Virginia Administrative Code
Title 8 - EDUCATION
Agency 20 - STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
Chapter 81 - REGULATIONS GOVERNING SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN VIRGINIA
Part V - Additional Responsibilities of State Boards, Agencies, and Institutions for Education and Training of Children with Disabilities in Residence or Custody
Section 8VAC20-81-320 - Additional responsibilities of state boards, agencies, and institutions for education and training of children with disabilities in residence or custody
Universal Citation: 8 VA Admin Code 20-81-320
Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 16, March 25, 2024
A. Provision of education to children with disabilities in residence or custody.
1. Each state board, agency, and institution
having children with disabilities in residence or custody shall provide
education pursuant to standards, policies and procedures established by the
Virginia Board of Education that is comparable to that provided to children
with disabilities in the public school system.
a. The Department of Correctional Education
shall establish and maintain schools for persons committed to the state,
regional or local correctional facilities operated by the Department of
Corrections and the Department of Juvenile Justice and for persons committed to
the Department of Juvenile Justice and placed in a private facility under
contract with the Department of Juvenile Justice. (§§ 22.1-7 and
22.1-340 of the Code of Virginia)
b. The Superintendent of Public Instruction
shall approve the education programs at the Virginia School for the Deaf and
the Blind at Staunton. (§§ 22.1-7, 22.1-347, and 22.1-348 of the Code
of Virginia)
c. The Department of
Behavioral Health and Developmental Services has responsibility for providing
the education and training to children with mental retardation in residence in
its institutions. The Virginia Board of Education shall supervise the education
and training provided to school-age residents in state mental retardation
facilities. (§ 22.1-7 of the Code of Virginia)
d. The Virginia Board of Education shall
provide for and direct the education of school-age residents in state mental
health facilities in cooperation with the Department of Behavioral Health and
Developmental Services. (§§ 22.1-7 and 22.1-209.2 of the Code of
Virginia)
e. The Virginia Board of
Education shall prepare and supervise the education and training provided to
children in regional and local detention homes. (§§ 22.1-7 and
22.1-209.2 of the Code of Virginia)
f. The Virginia Board of Education shall
supervise the evaluation, education, and training provided to school-age
children by the Virginia Department of Health and to school-age children in the
teaching hospitals associated with the Eastern Virginia Medical Center, the
Virginia Commonwealth University Health System Authority, and The University of
Virginia Hospitals. (§§ 22.1-7 and 22.1-209.2 of the Code of
Virginia)
2. The
procedures outlined in
8VAC20-81-230 are applicable to
each state board, agency, and institution having children with disabilities in
residence and custody. (§ 22.1-7 of the Code of Virginia)
B. Annual program plan. Each state board, agency, and institution having responsibility for providing such education and training shall submit annually to the Virginia Department of Education for approval by the Virginia Board of Education its program plan for the education and training for children with disabilities in residence or custody. This program plan, to be submitted by the date and in the manner specified by the Virginia Board of Education, shall include the provisions and assurances as specified in 8VAC20-81-230.
1. In addition, the program plan shall
include the following:
a. The educational
objectives of the state board, agency, or institution;
b. Strategies for achieving the educational
objectives, including an organized program for staff development;
c. A system of communication between
educational and other personnel, including treatment and residential care
staff, to ensure coordination of program objectives;
d. A system of communication to ensure
service continuity in the transition of the student into and out of the
educational program of the facility and, where applicable, the requirements for
reenrollment of juveniles committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice, as
provided for in the Code of Virginia; (§§ 16.1-293 and 22.1-289E of
the Code of Virginia)
e. An
assessment plan for determining the extent to which the objectives have been
achieved including, where practicable, follow-up studies of former students to
assist in annual program evaluation;
f. A system of communication between the
state board, agency, or institution and its employees, whereby the views of all
educational employees may be received in an orderly and constructive
manner;
g. A cooperatively
developed procedure for the evaluation of educational personnel; and
h. The grievance procedures regarding
educational personnel as prescribed by the state or the appropriate local
agency or board.
2. At
least 5-1/2 hours of education/training per school day or 27-1/2 hours per
school week available for each student to implement the student's IEP.
a. If a student has a medical or physical
condition that requires modification of the school schedule, a waiver statement
shall be placed on file.
b. This
waiver statement shall document the physical or mental condition of the
individual student that requires significant modification of this schedule, and
personnel from the following facilities shall file statements of concurrence:
(1) The attending physician -- the Department
of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services facilities;
(2) The central review committee, institute
review committee or Department of Juvenile Justice physician or psychologist
for medical or psychological conditions, with a waiver statement signed by the
Department of Juvenile Justice security staff or designee for safety or
security conditions -- the Department of Correctional Education;
(3) The physician, staffing committee or
principal -- the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind at
Staunton;
(4) The center counselor
upon recommendation of the staffing committee -- Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation
Center;
(5) The attending physician
-- state medical facilities;
(6)
The detention superintendent or designee -- juvenile detention homes.
3. The Virginia School
for the Deaf and the Blind at Staunton shall provide for each age group of
children a planned dormitory and a student-life program, including social and
daily living skills, recreation, and cultural activities.
C. Staff and facility.
1. Each state board, agency or institution
shall assign personnel to the educational program who are appropriately and
adequately prepared and trained, including having the knowledge and skills to
serve children with disabilities, and as follows: (
34 CFR
300.156 )
a.
Administrative, supervisory, instructional, support and ancillary personnel
holding valid professional licenses, certificates and endorsements as
appropriate in the area of assignment (national standards may apply in the
absence of state licensure or certification requirements).
b. Additional education personnel to provide
required related services as delineated in the child's IEP. Related services
providers must be qualified consistent with the requirements of subdivision 19
a of 8VAC20-81-20.
c. Paraprofessionals who are trained and
supervised in accordance with the requirements of the Board of
Education.
2. Each state
board, agency or institution shall staff the educational program as follows:
a. A principal, supervisor, education
director, or lead teacher for the educational program provided at each school
or institution, except for juvenile detention homes;
b. Instructional personnel sufficient to
maintain pupil-teacher ratios not to exceed the following:
(1) Emotional disability - one teacher for
every eight children or one teacher and one paraprofessional for every 10
children;
(2) Hearing
impairment/deaf - one teacher for every seven children with one
paraprofessional for every three classroom teachers; at the Virginia School for
the Deaf and the Blind at Staunton one teacher for every eight children or one
teacher and one paraprofessional for every 10 children;
(3) Intellectual disability - one teacher and
one paraprofessional for every 10 children;
(4) Visual impairment - one teacher for every
seven children and one paraprofessional for every three classroom
teachers;
(5) Other health
impairment - one teacher for every eight children or one teacher and one
paraprofessional for every 10 children;
(6) Orthopedic impairment - one teacher for
every eight children or one teacher and one paraprofessional for every 10
children;
(7) Specific learning
disability - one teacher for every eight children or one teacher and one
paraprofessional for every 10 children;
(8) Multiple disabilities or deaf-blindness -
one teacher and one paraprofessional for every six children or one teacher and
two paraprofessionals for every 10 children;
(9) Autism - one teacher for every six
children or one teacher and one paraprofessional for every eight
children;
(10) Traumatic brain
injury - students may be placed in any program, according to the student's
IEP;
(11) Department of
Correctional Education - no greater than an average of one teacher and one
paraprofessional for every 10 children;
(12) Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center -
no greater than an average of one teacher for every 10 children; and
(13) Juvenile detention homes - one teacher
for every 12 beds, based on the bed capacity of the facility. If the number of
students exceeds the bed capacity, then the ratio shall be one teacher for
every 12 students based on the average daily attendance from the previous
school year. If unusual or extenuating circumstances exist, the agency may
apply to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for an exception to the ratio
requirements. Such requests shall be supported by sufficient
justification.
3. Each facility shall have available
adequate and appropriate classroom space, a library, and instructional
materials and supplies to meet the educational needs of the children.
Statutory Authority
§§ 22.1-16 and 22.1-214 of the Code of Virginia; 20 USC § 1400 et seq.; 34 CFR Part 300.
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