Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

HF 1339

as introduced - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 02/16/2017 02:22pm

KEY: stricken = removed, old language.
underscored = added, new language.

Current Version - as introduced

Line numbers 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5
1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 2.32 2.33 2.34 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21
3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 3.26 3.27 3.28 3.29 3.30 3.31 3.32 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 4.23 4.24 4.25 4.26 4.27
5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5

A bill for an act
relating to education; early childhood; providing for assistive technology plans;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2016, sections 125A.08; 125A.32; 125A.57, by
adding a subdivision.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, 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.
Before a school district evaluation team makes a determination of other health disability
under Minnesota Rules, part 3525.1335, subparts 1 and 2, item A, subitem (1), the evaluation
team must seek written documentation of the student's medically diagnosed chronic or acute
health condition signed by a licensed physician or a licensed health care provider acting
within the scope of the provider's practice. 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. new text begin The individualized
education program team must consider whether the student requires assistive technology
devices and services using a child-centered assistive technology plan.
new text end The individualized
education program team must consider positive behavioral interventions, strategies, and
supports that address behavior needs for children. 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. If the individualized education
program meets the plan components in section 120B.125, the individualized education
program satisfies the requirement and no additional transition plan is needed;

(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 all paraprofessionals employed to work in programs whose role in part is to
provide direct support to students with disabilities, the school board in each district shall
ensure that:

(1) before or beginning at the time of employment, each paraprofessional must develop
sufficient knowledge and skills in emergency procedures, building orientation, roles and
responsibilities, confidentiality, vulnerability, and reportability, among other things, to begin
meeting the needs, especially disability-specific and behavioral needs, of the students with
whom the paraprofessional works;

(2) annual training opportunities are required 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, 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, 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.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 125A.32, is amended to read:


125A.32 INDIVIDUALIZED FAMILY SERVICE PLAN (IFSP).

(a) A team must participate in IFSP meetings to develop the IFSP. The team shall include:

(1) a parent or parents of the child, as defined in Code of Federal Regulations, title 34,
section 303.27;

(2) other family members, as requested by the parent, if feasible to do so;

(3) an advocate or person outside of the family, if the parent requests that the person
participate;

(4) the service coordinator who has been working with the family since the initial referral,
or who has been designated by the public agency to be responsible for implementation of
the IFSP and coordination with other agencies including transition services;

(5) a person or persons involved in conducting evaluations and assessments; and

(6) as appropriate, persons who will be providing early intervention services under the
plan to the child or family.

(b) The IFSP must include:

(1) information about the child's developmental status;

(2) family information, with the consent of the family;

(3) measurable results or major outcomes expected to be achieved by the child with the
family's assistancedeleted text begin ,deleted text end that new text begin support the child's social emotional development, address any
behavioral concerns, and
new text end include developmentally appropriate preliteracy and language
skills for the child, and the criteria, procedures, and timelines;

(4) specific early intervention servicesnew text begin , including assistive technology,new text end based on
peer-reviewed research, to the extent practicable, necessary to meet the unique needs of the
child and the family to achieve the outcomes;

(5) payment arrangements, if any;

(6) medical and other services that the child needs, but that are not required under the
Individual with Disabilities Education Act, United States Code, title 20, section 1471 et
seq. (Part C, Public Law 108-446) including funding sources to be used in paying for those
services and the steps that will be taken to secure those services through public or private
sources;

(7) dates and duration of early intervention services;

(8) name of the service coordinator;

(9) steps to be taken to support a child's transition from infant and toddler intervention
services to other appropriate services, including convening a transition conference at least
90 days or, at the discretion of all parties, not more than nine months before the child is
eligible for preschool services; and

(10) authorized signatures of the agencies responsible for providing, paying for, or
facilitating payment, or any combination of these, for infant and toddler intervention services.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 125A.57, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:


new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Child-centered assistive technology plan. new text end

new text begin "Child-centered assistive technology
plan" means a plan to guide the assistive technology consideration and implementation
process to address the individual needs of a child with a disability.
new text end