Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 16, March 25, 2024
A. The local
educational agency shall ensure that the rights and protections under this
chapter are given to children with disabilities for whom it is responsible,
including children placed in private schools.
B. Plans, applications, and reports. (§
22.1-215 of the Code of Virginia;
34 CFR
300.200 and
34 CFR
300.212 )
1.
The local educational agency shall prepare annually and submit to the Virginia
Department of Education an application for funding under Part B of the Act in
accordance with the requirements outlined by the Virginia Department of
Education. The annual plan shall include:
a.
Assurances that the local educational agency has in effect policies and
procedures for the provision of special education and related services in
compliance with the requirements of the Act, the policies and procedures
established by the Virginia Board of Education, and any other relevant federal
and state laws and regulations;
b.
A report indicating the extent to which the annual plan for the preceding
period has been implemented;
c.
Budgets outlining the use of the federal funds; and
d. Any revisions to the local school
division's interagency agreement regarding the provision of special education
and related services in a regional or local jail, if applicable, in accordance
with subdivision G 2 of this section.
2. Prior to submission to the Virginia
Department of Education, the annual plan shall be reviewed by the local school
division's local advisory committee, and approved by the local school board.
State-operated programs and the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind at
Staunton shall submit their annual plan to the state special education advisory
committee for review prior to submission to the Virginia Department of
Education.
3. The local educational
agency shall ensure that the annual plan, and all required special education
policies and procedures, including the revisions to those policies and
procedures, which are necessary for ensuring a free appropriate public
education to a child, are available for public inspection.
C. Provision of or payment for special
education and related services. (
34 CFR
300.154(b) )
1. If any public noneducational agency is
otherwise obligated under federal or state law, regulation, or policy to
provide or pay for any services that are also considered special education or
related services that are necessary for ensuring a free appropriate public
education to children with disabilities, the public noneducational agency shall
fulfill that obligation or responsibility, either directly or through contract
or other arrangement. A public noneducational agency may not disqualify an
eligible service for Medicaid reimbursement because that service was provided
in a school context.
2. If any
public noneducational agency fails to provide or pay for the special education
and related services described in subdivision 1 of this subsection, the local
educational agency shall provide or pay for the services to the child in a
timely manner. The local educational agency may then claim reimbursement for
the services from the public noneducational agency that failed to provide or
pay for the services and that agency shall reimburse the local educational
agency in accordance with the terms of the interagency agreement described in
subdivision 21 of
8VAC20-81-20.
D. Local advisory committee. A local advisory
committee for special education, appointed by each local school board, shall
advise the school board through the division superintendent.
1. Membership.
a. A majority of the committee shall be
parents of children with disabilities or individuals with
disabilities.
b. The committee
shall include one teacher.
c.
Additional local school division personnel shall serve only as consultants to
the committee.
2. The
functions of the local advisory committee shall be as follows:
a. Advise the local school division of needs
in the education of children with disabilities;
b. Participate in the development of
priorities and strategies for meeting the identified needs of children with
disabilities;
c. Submit periodic
reports and recommendations regarding the education of children with
disabilities to the division superintendent for transmission to the local
school board;
d. Assist the local
school division in interpreting plans to the community for meeting the special
needs of children with disabilities for educational services;
e. Review the policies and procedures for the
provision of special education and related services prior to submission to the
local school board; and
f.
Participate in the review of the local school division's annual plan, as
outlined in subdivision B 2 of this section.
3. Public notice shall be published annually
listing the names of committee members and including a description of ways in
which interested parties may express their views to the committee.
4. Committee meetings shall be held at least
four times in a school year and shall be open to the public.
E. Regional special education
programs. (§ 22.1-218 of the Code of Virginia; Jointly Owned and Operated
Schools and Jointly Operated Programs (8VAC20-280))
1. If it becomes necessary for local school
divisions to develop regional programs to serve children with disabilities
residing within their jurisdiction, such regional programs shall be provided in
accordance with the least restrictive environment requirements specified in
8VAC20-81-130.
2. If local school divisions elect to
participate in an approved regional program for the provision of special
education and related services for certain children with disabilities, a joint
board shall be established to manage and control the jointly owned or operated
program, center, or school. Establishment of the joint board and administration
of the jointly owned and operated program shall be conducted in accordance with
the Virginia Board of Education regulations governing such programs.
3. Each joint board shall appoint a qualified
director who shall be the administrative head of the regional program. The
director shall be responsible for the administration of programs and services
that are approved by the joint board.
F. Transition from infant and toddler
programs to early childhood special education programs. (
34 CFR
300.124 )
1.
Children who are participating in early intervention programs under Part C of
the Act and who will participate in preschool programs under Part B shall be
afforded a smooth and effective transition to the preschool programs in a
manner consistent with the Virginia lead agency's Part C early intervention
policies and procedures.
2. The
local school division shall participate in transition planning conferences when
notified by the designated local Part C early intervention agency (not less
than 90 days and not more than nine months before the child is eligible for
preschool services), in accordance with § 1437(a)(9) of the Act, and its
federal implementing regulations.
3. A child with a disability whose second
birthday falls on or before September 30 may begin attending Part B preschool
programs at the start of the school year if:
a. The child meets the Part B eligibility
criteria; and
b. An IEP has been
developed and signed by the parent(s).
G. Programs for children with disabilities in
regional or local jails. ( 34 CFR 300.101 and
34 CFR
300.102 )
1.
Each local school division with a regional or local jail in its jurisdiction
shall be responsible for the provision of special education and related
services to all eligible children with disabilities incarcerated in the jail
for more than 10 calendar days.
2.
Each local school division with a regional or local jail in its jurisdiction
shall establish an interagency agreement with the sheriff or jail administrator
responsible for the regional or local jail. The interagency agreement shall
address staffing and security issues associated with the provision of special
education and related services in the jail. A copy of any revisions to this
agreement shall be submitted with the annual plan specified in subsection B of
this section.)
H. Each
local educational agency shall cooperate with the U.S. Department of
Education's efforts under § 1308 of the ESEA to ensure the linkage of
records pertaining to migratory children with disabilities for the purpose of
electronically exchanging, among the states, health and educational information
regarding those children. ( 34 CFR 300.213 )
I. Early Intervening Services. Each local
educational agency shall implement early intervening services in accordance
with the provisions of
8VAC20-81-260 H. (
34 CFR
300.226 )
J. Access to instructional materials.
1. Each local educational agency shall ensure
that children with disabilities who need instructional materials in accessible
formats are provided those materials in a timely manner. (
34 CFR
300.172(b) and (c)
)
2. To meet the requirements of
subdivision 1 of this subsection for blind persons or other persons with print
disabilities, the local educational agency may coordinate with the National
Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC). (
34 CFR
300.172(a) and (c) )
a. The local educational agency shall provide
an assurance to the Virginia Department of Education that the local educational
agency will provide instructional materials to blind persons or other persons
with print disabilities in a timely manner. This assurance shall be provided as
part of the Annual Plan requirements outlined in subsection B of this
section.
b. Each local educational
agency shall inform the Virginia Department of Education on an annual basis
whether or not it chooses to coordinate with the NIMAC.
c. If the local educational agency
coordinates with the NIMAC, the agency, as part of any print instructional
materials adoption process, procurement contract, or other practice or
instrument used for the purchase of print instructional materials, shall enter
into a written contract with the publisher of the print instructional materials
to do the following:
(1) Require the
publisher to prepare and, on or before delivery of the print instructional
materials, provide to the NIMAC electronic files containing the contents of the
print instructional materials using the NIMAS; or
(2) Purchase instructional materials from the
publisher that are produced in, or may be rendered in, specialized
formats.
d. The
requirements of subdivision J 2 c of this section shall apply to print
instructional materials published after July 19, 2006.
3. Nothing in this subsection relieves a
local educational agency of its responsibility to ensure that children with
disabilities who need instructional materials in accessible formats, but who
are not included under the definition of blind or other persons with print
disabilities or who need materials that cannot be produced from NIMAS files,
receive those instructional materials in a timely manner. (
34 CFR
300.172(b) )
4. Definitions applicable to this subsection.
a. The term "timely manner" has the same
meaning as the defined in
8VAC20-81-10.
b. The term, "blind or other person with
print disabilities" means children with disabilities who qualify to receive
books and other publications produced in specialized formats. A child with a
disability qualifies under this provision if the child meets one of the
following criteria: ( 2 USC § 135a;
36 CFR
701.6(b)(1) and
34 CFR
300.172(a) and (e) )
(1) Blind person whose visual acuity, as
determined by competent authority, is 20/200 or less in the better eye with
correcting glasses, or whose widest diameter of visual field subtends an
angular distance no greater than 20 degrees;
(2) Person whose visual disability, with
correction and regardless of optical measurement, is certified by competent
authority as preventing the reading of standard printed material;
(3) Person certified by competent authority
as unable to read or unable to use standard printed material as a result of
physical limitation; or
(4) Person
certified by competent authority as having a reading disability resulting from
organic dysfunction and of sufficient severity to prevent their reading printed
material in a normal manner.
c. The term "competent authority" is defined
as follows: ( 2 USC § 135a;
36 CFR
701.6(b)(2) )
(1) In cases of blindness, visual disability
or physical limitations: doctors of medicine, doctors of osteopathy,
ophthalmologists, optometrists, registered nurses, therapists, professional
staff of hospitals, institutions, and public or welfare agencies (e.g., social
workers, case workers, counselors, rehabilitation teachers, and
superintendents).
(2) In the case
of a reading disability from organic dysfunction: doctors of medicine who may
consult with colleagues in associated disciplines.
d. The term "print instructional materials"
means printed textbooks and related printed core materials that are written and
published primarily for use in elementary school and secondary school
instruction and are required by the Virginia Department of Education or the
local educational agency for use by students in the classroom. ( 20 USC §
1474(e)(3)(C) )
e. The term
"specialized formats" has the meaning given the term in 17 USC §
121(d)(3), and means Braille, audio, or digital text that is exclusively for
use by blind or other persons with disabilities, and with respect to print
instructional materials, include large print formats when such materials are
distributed exclusively for use by blind or other persons with disabilities. (
20 USC § 1474(e)(3)(D); 34 CFR 300.172(e)
)
Statutory Authority
§§ 22.1-16 and 22.1-214 of the Code of
Virginia; 20 USC § 1400 et seq.; 34 CFR Part
300.