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2021 Special Session I

Budget Amendments - HB1800 (Floor Approved)

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Implement JLARC Recommendations: K-12 Special Education in Virginia (language only)

Item 138 #3h

Item 138 #3h

Education
Department of Education, Central Office Operations

Language

Page 141, after line 14, insert:

"I. The Department of Education shall develop and implement a clear and comprehensive plan to improve its approach to monitoring Virginia's special education system on an ongoing basis.  At a minimum, the plan shall clearly describe the department's procedures for effectively determining whether school divisions are complying with state and federal requirements pertaining to (i) identification and eligibility determination processes; (ii) individualized education program development and implementation; (iii) post-secondary transition planning; (iv) inclusion in academic and non-academic experiences and the use of discipline; and (v) special education staffing.  The plan shall also propose actions to increase monitoring capacity and onsite visits with existing resources and by leveraging federal funding. The department shall submit its plan to the Senate Education and Health Committee, the House Education Committee and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission no later than November 1, 2021.

J. The Department of Education shall revise its state special education complaint procedures and practices to ensure the department requires and enforces corrective actions that (i) achieve full and appropriate remedies for school divisions' non-compliance with special education laws and regulations, including, at a minimum, requiring school divisions to provide compensatory services to students with disabilities when it determines divisions did not provide legally obligated services; and (ii) ensure relevant personnel understand how to avoid similar non-compliance in the future.

K. The Department of Education shall develop clear and simplified guidance, in multiple languages, for families of students with disabilities explaining (i) the limitations of the applied studies diploma; (ii) key curriculum and testing decisions that reduce the likelihood their student will be able to obtain a standard diploma; and (iii) that pursuit of an applied studies diploma may preclude a student's ability to pursue a standard diploma.

L. The Board of Education and the Department of Education shall develop and implement statewide standards, such as curriculum standards, for earning the applied studies diploma and require school divisions to implement these standards by the beginning of the 2022-23 school year."



Explanation

(This amendment implements recommendations 10, 12, 21, and 27 from the JLARC report "K-12 Special Education in Virginia". These recommendations address (i) state monitoring of compliance with special education requirements, (ii) special education complaint procedures and practices, (iii) matters related to the applied studies diploma.)