Florida Senate - 2023 CS for SB 636
By the Committee on Education Pre-K -12; and Senators Simon and
Perry
581-02304-23 2023636c1
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; requiring the State
11 Board of Education to adopt rules; providing an
12 effective date.
13
14 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16 Section 1. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (1) of
17 section 1003.5716, Florida Statutes, are amended, paragraph (d)
18 is added to subsection (1), and subsection (5) is added to that
19 section, to read:
20 1003.5716 Transition to postsecondary education and career
21 opportunities.—All students with disabilities who are 3 years of
22 age to 21 years of age have the right to a free, appropriate
23 public education. As used in this section, the term “IEP” means
24 individual education plan.
25 (1) To ensure quality planning for a successful transition
26 of a student with a disability to postsecondary education and
27 career opportunities, during the student’s seventh grade year or
28 when the student attains the age of 12, whichever occurs first,
29 an IEP team shall begin the process of, and develop an IEP for,
30 identifying the need for transition services before the student
31 with a disability enters high school or attains the age of 14
32 years, whichever occurs first, in order for his or her
33 postsecondary goals and career goals to be identified. The plan
34 must be operational and in place to begin implementation on the
35 first day of the student’s first year in high school. This
36 process must include, but is not limited to:
37 (b) Preparation for the student to graduate from high
38 school with a standard high school diploma pursuant to s.
39 1003.4282 with a Scholar designation unless the parent chooses a
40 Merit designation; and
41 (c) Provision of the information to the student and his or
42 her parent of the school district’s high school-level transition
43 services, career and technical education, and collegiate
44 programs available to students with disabilities and how to
45 access such programs. Information shall also be provided on
46 school-based transition programs and programs and services
47 available through Florida’s Center for Students with Unique
48 Abilities, the Florida Centers for Independent Living, the
49 Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Agency for Persons
50 with Disabilities, and the Division of Blind Services. Referral
51 forms, links, and technical support contacts for these services
52 must be provided to students and parents at IEP meetings; and
53 (d) At least 1 year before the student reaches the age of
54 majority, provision of information and instruction to the
55 student and his or her parent on self-determination and the
56 legal rights and responsibilities regarding the educational
57 decisions that transfer to the student upon attaining the age of
58 18. The information must include the ways in which the student
59 may provide informed consent to allow his or her parent to
60 continue to participate in educational decisions, including:
61 1. Informed consent to grant permission to access
62 confidential records protected under the Family Educational
63 Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) as provided in s. 1002.22.
64 2. Powers of attorney as provided in chapter 709.
65 3. Guardian advocacy as provided in s. 393.12.
66 4. Guardianship as provided in chapter 744.
67 (5) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to
68 administer this section.
69 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.