Bill Text: CA AB1938 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Special education: inclusion and universal design for learning.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2024-08-15 - From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 15). [AB1938 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB1938-Amended.html
Amended
IN
Assembly
April 29, 2024 |
Introduced by Assembly Member Gallagher (Coauthor: Senator Ochoa Bogh) |
January 29, 2024 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
This bill would require, for children who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind, inclusive practices and strategies to improve pupil outcomes to mean placement in settings that
provide full access to language and specialized services, as provided. The bill would require any discussion of deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind pupils in the local educational agency setting to ensure the input and participation of the deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind communities, as provided. To the extent that this bill would require a new duty of a local educational agency, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 56040.6 is added to the Education Code, to read:56040.6.
(a) When implementing inclusion and universal design for learning initiatives for pupils 0 to 22 years of age, inclusive, a local educational agency and a charter school shall consider all of the following with respect to the full language access needs of pupils who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind, as described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 56326.5, for the determination of the least restrictive environment:SEC. 2.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.(a)For children who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind, inclusive practices and strategies to improve pupil outcomes shall mean placement in settings that provide full access to language and specialized services. Placement settings that provide full access to language and specialized services for deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind children shall be considered by the team implementing the individualized education program or family service plan to serve as the least restrictive environment for the child. For purposes of this section, the least restrictive environment may include, but not necessarily be limited to, the California Schools for the Deaf, the California School
for the Blind, or nonprofit organizations, including, but not limited to, nonpublic, nonsectarian schools or agencies certified pursuant to Section 56366.1 that specialize in serving deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind infants and children. For purposes of this section, “full access to language and specialized services” means a level of access consistent with the findings and declarations in subdivision (b) of Section 56000.5.
(b)In implementing this section, any discussion of deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind pupils in the local educational agency setting, including for generalization trainings or universal design for learning, shall ensure the input and participation of the deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind communities through the community advisory
committees, established pursuant to Article 7 (commencing with Section 56190) of Chapter 2.
(c)Nothing in this section shall be construed as modifying or otherwise affecting the right of pupils with disabilities, including pupils who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind, to a free and appropriate public education pursuant to the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.), the development of an individualized education program, as defined in Section 56032, or the individualized education program team’s determination of placement pursuant to Sections 300.320 to 300.328, inclusive, of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and Section 56345, aids to ensure effective communication pursuant to Section 35.160 of Title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or the continuum of
program options that shall be made available as required by Sections 56000.5, 56360, and 56361.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.