Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) Each district
board of education, independently or through joint agreements, shall employ or
contract with child study teams, as set forth at
N.J.A.C.
6A:14-3.1(b),
speech-language specialists, and other school personnel in numbers sufficient
to ensure provision of required programs and services pursuant to this chapter.
1. Joint agreements for child study team
services may be entered into with local education agencies, including other
district boards of education, educational services commissions, jointure
commissions, and county special services school districts.
2. A district board of education may
supplement child study team services with additional teams through contracts or
joint agreements.
3. If a vacancy
occurs on a child study team because of an absence of a member(s) of the team
for an identified period of time, the district board of education may contract,
for the duration of any such vacancy, with a clinic or agency approved by the
Department of Education, an individual, or another district board of education
for the services provided by the absent team member(s).
(b) When a district board of education
provides its educational program through another New Jersey district board of
education, responsibility for this chapter's requirements shall be according to
the following:
1. In a sending-receiving
relationship pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:38-1 et seq., when all the students of
one or more grades of a district board of education attend a school(s) operated
by another district board(s) of education, the receiving district board of
education shall be responsible for determining the eligibility of the sending
district board of education's students and developing and implementing their
IEPs.
2. When individual students
are placed by a district board of education in a school operated by another
district board of education, a contractual agreement shall be made between
district boards of education which specifies responsibility for providing
instruction, related services, and child study team services to students with
disabilities.
(c) For
the services listed below, district boards of education may contract with
private clinics and agencies approved by the Department of Education, private
professional practitioners who are certified and licensed according to State
statutes and rules, and agencies or programs that are certified, approved, or
licensed by the Department of Human Services or by the Department of Health to
provide counseling or mental health services. For the related services listed
at (c)1iii and v below, approved private schools for students with disabilities
may contract with private clinics and agencies approved by the Department of
Education, private professional practitioners who are certified and licensed
according to State statutes and rules, and agencies or programs that are
certified, approved, or licensed by the Department of Human Services or by the
Department of Health to provide counseling or mental health services. All
instructional, child study team, and related services personnel provided by
approved clinics and agencies and private professional practitioners shall be
fully certified. No instructional, child study team, and related services
personnel provided by approved clinics and agencies, or private professional
practitioners, may, if a certification is required for the discipline under
which they are providing services, provide services pursuant to this subsection
if certified through the emergency certification process.
1. For public school students:
i. Independent child study team evaluations
according to
6A:14-2.5;
ii. Child study team services to supplement
existing district board of education services;
iii. Related services;
(1) Certified occupational therapy
assistants, and others employed in a supportive role to licensed and, where
applicable, certified providers of related services, shall work under the
supervision of an appropriately licensed and, where applicable, certified
provider of such services.
(2)
Physical therapy assistants shall work under the supervision of a certified
physical therapist.
(3) Specialists
in behavior modification or other disciplines for which there is no license or
certification shall hold, at a minimum, a bachelor's degree in education,
psychology, or a related field from an accredited institute of higher education
and shall work under the supervision of certified district board of education
personnel.
iv. Home
instruction; and
v. Speech-language
services provided by a speech-language specialist when a district board of
education or private school for students with disabilities is unable to hire
sufficient staff to provide the service.
2. For students attending nonpublic schools,
the district board of education in which the facility is located may contract
for the following services:
i. Evaluation,
determination of eligibility, classification, and the development of a service
plan;
ii. Supplementary
instruction, speech-language services, and home instruction for students
determined eligible for such services; and
iii. English as a second language pursuant to
N.J.A.C. 6A:15 and compensatory education pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 18A:46A-2.e
for students eligible for such services.
(d) District boards of education may purchase
services listed under (c)1 and 2 above from Department of Education approved
clinics and agencies with prior written notice to the Department of Education
through the county office of education according to the following:
1. Notice of the intent to purchase services
shall include the proposed terms of the contract;
2. The notice shall be effective for one
year; and
3. District boards of
education are not required to provide prior notice to the Department of
Education when contracting for an independent child study team evaluation in
accordance with N.J. A.C. 6A:14-2.5.
(e) District boards of education may contract
for medical diagnostic services with medical clinics and agencies approved by
another New Jersey State agency or appropriate state agencies outside of New
Jersey.
