Florida Senate - 2023                                     SB 636
       
       
        
       By Senator Simon
       
       
       
       
       
       3-00786-23                                             2023636__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to individual education plans;
    3         amending s. 1003.5716, F.S.; requiring individual
    4         education plans for certain students to contain
    5         information and instruction on certain legal rights
    6         and responsibilities that transfer to students at the
    7         age of 18; requiring such information to include ways
    8         in which a student may provide informed consent to
    9         allow his or her parent to continue to participate in
   10         his or her educational decisions; providing an
   11         effective date.
   12          
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (1) of
   16  section 1003.5716, Florida Statutes, are amended, and paragraph
   17  (d) is added to subsection (1) of that section, to read:
   18         1003.5716 Transition to postsecondary education and career
   19  opportunities.—All students with disabilities who are 3 years of
   20  age to 21 years of age have the right to a free, appropriate
   21  public education. As used in this section, the term “IEP” means
   22  individual education plan.
   23         (1) To ensure quality planning for a successful transition
   24  of a student with a disability to postsecondary education and
   25  career opportunities, during the student’s seventh grade year or
   26  when the student attains the age of 12, whichever occurs first,
   27  an IEP team shall begin the process of, and develop an IEP for,
   28  identifying the need for transition services before the student
   29  with a disability enters high school or attains the age of 14
   30  years, whichever occurs first, in order for his or her
   31  postsecondary goals and career goals to be identified. The plan
   32  must be operational and in place to begin implementation on the
   33  first day of the student’s first year in high school. This
   34  process must include, but is not limited to:
   35         (b) Preparation for the student to graduate from high
   36  school with a standard high school diploma pursuant to s.
   37  1003.4282 with a Scholar designation unless the parent chooses a
   38  Merit designation; and
   39         (c) Provision of the information to the student and his or
   40  her parent of the school district’s high school-level transition
   41  services, career and technical education, and collegiate
   42  programs available to students with disabilities and how to
   43  access such programs. Information shall also be provided on
   44  school-based transition programs and programs and services
   45  available through Florida’s Center for Students with Unique
   46  Abilities, the Florida Centers for Independent Living, the
   47  Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Agency for Persons
   48  with Disabilities, and the Division of Blind Services. Referral
   49  forms, links, and technical support contacts for these services
   50  must be provided to students and parents at IEP meetings; and
   51         (d)At least 1 year before the student reaches the age of
   52  majority, provision of information and instruction to the
   53  student and his or her parent on self-determination and the
   54  legal rights and responsibilities regarding the educational
   55  decisions that transfer to the student upon attaining the age of
   56  18. The information must include the ways in which the student
   57  may provide informed consent to allow his or her parent to
   58  continue to participate in educational decisions, including:
   59         1.Informed consent to grant permission to access
   60  confidential records protected under the Family Educational
   61  Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) as provided in s. 1002.22.
   62         2.Powers of attorney as provided in chapter 709.
   63         3.Guardian advocacy as provided in s. 393.12.
   64         4.Guardianship as provided in chapter 744.
   65         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.