Current through all regulations passed and filed through December 16, 2024
(A) The department
of education and workforce
will pay
a scholarship to the parent or other eligible applicant of each qualified
special education child upon the submission of a fully completed application
pursuant to procedures established by the department's rules
in this chapter.
(B) Each
scholarship will be used only to pay all or part of the tuition
and fees for the child on whose behalf the scholarship is awarded to attend a
special education program that provides services under the child's (IEP) in the
following manner:
(1) For a special education
program which is operated by an alternative public provider or by a registered
private provider may be used in lieu of the child's special education program
operated by the school district in which the child is entitled to attend
school.
(2) Additional services
agreed to in writing by the provider and eligible applicant that are not
included in the IEP but are associated with educating the child. Upon written
agreement with the eligible applicant, the provider may modify the services
provided to the child through the development of measurable goals and
objectives in addition to the services included in the IEP.
(C) The purpose of the scholarship
is to permit the parent or other eligible applicant of a qualified special
education child the choice to send the child to a special education program,
instead of the one operated by or for the school district in which the child is
entitled to attend school, to receive the services prescribed in the child's
IEP once the IEP is finalized, and other services agreed to in writing by the
provider and eligible applicant that are not included in the IEP but are
associated with educating the child. Upon written agreement with the eligible
applicant, the provider may modify services provided to the child through the
development of measurable goals and objectives in addition to or in lieu of the
services included in the IEP.
(D)
The following exclusions and provisions apply to the program:
(1) A scholarship will not be
awarded to the parent or other eligible applicant for a first-time scholarship
while a child's IEP is being developed or while any administrative or judicial
mediation or proceedings with respect to the content of the child's initial IEP
are pending. Disputes regarding the development of subsequent IEPs do not
affect the eligible applicant's and the child's continued eligibility for
scholarship payments. A parent or eligible applicant will not lose a
scholarship while any administrative or judicial mediation or proceedings with
respect to the content of the child's subsequent IEP are pending.
(2) The responsibility for developing the
child's IEP lies with the school district in which the child is entitled to
attend school, or the child's school district of residence, if different. The
school district of residence has the primary responsibility for developing a
child's IEP. The school district where the child is entitled to attend school
may develop the IEP in accordance with paragraph (C) of 3301-101-05 of the
Administrative Code.
(3) The
eligible applicant is responsible for ensuring that a child
receiving a scholarship has the services necessary to educate the child. Once
the child is no longer enrolled in a public school district, the public school
district is not obligated to provide the child with a FAPE.
(4) For purposes of Chapter 3323. of the
Revised Code and IDEA, a scholarship recipient has only those rights that apply
to all other unilaterally parentally placed children, with the exception of the
right to have a public school district develop an IEP in accordance with
division (B) of section
3310.53 of the Revised Code. To
the extent that tuition and fees for the scholarship child exceed the
scholarship amount, the eligible applicant is responsible for the payment of
all amounts that exceed the scholarship amount in accordance
with the terms agreed to between the eligible applicant and the
providers.
(5) The eligible
applicant is responsible for the allocation of scholarship funds if the
eligible applicant has selected multiple providers.
(6) A scholarship under this section
will not
be used for the following purposes:
(a) For a
child to attend a public special education program that operates under a
contract, compact, or other bilateral agreement between the school district in
which the child is entitled to attend school and another school district or
other public provider; or
(b) For a
child to attend a community school established under Chapter 3314. of the
Revised Code.
(7)
Nothing in sections 3310.51 to
3310.64 of the Revised Code or
in the rules in this chapter or any other rules adopted by the
department prevents a parent or other eligible
applicant whose child attends a public special education program under a
contract, compact, or other bilateral agreement, or whose child attends a
community school, from applying for and accepting a scholarship so that the
applicant may withdraw the child from that program or community school and use
the scholarship for the child to attend a special education program operated by
an alternative public provider or a registered private provider.
