HBA-MPM S.B. 870 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 870 By: Cain Public Education 4/17/1999 Engrossed BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, parents or guardians of special education students are provided with a brochure explaining the procedural safeguards in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as required by federal law. The brochure does not include the information about the special education process which parents need in order to effectively participate in their child's Admissions Review and Dismissal meetings. S.B. 870 establishes provisions regarding the right of parents to information concerning special education, including requiring the Texas Education Agency to make certain information available in a document form and supply it to school districts for disbursement to parents whose children participate in the district's special education program. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 26, Education Code, by adding Section 26.0081, as follows: Sec. 26.0081. RIGHT TO INFORMATION CONCERNING SPECIAL EDUCATION. (a) Requires the Texas Education Agency (agency) to produce and provide to school districts (districts) sufficient copies of a comprehensive, easily understood document explaining the process by which an individualized education program (IEP) is developed for a student in a special education program and the parents' rights and responsibilities concerning this process. Provides that the document must include information a parent needs to effectively participate in an admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee meeting for the parent's child. (b) Provides that the agency will ensure that each district provides the document required under this section to the parent as provided by 20 U.S.C., Section 1415(b) (Education, Procedural Safeguards, Required Procedures; Hearing): _as soon as practicable after a child is referred to determine the child's eligibility for admission into the district's special education program, but at least five school days before the initial meeting of the ARD committee; and _at any other time on reasonable request of the child's parent. SECTION 2. Requires the agency to ensure that each district provides the document required under Section 26.0081, Education Code, as added by this Act, no later than June 1, 2001, to the parent of or the person standing in parental relation to each child participating in the district's special education program. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 4. Emergency clause.