HB 1043

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to instruction for exceptional students;
3	amending s. 1003.57, F.S.; providing guidelines for
4	determining the residency for a student who receives
5	instruction as an exceptional student; requiring the
6	student's state of residence to pay the cost of
7	instruction, facilities, and services; providing
8	responsibilities of the Department of Education; providing
9	responsibilities of residential facilities that educate
10	exceptional students; providing applicability; amending s.
11	1003.58, F.S.; correcting a cross reference; providing an
12	effective date.
13
14	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16	Section 1.  Section 1003.57, Florida Statutes, is amended
17	to read:
18	1003.57  Exceptional students instruction.--
19	(1)  Each district school board shall provide for an
20	appropriate program of special instruction, facilities, and
21	services for exceptional students as prescribed by the State
22	Board of Education as acceptable, including provisions that:
23	(a)(1)  The district school board provide the necessary
24	professional services for diagnosis and evaluation of
25	exceptional students.
26	(b)(2)  The district school board provide the special
27	instruction, classes, and services, either within the district
28	school system, in cooperation with other district school
29	systems, or through contractual arrangements with approved
30	private schools or community facilities that meet standards
31	established by the commissioner.
32	(c)(3)  The district school board annually provide
33	information describing the Florida School for the Deaf and the
34	Blind and all other programs and methods of instruction
35	available to the parent of a sensory-impaired student.
36	(d)(4)  The district school board, once every 3 years,
37	submit to the department its proposed procedures for the
38	provision of special instruction and services for exceptional
39	students.
40	(e)(5)  No student be given special instruction or services
41	as an exceptional student until after he or she has been
42	properly evaluated, classified, and placed in the manner
43	prescribed by rules of the State Board of Education. The parent
44	of an exceptional student evaluated and placed or denied
45	placement in a program of special education shall be notified of
46	each such evaluation and placement or denial. Such notice shall
47	contain a statement informing the parent that he or she is
48	entitled to a due process hearing on the identification,
49	evaluation, and placement, or lack thereof. Such hearings shall
50	be exempt from the provisions of ss. 120.569, 120.57, and
51	286.011, except to the extent that the State Board of Education
52	adopts rules establishing other procedures and any records
53	created as a result of such hearings shall be confidential and
54	exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1). The hearing must be
55	conducted by an administrative law judge from the Division of
56	Administrative Hearings of the Department of Management
57	Services. The decision of the administrative law judge shall be
58	final, except that any party aggrieved by the finding and
59	decision rendered by the administrative law judge shall have the
60	right to bring a civil action in the circuit court. In such an
61	action, the court shall receive the records of the
62	administrative hearing and shall hear additional evidence at the
63	request of either party. In the alternative, any party aggrieved
64	by the finding and decision rendered by the administrative law
65	judge shall have the right to request an impartial review of the
66	administrative law judge's order by the district court of appeal
67	as provided by s. 120.68. Notwithstanding any law to the
68	contrary, during the pendency of any proceeding conducted
69	pursuant to this section, unless the district school board and
70	the parents otherwise agree, the student shall remain in his or
71	her then-current educational assignment or, if applying for
72	initial admission to a public school, shall be assigned, with
73	the consent of the parents, in the public school program until
74	all such proceedings have been completed.
75	(f)(6)  In providing for the education of exceptional
76	students, the district school superintendent, principals, and
77	teachers shall utilize the regular school facilities and adapt
78	them to the needs of exceptional students to the maximum extent
79	appropriate. Segregation of exceptional students shall occur
80	only if the nature or severity of the exceptionality is such
81	that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary
82	aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.
83	(g)(7)  In addition to the services agreed to in a
84	student's individual education plan, the district school
85	superintendent shall fully inform the parent of a student having
86	a physical or developmental disability of all available services
87	that are appropriate for the student's disability. The
88	superintendent shall provide the student's parent with a summary
89	of the student's rights.
90	(2)(a)  A student who receives special instruction,
91	facilities, or services as an exceptional student is considered
92	a resident of the state in which the student's parent or
93	guardian is a resident. Such a student's state of residence must
94	pay the cost of such instruction, facilities, and services for a
95	nonresident student who receives instruction in this state as an
96	exceptional student.
97	(b)  The Department of Education shall provide to each
98	school district a statement of the specific limitations of the
99	district's financial obligation for exceptional students under
100	federal and state law. The department shall also provide to each
101	school district technical assistance as necessary for developing
102	a local plan to impose on a student's home state the fiscal
103	responsibility for educating a nonresident exceptional student.
104	(c)  The Department of Education shall develop a process by
105	which a school district must review the residency of each
106	exceptional student who lives in a residential facility in this
107	state prior to providing services. The residential facility, not
108	the district, is responsible for billing and collecting from a
109	nonresidential student's home state payment for the student's
110	educational and related services.
111	(d)  This subsection applies to any nonresident student who
112	receives instruction as an exceptional student in any type of
113	educational facility in this state, including a public school,
114	private school, or juvenile justice commitment facility.
115	Section 2.  Subsection (3) of section 1003.58, Florida
116	Statutes, is amended to read:
117	1003.58  Students in residential care facilities.--Each
118	district school board shall provide educational programs
119	according to rules of the State Board of Education to students
120	who reside in residential care facilities operated by the
121	Department of Children and Family Services.
122	(3)  The district school board shall have full and complete
123	authority in the matter of the assignment and placement of such
124	students in educational programs. The parent of an exceptional
125	student shall have the same due process rights as are provided
126	under s. 1003.57(1)(e) s. 1003.57(5).
127	Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.

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