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To enact section 3323.21 of the Revised Code to | 1 |
require the Department of Education to solicit | 2 |
from school districts and educational service | 3 |
centers regular studies of the time spent by | 4 |
occupational and physical therapists on certain | 5 |
activities and to use the studies to determine | 6 |
appropriate workloads. | 7 |
Section 1. That section 3323.21 of the Revised Code be | 8 |
enacted to read as follows: | 9 |
Sec. 3323.21. (A) As used in this section, "related services | 10 |
provider" means an occupational therapist or physical therapist. | 11 |
(B)(1) Not later than June 30, 2013, and by the thirtieth day | 12 |
of June every five years thereafter, the department of education | 13 |
shall solicit from the boards of education of each city, exempted | 14 |
village, and local school district and the governing board of each | 15 |
educational service center a study of the average amount of time | 16 |
each type of related services provider employed or contracted by | 17 |
the board spent on each of the following activities over two | 18 |
separate two-week periods, one of which shall have concluded prior | 19 |
to the thirty-first day of January and the other of which shall | 20 |
have concluded prior to the thirty-first day of May: | 21 |
(a) Child evaluations, including screenings, observations, | 22 |
diagnostic testing, and other assessments; | 23 |
(b) IEP development; | 24 |
(c) Development and review of plans of care; | 25 |
(d) Provision of related services to children with | 26 |
disabilities, including consultations and counseling regarding | 27 |
appropriate intervention services and direct provision of those | 28 |
services; | 29 |
(e) Provision of transition services; | 30 |
(f) Documentation of child evaluations and services, | 31 |
including compliance with documentation requirements related to | 32 |
receiving reimbursement for services from the medicaid program | 33 |
authorized by Chapter 5111. of the Revised Code; | 34 |
(g) IEP team meetings; | 35 |
(h) Collaboration and coordination with IEP team members or | 36 |
other district or service center staff; | 37 |
(i) Advocacy to ensure that IEPs and legal requirements | 38 |
regarding the education of children with disabilities are being | 39 |
met; | 40 |
(j) Conducting training sessions for parents or district or | 41 |
service center staff; | 42 |
(k) Planning and designing the provider's work; | 43 |
(l) Travel between school buildings or other sites for the | 44 |
purpose of carrying out the provider's job responsibilities; | 45 |
(m) Planning and development of districtwide initiatives to | 46 |
identify at-risk children; | 47 |
(n) Management of employees under the provider's supervision, | 48 |
including occupational therapy assistants and physical therapist | 49 |
assistants; | 50 |
(o) Professional development. | 51 |
(2) Each study shall include the following additional | 52 |
information: | 53 |
(a) The number of school buildings or other sites served by | 54 |
each related services provider employed or contracted by the | 55 |
district or service center board and the travel time between those | 56 |
buildings or sites; | 57 |
(b) Whether the district or service center uses any | 58 |
occupational therapy assistants, physical therapist assistants, or | 59 |
similar licensed personnel to assist related services providers | 60 |
and, if so, the average amount of time spent by those personnel on | 61 |
each of the activities listed in division (B)(1) of this section | 62 |
over the two separate two-week periods covered by the study; | 63 |
(c) A description of other personnel and programs available | 64 |
within the district or service center that could be used to assist | 65 |
or otherwise support related services providers in their work; | 66 |
(d) Any other information requested by the department. | 67 |
(C) Upon receipt of the studies solicited on or before June | 68 |
30, 2013, the department shall do both of the following: | 69 |
(1) Classify each of the activities listed in division (B)(1) | 70 |
of this section into one of the following categories: | 71 |
(a) Direct provision of services to children with | 72 |
disabilities; | 73 |
(b) Activities related to the development of educational | 74 |
programming for children with disabilities; | 75 |
(c) Activities related to supporting nondisabled children | 76 |
receiving a general education curriculum; | 77 |
(d) Activities necessary to comply with federal or state | 78 |
legal requirements that are not otherwise classified in divisions | 79 |
(C)(1)(a) to (c) of this section. | 80 |
(2) Based on the data contained in the studies, develop a | 81 |
formula to determine, for each type of related services provider, | 82 |
an appropriate ratio of children with disabilities per provider | 83 |
that enables the provider to fulfill the provider's job | 84 |
responsibilities in each of the categories described in division | 85 |
(C)(1) of this section and to meet the needs of the children with | 86 |
disabilities in the provider's workload, without exceeding the | 87 |
number of minutes comprising the provider's full-time work | 88 |
schedule. | 89 |
(D) Whenever subsequent studies are solicited under division | 90 |
(B)(1) of this section, the department shall consider, based on | 91 |
the data contained in the studies, whether the formula developed | 92 |
under division (C)(2) of this section produces an appropriate | 93 |
ratio of children with disabilities per related services provider. | 94 |
If the department determines that the formula does not produce an | 95 |
appropriate ratio of children with disabilities per provider, the | 96 |
department shall adjust the formula as needed to attain a more | 97 |
appropriate workload. | 98 |
(E) The department shall review each study solicited under | 99 |
division (B)(1) of this section. Following each review, the | 100 |
department shall report to the district or service center board | 101 |
that submitted a study the percentage of time spent by the related | 102 |
services providers employed or contracted by the board on each of | 103 |
the categories of activities described in division (C)(1) of this | 104 |
section during the four weeks covered by the study. The department | 105 |
also shall submit to the district or service center board | 106 |
directions for aligning the current workload for each type of | 107 |
related services provider employed or contracted by the board with | 108 |
the workload size determined appropriate for that type of | 109 |
provider. The department shall compile the information required by | 110 |
this division into a report, which shall be submitted to the state | 111 |
board of education within ninety days after the information has | 112 |
been provided to school districts and educational service centers. | 113 |
(F) Each district and service center board shall implement | 114 |
the department's directions submitted to the board under division | 115 |
(E) of this section. | 116 |