward with its proposed reevaluation, change in placement, and/or change to the existing IEP. |
34 | This provision to override the lack of parental response shall not apply if the parent has revoked |
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1 | consent to all special education and related services. |
2 | (l) No later than January 1, 2027, RIDE shall promulgate rules and regulations consistent |
3 | with the provisions of this section, and shall additionally review and revise its special education |
4 | regulations codified at 200-RICR-20-30-6, in conformance with chapter 35 of title 42 |
5 | (“administrative procedures”). In addition to the notice and comment requirements of chapter 35 |
6 | of title 42, the department’s development of revised regulations shall include a robust public |
7 | engagement process accessible to parents, students, educators, related service providers, and school |
8 | administrators, including presentations to forums such as the special education local advisory |
9 | committees as described in § 16-24-19, the Rhode Island special education advisory council, school |
10 | committee and/or school board meetings, the Rhode Island board of education, the Rhode Island |
11 | council on elementary and secondary education, and/or other similar public forums. |
12 | SECTION 2. Section 16-24-1.1(l) shall take effect upon passage. The remainder of this act |
13 | shall take effect on July 1, 2025. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO EDUCATION -- CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES | |
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1 | This act would outline the requirements and process for local education agencies to get |
2 | written parental consent before conducting an evaluation, reevaluation, making an initial placement |
3 | or changes in placement or the individual education program of a student in a special education |
4 | program of services. |
5 | Section 16-24-1.1(l) would take effect upon passage. The remainder of this act would take |
6 | effect on July 1, 2025. |
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