HB 315

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to deaf and hard-of-hearing children;
3	providing a short title; providing legislative
4	findings and purpose; encouraging certain state
5	agencies, institutions, and political subdivisions to
6	develop recommendations ensuring that the language and
7	communication needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing
8	children are addressed; requiring that the act be
9	expeditiously implemented; requiring that the
10	Department of Education develop a communication model
11	for the individual education plan process for deaf and
12	hard-of-hearing students; requiring that the
13	department disseminate the model to each school
14	district and provide training as it determines
15	necessary; providing an effective date.
16
17	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19	Section 1.  (1)  SHORT TITLE.-This act may be cited as the
20	"Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children's Educational Bill of
21	Rights."
22	(2)  LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.-
23	(a)  The Legislature finds that:
24	1.  Hearing loss affects the most basic human need, which
25	is communication. Without quality communication, a child is
26	isolated from other human beings and from the exchange of
27	knowledge essential for educational growth and, therefore,
28	cannot develop the skills required to become a productive,
29	capable adult and a full participant of society.
30	2.  Children who have a hearing loss possess the same
31	innate capabilities as any other children. They communicate in a
32	wide variety of manual and spoken modes, languages, and systems.
33	Some children use aural/oral modes of communication, while
34	others use a combination of aural/oral and manual communication.
35	Many children use American Sign Language, which is a formal
36	language, as well as the preferred everyday language of the deaf
37	community.
38	3.  It is critical that all citizens in the state work
39	toward ensuring that:
40	a.  Deaf and hard-of-hearing children, like all children,
41	have quality, ongoing, and fluid communication, both in and out
42	of the classroom.
43	b.  Deaf and hard-of-hearing children be placed in the
44	least restrictive educational environment and receive services
45	based on their unique communication, language, and educational
46	needs, consistent with 20 U.S.C. s. 1414(d)(3)(B)(iv) of the
47	Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
48	c.  Deaf and hard-of-hearing children be given an education
49	in which teachers, related service providers, and assessors
50	understand the unique nature of deafness, are specifically
51	trained to work with deaf and hard-of-hearing students, and can
52	communicate spontaneously and fluidly with these children.
53	d.  Deaf and hard-of-hearing children, like all children,
54	have the benefit of an education in which there is a sufficient
55	number of age-appropriate peers and adults with whom they can
56	interact and communicate in a spontaneous and fluid way.
57	e.  Deaf and hard-of-hearing children receive an education
58	in which they are exposed to deaf and hard-of-hearing role
59	models.
60	f.  Deaf and hard-of-hearing children, like all children,
61	have direct and appropriate access to all components of the
62	educational process, including recess, lunch, and
63	extracurricular, social, and athletic activities.
64	g.  Deaf and hard-of-hearing children, like all children,
65	be provided with programs in which transition planning, as
66	required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,
67	focuses on their unique vocational needs.
68	h.  Families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing
69	receive accurate, balanced, and complete information regarding
70	their children's educational and communication needs and the
71	available programmatic, placement, and resource options, as well
72	as access to support services and advocacy resources from public
73	and private agencies, departments, and all other institutions
74	and resources knowledgeable about hearing loss and the needs of
75	children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
76	(b)  Given the central importance of communication to all
77	human beings, the purpose of this act is to encourage the
78	development of a communication-driven and language-driven
79	educational delivery system in the state for children who are
80	deaf or hard of hearing.
81	(3)  EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS OF DEAF AND HARD-OF-HEARING
82	CHILDREN; DUTY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.-
83	(a)  The Legislature recognizes the unique communication
84	needs of children who are deaf or hard of hearing and encourages
85	the development of specific recommendations by all state
86	agencies, institutions, and political subdivisions concerned
87	with the early intervention, early childhood, and kindergarten
88	through grade 12 education of students who are deaf or hard of
89	hearing, including the Department of Education, the Florida
90	School for the Deaf and the Blind, and the Department of Health,
91	to ensure that:
92	1.  These children have access to the same educational
93	environment that other children have in which their language and
94	communication needs are fully addressed and developed and in
95	which they have early, ongoing, and quality access to planned
96	and incidental communication opportunities.
97	2.  The purposes of this act are expeditiously implemented.
98	(b)  Pursuant to 20 U.S.C. s. 1414(d)(3)(B)(iv) of the
99	Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which requires that
100	the individual education plan team consider the unique
101	communication needs of children who are deaf or hard of hearing,
102	the Department of Education shall develop a model addressing
103	communication considerations for students who are deaf or hard
104	of hearing as part of the individual education plan process. The
105	department shall also disseminate the model to each school
106	district and provide training as it determines necessary.
107	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.