Florida Senate - 2021 CS for CS for SB 726
By the Committees on Appropriations; and Education; and Senator
Taddeo
576-04424-21 2021726c2
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to individual education plan
3 requirements for students with disabilities; amending
4 s. 1003.5716, F.S.; revising the timeline for the
5 development and implementation of an individual
6 education plan (IEP) for transition services for a
7 student with disabilities to a postsecondary education
8 and career opportunities; revising the requirements
9 for an IEP for the transitions to a postsecondary
10 education and career opportunities; requiring certain
11 information to be provided at IEP meetings; revising
12 when a certain statement of intent must be included in
13 the IEP; providing requirements for such statement;
14 requiring a specified party to provide a signed
15 statement relating to the deferment of a standard high
16 school diploma; requiring the Department of Education,
17 in conjunction with the Project 10: Transition
18 Education Network, to conduct a review of specified
19 services and programs; requiring the department to
20 establish and publish on its website uniform best
21 practices for such services and programs by a
22 specified date; providing an effective date.
23
24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
25
26 Section 1. Subsections (1) and (2) of section 1003.5716,
27 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
28 1003.5716 Transition to postsecondary education and career
29 opportunities.—All students with disabilities who are 3 years of
30 age to 21 years of age have the right to a free, appropriate
31 public education. As used in this section, the term “IEP” means
32 individual education plan.
33 (1) To ensure quality planning for a successful transition
34 of a student with a disability to postsecondary education and
35 career opportunities, during the student’s 7th grade year or
36 when the student attains the age of 12, whichever occurs first,
37 an IEP team shall begin the process of, and develop an IEP for,
38 identifying the need for transition services before the student
39 with a disability enters high school or attains the age of 14
40 years, whichever occurs first, in order for his or her
41 postsecondary goals and career goals to be identified. The plan
42 must be operational and in place to begin implementation on the
43 first day of the student’s first year in high school when he or
44 she attains the age of 16 years. This process must include, but
45 is not limited to:
46 (a) Consideration of the student’s need for instruction in
47 the area of self-determination and self-advocacy to assist the
48 student’s active and effective participation in an IEP meeting;
49 and
50 (b) Preparation for the student to graduate from high
51 school with a standard high school diploma pursuant to s.
52 1003.4282 with a Scholar designation unless the parent chooses a
53 Merit designation; and
54 (c) Provision of the information to the student and his or
55 her parent of the school district’s high school-level transition
56 services, career and technical education, and collegiate
57 programs available to students with disabilities and how to
58 access such programs. Information shall also be provided on
59 school-based transition programs and programs and services
60 available through the Florida’s Center for Students with Unique
61 Abilities, the Florida Centers for Independent Living, the
62 Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Agency for Persons
63 with Disabilities, and the Division of Blind Services. Referral
64 forms, links, and technical support contacts for these services
65 must be provided to students and parents at IEP meetings.
66 (2) Beginning not later than the first IEP to be in effect
67 when the student enters high school, attains the age of 14 16,
68 or when younger if determined appropriate by the parent and the
69 IEP team, whichever occurs first, the IEP must include the
70 following statements that must be updated annually:
71 (a) A statement of intent to pursue a standard high school
72 diploma and a Scholar or Merit designation, pursuant to s.
73 1003.4285, as determined by the parent.
74 1. The statement must document discussion of the process
75 for a student with a disability who meets the requirements for a
76 standard high school diploma to defer the receipt of such
77 diploma pursuant to s. 1003.4282(10)(c).
78 2. For the IEP in effect at the beginning of the school
79 year the student is expected to graduate, the statement must
80 include a signed statement by the parent or guardian, or the
81 student if the student has reached the age of majority and
82 rights have transferred to the student, that he or she
83 understands the process for deferment and identifying if the
84 student will defer the receipt of his or her standard high
85 school diploma.
86 (b) A statement of intent to receive a standard high school
87 diploma before the student attains the age of 22 and a
88 description of how the student will fully meet the requirements
89 in s. 1003.4282, including, but not limited to, a portfolio
90 pursuant to s. 1003.4282(10)(b) which meets the criteria
91 specified in State Board of Education rule. The IEP must also
92 specify the outcomes and additional benefits expected by the
93 parent and the IEP team at the time of the student’s graduation.
94 (c) A statement of appropriate measurable long-term
95 postsecondary education and career goals based upon age
96 appropriate transition assessments related to training,
97 education, employment, and, if appropriate, independent living
98 skills and the transition services, including preemployment
99 transition services and courses of study needed to assist the
100 student in reaching those goals.
101 Section 2. The Department of Education, in conjunction with
102 the Project 10: Transition Education Network, shall conduct a
103 review of existing transition services and programs for students
104 with disabilities to establish uniform best practices for such
105 programs to deliver appropriate employment, preemployment, and
106 independent living skills education to students enrolled in such
107 transition programs. The department must establish and publish
108 on its website such uniform best practices no later than July 1,
109 2022.
110 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.