HF 1237

as introduced - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 02/25/2015 01:00pm

A bill for an act
relating to education; modifying certain individualized education program
provisions; amending Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 125A.08.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 125A.08, is amended to read:

125A.08 INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

(a) At the beginning of each school year, each school district shall have in effect, for
each child with a disability, an individualized education program.

(b) As defined in this section, every district must ensure the following:

(1) all students with disabilities are provided the special instruction and services
which are appropriate to their needs. Where the individualized education program team
has determined appropriate goals and objectives based on the student's needs, including
the extent to which the student can be included in the least restrictive environment,
and where there are essentially equivalent and effective instruction, related services, or
assistive technology devices available to meet the student's needs, cost to the district may
be among the factors considered by the team in choosing how to provide the appropriate
services, instruction, or devices that are to be made part of the student's individualized
education program. The individualized education program team shall consider and
may authorize services covered by medical assistance according to section 256B.0625,
subdivision 26. The student's needs and the special education instruction and services to
be provided must be agreed upon through the development of an individualized education
program. The program must address the student's need to develop skills to live and
work as independently as possible within the community. The individualized education
program team must consider positive behavioral interventions, strategies, and supports
that address behavior new text begin needs new text end for children deleted text begin with attention deficit disorder or attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder deleted text end . During grade 9, the program must address the student's needs for
transition from secondary services to postsecondary education and training, employment,
community participation, recreation, and leisure and home living. In developing the
program, districts must inform parents of the full range of transitional goals and related
services that should be considered. The program must include a statement of the needed
transition services, including a statement of the interagency responsibilities or linkages or
both before secondary services are concluded;

(2) children with a disability under age five and their families are provided special
instruction and services appropriate to the child's level of functioning and needs;

(3) children with a disability and their parents or guardians are guaranteed procedural
safeguards and the right to participate in decisions involving identification, assessment
including assistive technology assessment, and educational placement of children with a
disability;

(4) eligibility and needs of children with a disability are determined by an initial
evaluation or reevaluation, which may be completed using existing data under United
States Code, title 20, section 33, et seq.;

(5) to the maximum extent appropriate, children with a disability, including those
in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who
are not disabled, and that special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children
with a disability from the regular educational environment occurs only when and to the
extent that the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes
with the use of supplementary services cannot be achieved satisfactorily;

(6) in accordance with recognized professional standards, testing and evaluation
materials, and procedures used for the purposes of classification and placement of children
with a disability are selected and administered so as not to be racially or culturally
discriminatory; and

(7) the rights of the child are protected when the parents or guardians are not known
or not available, or the child is a ward of the state.

(c) For new text begin all new text end paraprofessionals employed to work in programs deleted text begin for deleted text end new text begin whose role in part
is to provide direct support to new text end students with disabilities, the school board in each district
shall ensure that:

(1) before or immediately upon employment, each paraprofessional develops
sufficient knowledge and skills in emergency procedures, building orientation, roles and
responsibilities, confidentiality, vulnerability, and reportability, among other things,
to begin meeting the needs new text begin , especially disability-specific and behavioral needs, new text end of the
students with whom the paraprofessional works;

(2) annual training opportunities are deleted text begin available deleted text end new text begin required new text end to enable the paraprofessional
to continue to further develop the knowledge and skills that are specific to the students
with whom the paraprofessional works, including understanding disabilities, new text begin the unique
and individual needs of each student according to the student's disability and how the
disability affects the student's education and behavior, new text end following lesson plans, and
implementing follow-up instructional procedures and activities; and

(3) a districtwide process obligates each paraprofessional to work under the ongoing
direction of a licensed teacher and, where appropriate and possible, the supervision of a
school nurse.