Rhode Island Code of Regulations
Title 200 - Board of Education
Chapter 20 - Council on Elementary and Secondary Education
Subchapter 30 - Student Supports
Part 6 - Regulations Governing the Education of Children with Disabilities
Section 200-RICR-20-30-6.10 - Additional Requirements
Universal Citation: 200 RI Code of Rules 20 30 6.10
Current through September 18, 2024
6.10.1 Local Advisory Committee on Special Education
A. Local advisory committee on special
education (LAC).
1. The school committee of
each local educational or regional special education program shall appoint an
Advisory Committee on Special Education. The school committee shall approve the
by- laws of the advisory committee.
2. Membership: Each local or regional
committee shall be composed of persons involved in or concerned with the
education of students with disabilities. Parents of students with disabilities
shall compose a majority of the committee membership, and at least fifty
percent (50%) of this majority shall be selected by the parents of students
with disabilities. A regional committee shall reflect an equal distribution of
representatives from each of the school districts that comprise the regional
program. Membership shall include an individual with a disability, a public
school administrator, a special education teacher, a general education teacher
and other members of the community at the discretion of the committee and
school board.
3. Functions and
Responsibilities of the LAC: The committee shall advise the school district or
regional program on matters concerning the unmet needs of students with
disabilities, comment on improvement plans including school support plans
resulting from IDEA Part B compliance reports, local compliance with state and
federal laws pertaining to the education of students with disabilities, comment
on applications for federal and state funds and serve as advocates in
partnership with parents for students with disabilities to ensure that they
receive the entitlements provided to them under state and federal
laws.
4. Duties and
Responsibilities of the Local or Regional Agency: The local or regional
educational agency shall provide support to the committee by contracting for
technical assistance services with the Rhode Island designated Parent Training
and Technical Assistance Agency or other community- based non-profit parent
organization. Such technical assistance shall include the role of advisory
committees in advocating for children, state and federal regulations, community
resources, strategic planning and development of an annual report to the school
committee. The local or regional educational agency shall also provide school
and district improvement plans to the committee for comment and make available
appropriate records and data as permitted by law. The public agency shall also
support the committee in disseminating information to parents of students
regarding the role of the advisory committee, information pertaining to special
education and inform the committee of professional development opportunities
that are available within the LEA.
5. Conduct of Meetings: The committee shall
meet as often as necessary to conduct its business but at least four times
annually. Official minutes shall be kept of all committee meetings and be
available for public review. All committee meetings and agendas shall be
publicly announced prior to any meeting, and meetings shall be open to the
public.
6. Members of the committee
shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed for reasonable and
necessary expenses for attending meetings and performing duties.
7. Parent Notification of Local or Regional
Advisory Committee: When a child is referred to special education, each school
district or regional special education program shall provide the parents with
notification of the existence of the Local or Regional Advisory Committee for
Special Education established in compliance with this Part. The notification
shall specify that a majority of the Local Advisory Committee (LAC) on Special
Education is parents of children with disabilities, and shall inform the
parents how the chairperson of the Local Advisory Committee (LAC) for Special
Education or the Regional Advisory Committee on Special Education may be
contacted.
6.10.2 Regional Transition Services Advisory Committee
A. Regional
transition services advisory committee (TAC).
1. Within each of the legislatively created
Collaboratives and Providence, there shall be a Transition Advisory Committee
(TAC) that will conform to guidelines issued by RIDE. The membership of the TAC
shall meet monthly during the school year. By the first of July of each year,
the TAC shall submit to the State Transition Council an annual report of
activities and recommendations.
6.10.3 Transportation
A. Transportation services for children with
disabilities.
1. Responsibility. All students
with disabilities who need special transportation as a related service and as
determined by the evaluation process and described in the individual education
program (IEP) shall be provided such service. It shall include free
transportation from home to the educational program in which the child is
enrolled. It shall also include free transportation to and from the clinical,
diagnostic and therapeutic facilities when the clinical, diagnostic and
therapeutic services are necessary to complete the child's evaluation or to
provide the services required in the child's IEP.
2. Specific Requirements.
a. Appropriate devices, which accommodate
specific transportation needs of the child, must be provided on an
individualized basis.
b. A minimum
of one (1) aide must be assigned to each bus used for special transportation.
Such aide, in addition to providing general care and supervision to all
children with disabilities on such bus, shall also provide assistance (from
street level entrance of the child's dwelling) to such children lacking the
mobility to leave the home and board transportation vehicles, and shall further
assist such children in disembarking the vehicle and entering school. When
children are transported to clinical, diagnostic or therapeutic facilities,
determination of whether a bus aide is necessary shall be based on the judgment
of the IEP Team.
c. School
districts shall provide in-service training for administrative personnel,
drivers and aides providing special education transportation services in order
that they may effectively deal with the children with disabilities and
understand the issues and concerns of the parents of such children.
d. Scheduling of transportation vehicles
shall be planned whenever possible in such a manner as to provide for the least
amount of travel time necessary to transport children with disabilities from
home to school and back home again. When travel time for children with
disabilities who are receiving special transportation is found to exceed one
(1) hour to or from the location of special education services, the parent(s)
shall be notified in writing. This notice will include the reason(s) for the
duration of the travel time and the notification must include a description of
the parent(s) right to an appeal. The school district will submit a copy of the
notification to the Director of the Office of Student, Community and Academic
Supports at RIDE. This notice will include the reason(s) for the duration of
the travel time.
e. All vehicles
used in the transportation of children with disabilities as a related service
shall be equipped with two-way communication devices in case of an
emergency.
6.10.4 Non-Public and State Operated School Programs
A. Non-public and State
operated school programs.
1. To be eligible
for approval by RIDE, special education programs conducted in private and
state- operated schools in Rhode Island shall meet the regulations governing
the approval of school programs. Private and state operated school programs
shall be evaluated in the same manner, on the same schedule and with the same
criteria and procedures as utilized for public schools in Rhode Island and
shall be subject to on-site visits by the Rhode Island Commissioner of
Elementary and Secondary Education or the Commissioner's authorized
representative as often as is deemed necessary by RIDE. Approval of such
programs shall be on a triennial basis.
2. All special education programs in any
private and state operated day or residential school shall meet the same
standards as those established for public school programs.
3. Private and state operated school programs
shall provide services by appropriately certified personnel in accordance with
the needs of the students with disabilities to be served, as determined by the
IEP process. Caseloads for specialized personnel shall be assigned based on the
time required to meet the needs of children with disabilities, as determined by
the IEP process.
4. Monitoring of a
child's progress in a private day or residential school program shall be
conducted by the special education director or designee, trained in the child's
area of need, who shall be from the school district where the child
resides.
5. Special Education
programs for children with disabilities in state operated schools shall be
monitored by RIDE.
6. Private day
or residential programs shall employ a certified administrator of special
education, whose basic responsibilities shall be the overall administration and
supervision of the special education program, and whose schedule shall be
determined based on the time required to meet the needs of the children with
disabilities
7. Each private day
and residential school program shall have a statement of financial stability
which identifies sufficient assets to establish and maintain a satisfactory
program of education on a continuing basis. The owner(s) of a school, whether
for initial approval or renewal of approval, shall also furnish statements of
income and retained earnings and changes in financial position. These
statements shall include in a clearly identifiable manner, records of receipts
and expenditures, personnel salaries, and tuition. All statements shall be
prepared by a Public Accountant or Certified Public Accountant, but need not be
certified by the Accountant or supported by an audit. These statements shall be
accompanied by a notarized statement by the owner(s) or the director of the
school that the financial statements are true and correct, and shall identify
the name of the Public Accountant or Certified Public Accountant who prepared
the statements.
8. Information on
tuition and/or fee schedule shall be submitted to RIDE in accordance with forms
and instructions supplied by RIDE as part of the school approval
application.
9. Each non-public day
and residential school program shall use and have available for inspection
written administrative procedures that encompass the following:
a. Provision for emergency and early
termination of children including prior consultation with the special education
director in the school district of the child's residence in order to provide
for an orderly transfer of responsibility back to this special education
director.
b. Provision of
procedural safeguards which cover the same areas required for public
schools.
c. Provision for parental
involvement including parental education and counseling.
d. Provision for staff training.
e. Provision of measures which protect all
students from exposure to humiliation or verbal abuse or any form of corporal
punishment that could be construed as cruel or severe.
f. Provision of written reports on each child
which are mailed to the child's parents and the special education director in
the child's resident school district at least as often as the public school
district reports progress to parents of non-disabled children.
10. State responsibility.
a. In ensuring that each LEA meets their
responsibilities under §§6.5.4(A) through (C) of this Part, RIDE
shall:
(1) Monitor compliance through
procedures such as written reports, on-site visits, and parent
questionnaires;
(2) Disseminate
copies of applicable standards to each private school and facility to which an
LEA has referred or placed a child with a disability; and
(3) Provide an opportunity for those private
schools and facilities to participate in development and revision of
State.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Rhode Island may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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