| 1 | The Education Appropriations Committee recommends the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Council/Committee Substitute |
| 4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 5 | A bill to be entitled |
| 6 | An act relating to public K-12 education; amending s. |
| 7 | 1003.57, F.S.; providing guidelines for determining the |
| 8 | residency of an exceptional student with a disability who |
| 9 | resides in a residential facility and receives special |
| 10 | instruction or services; requiring the placing authority |
| 11 | in a parent's state of residence to pay the cost of such |
| 12 | instruction, facilities, and services for a nonresident |
| 13 | exceptional student with a disability; providing |
| 14 | requirements of the Department of Education and school |
| 15 | districts with respect to financial obligations; providing |
| 16 | responsibilities of residential facilities that educate |
| 17 | exceptional students with disabilities; providing |
| 18 | applicability; defining the term "parent" for purposes of |
| 19 | the section; creating s. 1003.575, F.S.; requiring the |
| 20 | Department of Education to coordinate the development of |
| 21 | an individual education plan form for use in developing |
| 22 | and implementing individual education plans for |
| 23 | exceptional students; requiring the form to be available |
| 24 | to school districts to facilitate the use of an individual |
| 25 | education plan when a student transfers; amending s. |
| 26 | 1003.58, F.S.; correcting a cross reference; providing an |
| 27 | effective date. |
| 28 |
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| 29 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 30 |
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| 31 | Section 1. Section 1003.57, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 32 | to read: |
| 33 | 1003.57 Exceptional students instruction.-- |
| 34 | (1) Each district school board shall provide for an |
| 35 | appropriate program of special instruction, facilities, and |
| 36 | services for exceptional students as prescribed by the State |
| 37 | Board of Education as acceptable, including provisions that: |
| 38 | (a)(1) The district school board provide the necessary |
| 39 | professional services for diagnosis and evaluation of |
| 40 | exceptional students. |
| 41 | (b)(2) The district school board provide the special |
| 42 | instruction, classes, and services, either within the district |
| 43 | school system, in cooperation with other district school |
| 44 | systems, or through contractual arrangements with approved |
| 45 | private schools or community facilities that meet standards |
| 46 | established by the commissioner. |
| 47 | (c)(3) The district school board annually provide |
| 48 | information describing the Florida School for the Deaf and the |
| 49 | Blind and all other programs and methods of instruction |
| 50 | available to the parent of a sensory-impaired student. |
| 51 | (d)(4) The district school board, once every 3 years, |
| 52 | submit to the department its proposed procedures for the |
| 53 | provision of special instruction and services for exceptional |
| 54 | students. |
| 55 | (e)(5) No student be given special instruction or services |
| 56 | as an exceptional student until after he or she has been |
| 57 | properly evaluated, classified, and placed in the manner |
| 58 | prescribed by rules of the State Board of Education. The parent |
| 59 | of an exceptional student evaluated and placed or denied |
| 60 | placement in a program of special education shall be notified of |
| 61 | each such evaluation and placement or denial. Such notice shall |
| 62 | contain a statement informing the parent that he or she is |
| 63 | entitled to a due process hearing on the identification, |
| 64 | evaluation, and placement, or lack thereof. Such hearings shall |
| 65 | be exempt from the provisions of ss. 120.569, 120.57, and |
| 66 | 286.011, except to the extent that the State Board of Education |
| 67 | adopts rules establishing other procedures and any records |
| 68 | created as a result of such hearings shall be confidential and |
| 69 | exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1). The hearing must be |
| 70 | conducted by an administrative law judge from the Division of |
| 71 | Administrative Hearings of the Department of Management |
| 72 | Services. The decision of the administrative law judge shall be |
| 73 | final, except that any party aggrieved by the finding and |
| 74 | decision rendered by the administrative law judge shall have the |
| 75 | right to bring a civil action in the circuit court. In such an |
| 76 | action, the court shall receive the records of the |
| 77 | administrative hearing and shall hear additional evidence at the |
| 78 | request of either party. In the alternative, any party aggrieved |
| 79 | by the finding and decision rendered by the administrative law |
| 80 | judge shall have the right to request an impartial review of the |
| 81 | administrative law judge's order by the district court of appeal |
| 82 | as provided by s. 120.68. Notwithstanding any law to the |
| 83 | contrary, during the pendency of any proceeding conducted |
| 84 | pursuant to this section, unless the district school board and |
| 85 | the parents otherwise agree, the student shall remain in his or |
| 86 | her then-current educational assignment or, if applying for |
| 87 | initial admission to a public school, shall be assigned, with |
| 88 | the consent of the parents, in the public school program until |
| 89 | all such proceedings have been completed. |
| 90 | (f)(6) In providing for the education of exceptional |
| 91 | students, the district school superintendent, principals, and |
| 92 | teachers shall utilize the regular school facilities and adapt |
| 93 | them to the needs of exceptional students to the maximum extent |
| 94 | appropriate. Segregation of exceptional students shall occur |
| 95 | only if the nature or severity of the exceptionality is such |
| 96 | that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary |
| 97 | aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. |
| 98 | (g)(7) In addition to the services agreed to in a |
| 99 | student's individual education plan, the district school |
| 100 | superintendent shall fully inform the parent of a student having |
| 101 | a physical or developmental disability of all available services |
| 102 | that are appropriate for the student's disability. The |
| 103 | superintendent shall provide the student's parent with a summary |
| 104 | of the student's rights. |
| 105 | (2)(a) An exceptional student with a disability who |
| 106 | resides in a residential facility and receives special |
| 107 | instruction or services is considered a resident of the state in |
| 108 | which the parent is a resident. The cost of such instruction, |
| 109 | facilities, and services for a nonresident exceptional student |
| 110 | with a disability shall be provided by the placing authority, |
| 111 | such as a public school entity, other placing authority, or |
| 112 | parent, in the parent's state of residence. A nonresident |
| 113 | exceptional student with a disability who resides in a |
| 114 | residential facility may not be reported by any school district |
| 115 | for FTE funding in the Florida Education Finance Program. |
| 116 | (b) The Department of Education shall provide to each |
| 117 | school district a statement of the specific limitations of the |
| 118 | district's financial obligation for exceptional students with |
| 119 | disabilities under federal and state law. The department shall |
| 120 | also provide to each school district technical assistance as |
| 121 | necessary for developing a local plan to impose on a parent's |
| 122 | state of residence the fiscal responsibility for educating a |
| 123 | nonresident exceptional student with a disability. |
| 124 | (c) The Department of Education shall develop a process by |
| 125 | which a school district must, before providing services to an |
| 126 | exceptional student with a disability who resides in a |
| 127 | residential facility in this state, review the residency of the |
| 128 | student. The residential facility, not the district, is |
| 129 | responsible for billing and collecting from the parent's state |
| 130 | of residence for the nonresident student's educational and |
| 131 | related services. |
| 132 | (d) This subsection applies to any nonresident exceptional |
| 133 | student with a disability who resides in a residential facility |
| 134 | and who receives instruction as an exceptional student with a |
| 135 | disability in any type of residential facility in this state, |
| 136 | including, but not limited to, a private school, a group home |
| 137 | facility as defined in s. 393.063, an intensive residential |
| 138 | treatment program for children and adolescents as defined in s. |
| 139 | 395.002, a facility as defined in s. 394.455, an intermediate |
| 140 | care facility for the developmentally disabled or ICF/DD as |
| 141 | defined in s. 393.063 or s. 400.960, or a community residential |
| 142 | home as defined in s. 419.001. |
| 143 | (3) For purposes of this section, the term "parent" is |
| 144 | defined as either or both parents of a student or any guardian |
| 145 | of a student. |
| 146 | Section 2. Section 1003.575, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 147 | to read: |
| 148 | 1003.575 Individual education plans for exceptional |
| 149 | students.--The Department of Education shall coordinate the |
| 150 | development of an individual education plan (IEP) form for use |
| 151 | in developing and implementing individual education plans for |
| 152 | exceptional students. The IEP form shall have a streamlined |
| 153 | format and shall be compatible with federal standards. The |
| 154 | department shall make the IEP form available to each school |
| 155 | district in the state to facilitate the use of an existing IEP |
| 156 | when a student transfers from one school district to another. |
| 157 | Section 3. Subsection (3) of section 1003.58, Florida |
| 158 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 159 | 1003.58 Students in residential care facilities.--Each |
| 160 | district school board shall provide educational programs |
| 161 | according to rules of the State Board of Education to students |
| 162 | who reside in residential care facilities operated by the |
| 163 | Department of Children and Family Services. |
| 164 | (3) The district school board shall have full and complete |
| 165 | authority in the matter of the assignment and placement of such |
| 166 | students in educational programs. The parent of an exceptional |
| 167 | student shall have the same due process rights as are provided |
| 168 | under s. 1003.57(1)(e)(5). |
| 169 |
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| 170 | Notwithstanding the provisions herein, the educational program |
| 171 | at the Marianna Sunland Center in Jackson County shall be |
| 172 | operated by the Department of Education, either directly or |
| 173 | through grants or contractual agreements with other public or |
| 174 | duly accredited educational agencies approved by the Department |
| 175 | of Education. |
| 176 | Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2005. |