Bill Text: NH SB394 | 2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relative to the definition of a child with a disability under special education laws and providing funding for special education costs for students over age 21 to age 22.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-1)
Status: (Passed) 2022-06-22 - Signed by the Governor on 06/17/2022; Chapter 0230; Effective 06/17/2022 [SB394 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2022-SB394-Amended.html
SB 394-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
02/16/2022 0590s
21Apr2022... 1538h
2022 SESSION
22-3046
10/04
SENATE BILL 394-FN
SPONSORS: Sen. Kahn, Dist 10; Sen. Ward, Dist 8; Sen. Sherman, Dist 24; Sen. Whitley, Dist 15; Sen. Prentiss, Dist 5; Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. Perkins Kwoka, Dist 21; Sen. Soucy, Dist 18
COMMITTEE: Education
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AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill modifies the definition of "child with a disability" to include persons up to 21 years of age. The bill also establishes a commission to study special education eligibility.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
02/16/2022 0590s
21Apr2022... 1538h 22-3046
10/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Two
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Special Education; Definition; Child with a Disability. Amend RSA 186-C:2, I to read as follows:
I. "Child with a disability" means any person [3 years of age or older but less than 21 years of age] between the ages of 3 and 21, inclusive, who has been identified and evaluated by a school district according to rules adopted by the state board of education and determined to have an intellectual disability, a hearing impairment including deafness, a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment including blindness, an emotional disturbance, an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, acquired brain injury, another health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, multiple disabilities, or a child at least 3 years of age but less than 10 years of age, experiencing developmental delays, who because of such impairment, needs special education or special education and related services. "Child with a disability" shall include a [child] person between the ages of 18 [to] and 21 inclusive, who was identified as a child with a disability and received services in accordance with an individualized education program but who left school prior to his or her incarceration, or was identified as a child with a disability but did not have an individualized education program in his or her last educational institution.
2 New Section; Study of Special Education Eligibility. Amend RSA 186-C by inserting after section 21 the following new section:
186-C:21-a Commission on Special Education Eligibility.
I. There is established a commission to study how extending New Hampshire’s special education student eligibility through age 21 affects overall public education spending and implications for enrollment eligibility for all other students.
II. The members of the commission shall be as follows:
(a) One member of the senate, appointed by the president of the senate.
(b) Two members of the house of representatives appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives, one of whom shall be nominated by the minority leader.
(c) The commissioner of education, or designee.
(d) The department of education, director of education analytics and resources.
(e) The executive director of the New Hampshire School Boards Association, or designee.
(f) The director of the New Hampshire Special Education Administrators Association, or designee.
(g) One school administrator, appointed by the New Hampshire School Administrators Association.
(h) One director of a developmental disabilities services region, appointed by the commissioner of health and human services.
(i) The executive director of Parent Information Center.
(j) The executive director of the Disability Rights Center, or designee.
III. The commission shall study:
(a) Fiscal implications of amending RSA 186-C:2, I defining "child with a disability" to include "a child receiving services in accordance with an individualized education program who turns age 21, shall continue to receive services until the end of the school year, through age 21 and to the end of the school year in which a student turns 22 years of age."
(b) Defining "end of the school year" for qualifying students in district-run programs, year round programs, and extended school year programs, and what end of year applies to reaching the end of eligibility.
(c) Suggesting options for assigning estimated additional costs of extending special education beyond age 21 in the scenarios above.
(d) If the Medicaid to Schools program eligibility extends to students beyond age 21.
(e) How districts will be reimbursed for qualifying Medicaid to Schools services in the year in which the student reaches age 21, beyond the student's 21st year of age.
(f) Whether or not local districts offering special education to students to age 22 also need to provide and fund an education to students beyond their 21st year of age if they haven’t graduated high school, as described in RSA 186-C:2.
(g) Potential fiscal impact on differentiated aid payments to education freedom account students with identified disabilities who have not completed high school.
(h) Determining how state special education cost sharing under RSA 186-C:18, on special education state aid, can be accelerated into the school year in which expenses are incurred, and the cost-benefit of doing so.
IV. Legislative members of the commission shall receive mileage at the legislative rate when attending to the duties of the commission.
V. The members of the commission shall elect a chairperson from among the members. The first meeting of the commission shall be called by the senate member. The first meeting of the commission shall be held within 45 days of the effective date of this section. Six members of the commission shall constitute a quorum.
VI. The commission shall report its findings and any recommendations for proposed legislation to the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the chairpersons of the senate and house committees with jurisdiction over education, the senate clerk, the house clerk, the state board of education, the governor, and the state library. A preliminary report shall be submitted on or before January 1, 2023. A final report shall be submitted on or before November 1, 2023.
3 Prospective Repeal. RSA 186-C:21-a, relative to the commission on special education eligibility, is repealed.
I. Section 1 of this act shall take effect July 1, 2023.
II. Section 3 of this act shall take effect November 1, 2023.
III. The remainder of this act shall take effect upon its passage.
22-3046
Amended 2/22/22
SB 394-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE (AMENDMENT #2022-0590s)
AN ACT relative to the definition of a child with a disability under special education laws.
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ ] County [ X ] Local [ ] None
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| Estimated Increase / (Decrease) | |||
STATE: | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 |
Appropriation | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Expenditures | $0 | $0 | $0 | Indeterminable Increase |
Funding Source: | [ ] General [ X ] Education [ ] Highway [ ] Other | |||
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LOCAL: |
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Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | Indeterminable Increase |
Expenditures | $0 | $0 | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase |
METHODOLOGY:
This bill would change the definition of a “child with a disability” to include students through the school year in which they turn 21, effective July 1, 2023.
Through its October 1, 2020, child count, the Department of Education identified children with disabilities within the New Hampshire Special Education Information System (NHSEIS), who are turning 21 over the next year, and who will be turning 21 in the next two years in a residential placement and considered high-cost children with disabilities:
• 6 children with disabilities turning 21 during the current school year (21-22)
• 9 children with disabilities turning 21 during the next school year (22-23)
• 9 children with disabilities turning 21 during the following school year (23-24)
The Department identified children with disabilities within the NHSEIS who are turning 21 over the next year and who will be turning 21 in the next two years in a separate school and considered high-cost children with disabilities:
• 26 children with disabilities turning 21 during the current school year (21-22)
• 22 children with disabilities turning 21 during the next school year (22-23)
• 39 children with disabilities turning 21 during the following school year (23-24)
While there would be some financial impact to districts, the amount is indeterminable as it would depend on the school the children with disabilities attend. For informational purposes, the Department has provided that an approved private provider of special education ranges from $22,117 to $140,359 annually.
In addition to the potential costs to school districts discussed above, this bill may impact state adequate education payments to the extent a special education student remains in district counts for an additional year. Therefore, this bill would result in an increase in state education trust fund expenditures and local school district revenue in FY 2025 and each year thereafter (one fiscal year lag based on data used for adequate education payments).
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of Education
