HB49: Students with disabilities, certain; feasibility of educational placement transition.

HOUSE BILL NO. 49

Offered January 8, 2020
Prefiled November 25, 2019
A BILL to require the Department of Education to implement a pilot program to study the feasibility of the educational placement transition of certain students with disabilities.
Patrons-- McNamara, Adams, L.R., Aird and Cole, J.G.

Referred to Committee on Education

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. § 1. The Department of Education and the relevant local school boards shall develop and implement a pilot program for the transition of students who are educated in private school settings pursuant to Individualized Education Programs to the appropriate public school setting in the relevant local school division. Such pilot program shall be established for a period of up to four years in two to eight local school divisions in the Commonwealth. In developing the pilot, the Department shall partner with the appropriate school board employees in each such local school division to (i) identify the resources, services, and supports required by each student who resides in each such local school division and who is educated in a private school setting pursuant to his Individualized Education Program; (ii) study the feasibility of transitioning each such student from his private school setting to an appropriate public school setting in the local school division and providing the identified resources, services, and supports in such public school setting; and (iii) recommend a process for redirecting federal, state, and local funds, including funds provided pursuant to the Children's Services Act (§ 2.2-5200 et seq.), provided for the education of each such student to the local school division for the purpose of providing the identified resources, services, and supports in the appropriate public school setting.

The Department of Education shall report to the Governor, the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance, and the House Committees on Education and Appropriations on the findings of the pilot program, including specific findings for each local school division in which the pilot program has been implemented, after two and four years. Each report shall include (i) the number of children enrolled in the pilot during the period of the report, (ii) the divisions' costs by year with the sources of funding identified, (iii) the aggregate diagnosis of the children enrolled in the pilot, (iv) the successes or failures of the programs to meet the children's Individualized Education Programs, and (v) a description of the challenges encountered during the pilot, with steps taken to overcome each challenge.