Chapter 639 Oregon Laws 1999

Session Law

AN ACT

SB 932

Relating to special education; creating new provisions; amending ORS 343.035 and 343.065; and declaring an emergency.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. ORS 343.035 is amended to read:

343.035. As used in this chapter unless the context requires otherwise:

(1) "Children with disabilities" means those school age children who are entitled to an appropriate education as specified by ORS 339.115 and who require special education because they have been evaluated as having one of the following conditions as defined by rules established by the State Board of Education: Mental retardation, hearing impairment including difficulty in hearing and deafness, speech or language impairment, visual impairment, including blindness, serious emotional disturbance, orthopedic or other health impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury or specific learning disabilities.

(2) "Decision" means the decision of the hearing officer.

(3) "Determination" means the determination by the school district concerning the identification, evaluation or educational placement of a child with disabilities or the provision of a free appropriate public education to the child in a program paid for by the district.

(4) "Developmental delay" means:

(a) Delay, at a level of functioning and in accordance with criteria established by rules of the State Board of Education, in one or more of the following developmental areas: Cognitive development; physical development, including vision and hearing; communication development; social or emotional development or adaptive development; or

(b) A disability, in accordance with criteria established by rules of the State Board of Education, that can be expected to continue indefinitely and is likely to cause a substantial delay in a child's development and ability to function in society.

(5) "Early childhood special education" means free, specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of a preschool child with a disability, three years of age until the age of eligibility for kindergarten, where instruction is provided in any of the following settings: Home, hospitals, institutions, special schools, classrooms, and community child care or preschool settings, or both.

(6) "Early intervention services" means services for preschool children with disabilities from birth until three years of age that are:

(a) Designed to meet the developmental needs of children with disabilities and the needs of the family related to enhancing the child's development;

(b) Selected in collaboration with the parents; and

(A) Under public supervision;

(B) By personnel qualified in accordance with criteria established by rules of the State Board of Education; and

(7) "Individualized education program" means a written statement that is developed, reviewed and revised in accordance with criteria established by rules of the State Board of Education for each child eligible for special education and related services under this chapter.

[(7)] (8) "Individualized family service plan" means a written plan of early childhood special education, related services, early intervention services and other services developed in accordance with criteria established by rules of the State Board of Education for each child eligible for services under this chapter.

[(8)] (9) "Instruction" means providing families with information and skills that support the achievement of the goals and outcomes in the child's individualized family service plan and working with preschool children with disabilities in one or more of the following developmental areas: Communication development, social or emotional development, physical development, including vision and hearing, adaptive development and cognitive development.

[(9)] (10) "Order" has the meaning given that term in ORS 183.310 to 183.550.

[(10)] (11) "Other services" means those services which may be provided to preschool children with disabilities and to their families that are not early childhood special education or early intervention services and are not paid for with early childhood special education or early intervention funds.

[(11)] (12) "Parent" means the parent, person acting as a parent or a legal guardian, other than a state agency, of the child or the surrogate parent.

[(12)] (13) "Preschool children with disabilities" means all children from:

(a) Birth until three years of age who are eligible for early intervention services because they are experiencing developmental delay or have diagnosed mental or physical conditions that will result in developmental delay; or

(b) Three years of age to eligibility for entry into kindergarten who need early childhood special education services because they are experiencing developmental delay or because they have been evaluated as having one of the conditions listed for school age children under subsection (1) of this section.

[(13)] (14) "Related services" means transportation and such developmental, corrective and other supportive services as are required to assist a child with disabilities to benefit from special education, and includes speech-language pathology and audiology, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, recreation including therapeutic recreation, early identification and assessment of disabilities in children, counseling services including rehabilitation counseling, and medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes. "Related services" also includes school health services, social work services in schools and parent counseling and training.

[(14)] (15) "School district" means a common or union high school district or an education service district that is charged with the duty or contracted with by a public agency to educate children eligible for special education and includes the Department of Education for the purpose of carrying out the procedures required by ORS 343.165 to 343.175 for education programs under ORS 343.975.

[(15)] (16) "Service coordination" means the activities carried out by a service coordinator to assist and enable a child eligible under ORS 343.035, 343.095, 343.499, 343.521 and 343.531 and the child's family to receive the rights, procedural safeguards and services that are authorized under the state's early intervention program and to coordinate access to other services designated on the individualized family service plan.

[(16)(a)] (17)(a) "Special education" means specially designed instruction at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability, including instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions and in other settings, and instruction in physical education.

(b) "Special education" also includes speech-language pathology or vocational education if it consists of specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability.

SECTION 2. ORS 343.065 is amended to read:

343.065. (1) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall employ personnel qualified by training and experience to supervise the types of services required by the special programs authorized by this chapter. Personnel so employed shall assist the school districts, county and regional facilities, early childhood special education programs, early intervention services and hospitals in the organization and development of special programs authorized by this chapter, shall have general supervision of such programs, and shall assist school districts, early childhood special education and early intervention contractors in obtaining required services, equipment and materials, particularly where the number of children is too small to justify district or contractor purchase of equipment and materials.

(2) The Department of Education shall distribute to all school districts administrative guidelines, technical assistance materials, practice guidance materials and other training materials it develops for the purpose of assisting school districts and education service districts in complying with the provisions of this chapter and with rules adopted by the department under this chapter.

(3) Upon receipt of any materials described in subsection (2) of this section, a school district or education service district shall distribute copies of the materials to all instructional staff.

SECTION 3. Section 4 of this 1999 Act is added to and made a part of ORS 343.155 to 343.183.

SECTION 4. (1) School districts shall ensure that an individualized education program is developed for each child with a disability, as defined in ORS 343.035, pursuant to the rules of the State Board of Education.

(2) The State Board of Education shall establish by rule the contents of an individualized education program, including transition services, and the procedures for the development, review and revision of an individualized education program. The board shall also adopt by rule standard forms for use in developing an individualized education program.

(3) Each school district shall use the individualized education program forms established by rule under subsection (2) of this section in the development, review and revision of all individualized education programs.

(4) Notwithstanding subsection (3) of this section, a school district may use alternate forms in the development, review and revision of an individualized education program if the school district submits the form to the Department of Education and the department approves the use of the alternate form.

(5) In considering whether to approve an alternate form under subsection (4) of this section, the department shall consider whether the form meets the requirements for the contents of an individualized education program adopted under subsection (2) of this section and whether the form satisfies the intent of subsection (4) of this section to reduce unnecessary or confusing paperwork. The department shall approve or disapprove an alternate form submitted under subsection (4) of this section within 10 days of receiving the alternate form.

SECTION 5. Section 4 of this 1999 Act applies to individualized education programs prepared on or after September 7, 2000.

SECTION 6. This 1999 Act being necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is declared to exist, and this 1999 Act takes effect on its passage.

Approved by the Governor July 12, 1999

Filed in the office of Secretary of State July 13, 1999

Effective date July 12, 1999

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