Rules & Regulations of the State of Tennessee
Title 0520 - Education
Subtitle 0520-01 - State Board of Education Rules, Regulations, and Minimum Standards for the Operation of the Public School System
Chapter 0520-01-09 - Special Education Programs and Services
Section 0520-01-09-.05 - CHILD FIND AND FREE APPROPRIATE PUBLIC EDUCATION
Universal Citation: TN Comp Rules and Regs 0520-01-09-.05
Current through September 24, 2024
(1) Child Find.
(a) Every LEA shall develop and implement
child find activities to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with
disabilities, or who are suspected of having a disability, within its
jurisdictional boundaries, ages three (3) through twenty-one (21), both
inclusive, who need special education and related services, even though they
are advancing from grade to grade. This includes but is not limited to:
1. Children who are enrolled by their Parents
in a non-public school located within the jurisdictional boundaries of the
LEA;
2. Children who are wards of
the state; and
3. Children who are
highly mobile (including children who are migrant and children who are
homeless).
(b) Each LEA
shall develop and implement procedures for creating public awareness of special
education programs and services. A notice shall be published or announced in
newspapers, other media (including the LEA's website), or both, with
circulation adequate to notify Parents of the activities conducted by the
LEA.
(c) Any child suspected of
having a disability may be referred to the LEA. The LEA shall establish written
procedures for accepting, processing and documenting receipt of each referral.
The procedures shall be subject to review by the Department of
Education.
(d) As a component of
child find activities, general education programs within each LEA shall provide
and document interventions implemented in the general education
program.
(e) A Parent may request
that the LEA conduct a full and individualized evaluation of the Parent's child
to determine if the child has a disability and is eligible for special
education and related services.
(f)
Eligibility determinations shall be completed within sixty (60) calendar days
of receipt of parental consent for an initial evaluation.
(2) Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).
(a) FAPE shall be made available to all
children with disabilities, including those children who reach twenty-two (22)
years of age during the school year and children who have been suspended or
expelled from school for more than ten (10) school days in a school
year.
(b) To meet the obligations
of FAPE, each LEA or Charter School shall provide services that address all of
a child's identified special education and related service needs, based on the
child's unique needs and not on the child's disability.
(c) Charter Schools shall ensure students
with disabilities receive education services required by their IEP. LEAs shall
be responsible for ensuring that children with disabilities attending a charter
school authorized by the LEA are provided FAPE.
(d) The Tennessee academic standards adopted
by the State Board of Education shall serve as the basis for developing special
education programs. Each LEA and Charter School shall provide a variety of
services, interventions, and programs to meet the educational needs of all
students, including the needs of children with disabilities.
(e) LEAs and Charter Schools shall provide
children with disabilities with special transportation as required by the
student's IEP.
1. Children with disabilities
shall, whenever appropriate, be provided transportation along with children who
do not have disabilities. Adaptations shall be made to meet the needs of
children with disabilities rather than separate transportation whenever
appropriate.
2. Travel time for
children with disabilities shall not exceed the travel time for other children,
provided that exceptions may be made by the IEP team.
3. Vehicles used to provide special
transportation shall meet the requirements established by the State Board's
Pupil Transportation Rule 0520-01-05.
4. Operators and attendants of vehicles who
provide special transportation shall be given special training regarding the
needs and special requirements of children with disabilities, except when
Parents are transporting children with disabilities. Special attendants shall
be provided when an IEP team determines that such services are
necessary.
5. LEAs may contract for
special transportation provided that the operators, attendants, and vehicles
used by a contractor meet the requirements established by the State Board of
Education, except when Parents are transporting children with
disabilities.
(f)
Children with disabilities who are convicted as adults under state law and
incarcerated in adult prisons shall be entitled to their rights under IDEA with
the following exceptions:
1. The following
requirements do not apply:
(i) Participation
of children with disabilities in general statewide assessments; and
(ii) Transition planning and transition
services with respect to the students whose eligibility under IDEA Part B will
end, because of their age, before they will be eligible to be released from
prison based on consideration of their sentence and eligibility for early
release.
2. The IEP team
may modify the child's IEP or placement if the state has demonstrated a bona
fide security or compelling penological interest that cannot otherwise be
accommodated. The requirements of
34 C.F.R. §
300.320 relating to the definition of an IEP
and the general requirements of
34 C.F.R. §
300.114 relating to least restrictive
environment do not apply with respect to these modifications.
Authority: T.C.A. §§ 49-10-101, et seq., 49-13-111, and 49-13-126 and 34 C.F.R. Part 300.
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