Bill Text: NJ S2884 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Prohibits twice exceptional students from being denied special education and related services due to average academic performance.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-04 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S2884 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S2884-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits twice exceptional students from being denied special education and related services due to average academic performance.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning eligibility of twice exceptional students for special education and related services and supplementing chapter 46 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The evaluation, determination of eligibility for special education and related services pursuant to chapter 46 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and, if eligible, development and implementation of a twice exceptional student's individualized education program shall not be denied due to the average academic performance of the student.
b. A school district shall provide information to parents and guardians to educate them on the available options for obtaining special education and related services for a twice exceptional student.
c. As used in this act, "twice exceptional student" means a student:
(1) who shows the potential for performing at an above average level of academic performance when compared to peers in the same grade level; and
(2) who has one or more disabilities as defined by federal or State eligibility criteria for special education and related services.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill prohibits the denial of special education and related services due to the average academic performance of a twice exceptional student. The bill would also require school districts to provide information and communication strategies for parents and guardians to educate them on the available options for obtaining special education and related services for a twice exceptional student.
Twice exceptional students are students who show the potential to perform at above average levels of academic achievement when compared to peers in the same grade level while also having one or more disabilities impacting their ability to learn. For such students, average performance may be evidence of the disability's impact and may indicate that the student requires special education and related services. For this reason, average academic performance in the case of a twice exceptional student cannot be the basis for a school district to deny evaluations or refuse to find eligibility for special education and related services. Refusing to find twice exceptional students eligible based on average performance when a discrepancy is evidenced between performance and ability denies them access to the appropriately ambitious program in the public school system that is required pursuant to the United States Supreme Court's decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District.
By prohibiting the denial of twice exceptional students from special education and related services and providing parents and legal guardians the information they need to obtain necessary services for their twice exceptional student, the State can ensure that these students receive a public school education that meets their unique needs.
