Current through Reg. 49, No. 52; December 27, 2024
(a) Each school district must establish an
admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee for each eligible student with
a disability and for each student for whom a full individual and initial
evaluation is conducted pursuant to §
89.1011 of this title (relating to
Full Individual and Initial Evaluation). The ARD committee is the
individualized education program (IEP) team defined in federal law and
regulations, including, specifically, 34 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR),
§300.321. The school district is responsible for all of the functions for
which the IEP team is responsible under federal law and regulations and for
which the ARD committee is responsible under state law, including the
following:
(1)
34 CFR, §§
300.320-300.325, and Texas
Education Code (TEC), §29.005 (individualized education
programs);
(2)
34 CFR, §§
300.145-300.147 (relating to
placement of eligible students in private schools by a school
district);
(3)
34 CFR, §§
300.132,
300.138, and
300.139 (relating to the
development and implementation of service plans for eligible students placed by
parents in private school who have been designated to receive special education
and related services);
(4)
34 CFR, §
300.530 and §
300.531, and TEC, §37.004
(disciplinary placement of students with disabilities);
(5)
34 CFR, §§
300.302-300.306 (relating to
evaluations, re-evaluations, and determination of eligibility);
(6)
34 CFR, §§
300.114-300.117 (relating to
least restrictive environment);
(7)
TEC, §28.006 (Reading Diagnosis);
(8) TEC, §28.0211 (Satisfactory
Performance on Assessment Instruments Required; Accelerated
Instruction);
(9) TEC,
§28.0212 (Junior High or Middle School Personal Graduation
Plan);
(10) TEC, §28.0213
(Intensive Program of Instruction);
(11) TEC, Chapter 29, Subchapter I (Programs
for Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing);
(12) TEC, §30.002 (Education for
Children with Visual Impairments);
(13) TEC, §30.003 (Support of Students
Enrolled in the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired or Texas
School for the Deaf);
(14) TEC,
§33.081 (Extracurricular Activities);
(15) TEC, §37.004 (Placement of Students
with Disabilities);
(16) TEC,
§37.307 (Placement and Review of Student with Disability);
(17) TEC, Chapter 39, Subchapter B
(Assessment of Academic Skills); and
(18) TEC, §48.102 (Special
Education).
(b) For a
student from birth through two years of age with a visual impairment or who is
deaf or hard of hearing, an individualized family services plan meeting must be
held in place of an ARD committee meeting in accordance with
34 CFR, §§
300.320-300.324, and the
memorandum of understanding between the Texas Education Agency and the Texas
Health and Human Services Commission. For students three years of age and
older, school districts must develop an IEP.
(c) ARD committee membership.
(1) ARD committees must include the
following:
(A) the parents, as defined by
34 CFR, §
300.30, of the student;
(B) not less than one general education
teacher of the student (if the student is, or may be, participating in the
general education environment) who must, to the extent practicable, be a
teacher who is responsible for implementing a portion of the student's
IEP;
(C) not less than one special
education teacher of the student, or where appropriate, not less than one
special education provider of the student;
(D) a representative of the school district
who:
(i) is qualified to provide, or supervise
the provision of, specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of
students with disabilities;
(ii) is
knowledgeable about the general education curriculum; and
(iii) is knowledgeable about the availability
of resources of the school district;
(E) an individual who can interpret the
instructional implications of evaluation results, who may be a member of the
committee described in subparagraphs (B)-(D) and (F) of this
paragraph;
(F) at the discretion of
the parent or the school district, other individuals who have knowledge or
special expertise regarding the student, including related services personnel,
as appropriate;
(G) whenever
appropriate, the student with a disability;
(H) to the extent appropriate, with the
consent of the parents or a student who has reached the age of majority, a
representative of any participating agency that is likely to be responsible for
providing or paying for transition services;
(I) a representative from career and
technical education (CTE), preferably the teacher, when considering initial or
continued placement of a student in CTE; and
(J) a professional staff member who is on the
language proficiency assessment committee who may be a member of the committee
described in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of this paragraph, if the student is
identified as emergent bilingual.
(2) The special education teacher or special
education provider that participates in the ARD committee meeting must be
appropriately certified or licensed as required by
34 CFR, §
300.156.
(3) If the student is:
(A) a student with a suspected or documented
visual impairment, the ARD committee must include a teacher who is certified in
the education of students with visual impairments;
(B) a student who is suspected or documented
to be deaf or hard of hearing, the ARD committee must include a teacher who is
certified in the education of students who are deaf or hard of
hearing;
(C) a student with
suspected or documented deaf-blindness, the ARD committee must include a
teacher who is certified in the education of students with visual impairments
and a teacher who is certified in the education of students who are deaf or
hard of hearing; or
(D) a student
who is suspected or identified with dyslexia, when determining initial or
continued eligibility, the ARD committee must include a professional who meets
the requirements of TEC, §29.0031(b), and §
74.28 of this title (relating to
Students with Dyslexia and Related Disorders), including any handbook adopted
in the rule.
(4) An ARD
committee member is not required to attend an ARD committee meeting if the
conditions of either 34 CFR,
§
300.321(e)(1),
regarding attendance, or 34
CFR, §
300.321(e)(2),
regarding excusal, have been met.
(d) The school district must take steps to
ensure that one or both parents are present at each ARD committee meeting or
are afforded the opportunity to participate, including notifying the parents of
the meeting early enough to ensure that they will have an opportunity to attend
and scheduling the meeting at a mutually agreed upon time and place.
Additionally, a school district must allow parents who cannot attend an ARD
committee meeting to participate in the meeting through other methods such as
through telephone calls or video conferencing. The school district must provide
the parents with written notice of the ARD committee meeting that meets the
requirements in 34 CFR,
§
300.322, at least five school days
before the meeting unless the parents agree to a shorter timeframe.
(e) Upon receipt of a written request for an
ARD committee meeting from a parent, the school district must:
(1) schedule and convene a meeting in
accordance with the procedures in subsection (d) of this section; or
(2) within five school days, provide the
parent with written notice explaining why the district refuses to convene a
meeting.
(f) The school
district must provide the parent with a written notice required under
subsection (d) or (e)(2) of this section in the parent's native language,
unless it is clearly not feasible to do so. If the parent's native language is
not a written language, the school district must take steps to ensure that the
notice is translated orally or by other means to the parent in his or her
native language or other mode of communication so that the parent understands
the content of the notice.
(g)
Whenever a school district proposes or refuses to initiate or change the
identification, evaluation, or educational placement of a student or the
provision of a free appropriate public education to the student, the school
district must provide prior written notice as required in
34 CFR, §
300.503, including providing the notice in
the parent's native language or other mode of communication. This notice must
be provided to the parent at least five school days before the school district
proposes or refuses the action unless the parent agrees to a shorter
timeframe.
