- The Texas Education Agency (TEA) modified its rule on Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) meetings to revise the current committee meeting procedures–19 Tex. Admin. Code § 89.1050. The rule no longer requires several aspects of the ARD committee report that you may be accustomed to. Below is a list of critical changes highlighted in red.
- Allowing committee members to indicate agreement or disagreement is no longer required.
- A signatures page is no longer required.
- A summary of the meeting deliberations and decisions is no longer required.
- If the committee takes a recess because there is not mutual agreement on all required Individual Education Program (IEP) elements then the recess may now be longer than 10 school days by mutual agreement of the committee.
- If there is no resolution of an ARD disagreement, now only the parents have the right to submit a statement of disagreement (under the prior rule any committee member in disagreement could have submitted a statement of disagreement).
- TEA deleted the rule specific to parental requests for an ARD committee meeting–19 Tex. Admin. Code § 89.1045. The rule changed how school districts must respond to the parent’s request. Under prior rule, the district either had to grant the request or ask TEA for a mediator to address the parent’s concerns. With the current change the school district either grants the request or issues a notice of refusal to convene an ARD committee meeting. The district is no longer required to seek the assistance of a TEA-appointed mediator.
- The TEA modified its rule on Full Individual Evaluations (FIEs) in response to S.B. 816 which was enacted by the 83rd Legislature–19 Tex. Admin. Code §89.1011. When the referral for the FIE occurs during the latter part of the spring semester and the FIE report is due by June 30th then the ARD committee no longer has until the 15th school day of the fall semester to hold a meeting to discuss the FIE. Now the rule requires a school district to schedule and hold the ARD committee meeting “as expeditiously as possible” during the summer if the FIE report says that the student is in need of Extended School Year (ESY) services.
- The TEA modified its rule on high school graduation for students with Individual Education Plan (IEP)–19 Tex. Admin. Code § 89.1070. When the student takes a course with modified curriculum, the student is not eligible to be awarded an endorsement under the new Foundation Diploma system.
- The State Board of Education (SBOE) reviewed and modified its rule on special education instructional arrangements and settings to revise the definitions of three placement options-19 Tex. Admin. Code §§ 89.63(c)(1), (c)(7), (c)(9):
- Mainstream placement-allows positive behavioral interventions and supports in mainstream setting to permit a student to remain in the general education setting.
- Off-home campus placement-allows transition services in community-based environments.
- Vocational Adjustment Class (VAC) placement-allows the provision for an unpaid job and work experience as long as not inconsistent with wage and labor laws.
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