HF 1547

as introduced - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 02/21/2019 02:06pm

A bill for an act
relating to education; requiring online reporting of special education data;
appropriating money for special education online system; proposing coding for
new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 125A.

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

Section 1.

new text begin [125A.084] ONLINE REPORTING OF REQUIRED DATA.
new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner of education must customize a streamlined, user-friendly statewide
online system, with a single model online form, for effectively and efficiently collecting
and reporting special education-related data to individuals with a legitimate educational
interest and who are authorized by law to access the data. The purpose of the online system
is to ensure a strong focus on outcomes for children with disabilities, ensure federal and
state compliance and accountability requirements, and increase opportunities for special
educators and related-services providers to focus on teaching children with disabilities.
new text end

new text begin (b) The commissioner must consult with qualified experts, including information
technology specialists, licensed special education teachers and directors of special education,
related-services providers, third-party vendors, a designee of the commissioner of human
services, parents of children with disabilities, representatives of advocacy groups representing
children with disabilities, and representatives of school districts and special education
cooperatives on integrating, field testing, customizing, and sustaining a simple, easily
accessible, efficient, and effective online data system for uniform statewide reporting of
required due process compliance data. Among other outcomes, the system must:
new text end

new text begin (1) reduce special education teachers' paperwork burden and thereby increase the teachers'
opportunities to focus on teaching children;
new text end

new text begin (2) to the extent authorized by chapter 13 or other applicable state or federal law
governing access to and dissemination of educational records, provide for efficiently and
effectively transmitting the records of all transferring children with disabilities, including
highly mobile and homeless children with disabilities, among others, and avoid fragmented
service delivery;
new text end

new text begin (3) address language and other barriers and disparities that prevent parents from
understanding and communicating information about the needs of their children with
disabilities; and
new text end

new text begin (4) help continuously improve the interface among the online systems serving children
with disabilities in order to maintain and reinforce the children's ability to learn.
new text end

new text begin (c) The commissioner must use the federal Office of Special Education Programs model
forms for the (1) individualized education program, (2) notice of procedural safeguards,
and (3) prior written notice that are consistent with Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act to integrate and customize a state-sponsored universal special education
online case management system, consistent with the requirements of this section, and any
other state law for customizing a statewide online reporting system. The commissioner must
use a request for proposal process to contract for the technology and software needed for
customizing the online system in order for the system to be fully functional, consistent with
the requirements of this section. This online system must be made available to school
districts, without charge, in the 2021-2022 school year. For the 2022-2023 and later school
years, school districts may use this online system or may contract with an outside vendor
for compliance reporting to the statewide system.
new text end

new text begin (d) All data on individuals maintained in the statewide reporting system are classified
as provided in chapter 13 or other applicable state or federal law. An authorized individual's
ability to enter, update, or access data must be limited through the use of role-based access
codes corresponding to that individual's official duties or training level, and the statutory
authorization that grants access for a particular purpose. Any action in which data in the
system are entered, updated, accessed, or shared or disseminated outside of the system must
be recorded in an audit trail. The audit trail must identify the specific user responsible for
the action, the date and time the action occurred, and the purpose for the action. Data
contained in the audit trail maintain the same classification as the underlying data affected
by the action, provided the responsible authority makes the data available to a student or
the student's parent upon request, and the responsible authority may access the data to audit
the system's user activity and security safeguards. Before entering data on a student, the
responsible authority must provide the student or the student's parent written notice of the
data practices rights and responsibilities required by this section and a reasonable opportunity
to refuse consent to have the student's data included in the system. Upon receiving the
student or the student's parent written refusal to consent, the school district must not enter
data on that student into the system and must delete any existing data on the student currently
in the system.
new text end

new text begin (e) Consistent with this section, the commissioner must establish a public Internet
interface to provide information to educators, parents, and the public about the form and
content of required special education reports, to respond to queries from educators, parents,
and the public about specific aspects of special education reports and reporting, and to use
the information garnered from the interface to streamline and revise special education
reporting on the online system under this section. The public Internet interface must include
a prominently linked page describing the rights and responsibilities of students and parents
whose data are included in the statewide reporting system, information on the data practices
rights of students and parents provided by this section, and a form students or parents may
use to refuse consent to have a student's data included in the system. The public Internet
interface must not provide access to the educational records of any individual child.
new text end

new text begin (f) Annually by February 1 the commissioner must submit to the legislature a report on
the status, recent changes, and sustainability of the online system under this section.
new text end

Sec. 2. new text begin APPROPRIATION.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Commissioner of education. new text end

new text begin The sums indicated in this section are
appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of education for the fiscal years
designated.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Special education online system. new text end

new text begin For a special education online data reporting
system under Minnesota Statutes, section 125A.084:
new text end

	new text begin $ new text end	new text begin 1,800,000 new text end	new text begin ..... new text end	new text begin 2019 new text end
	new text begin $ new text end	new text begin 600,000 new text end	new text begin ..... new text end	new text begin 2020 new text end