Bill Text: TX SB1759 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Relating to an individualized education program and transition planning for a public school student enrolled in a special education program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-14 - Referred to Education [SB1759 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-SB1759-Introduced.html

---

86R6962 MP-F
By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1759

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an individualized education program and transition
planning for a public school student enrolled in a special
education program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 29.005(b-1) and (e), Education Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b-1) The written statement of the individualized education
program must document the decisions of the committee with respect
to issues discussed at each committee meeting. The written
statement must include:
(1) the date of the meeting;
(2) the name, position, and signature of each member
participating in the meeting; [and]
(3) an indication of whether the student's [child's]
parents, the adult student, if applicable, and the administrator
agreed or disagreed with the decisions of the committee; and
(4) if the student does not attend the meeting:
(A) a statement indicating the reason for the
student's absence, if known; and
(B) a statement summarizing any goals or services
requested by the student relating to the transition to life outside
the public school system if the student is:
(i) 14 years of age or older; or
(ii) younger than 14 years of age and
appropriate transition planning under Section 29.011 has begun.
(e) The commissioner by rule may require a school district
to include in the individualized education program of a student
with autism or another pervasive developmental disorder any
information or requirement determined necessary to ensure the
student receives a free appropriate public education as required
under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C.
Section 1400 et seq.), including information or requirements
regarding consideration and, if appropriate, the:
(1) facilitation of a referral of the student or the
student's parents to a governmental agency for services or public
benefits as described by Section 29.011(a)(9); and
(2) development of the student's decision-making
skills or fostering of the student's independence and
self-determination as described by Section 29.011(a)(10).
SECTION 2. Section 29.011, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-3) to read as
follows:
(a) The commissioner shall by rule adopt procedures for
compliance with federal requirements relating to transition
services for students who are enrolled in special education
programs under this subchapter. The procedures must specify the
manner in which a student's admission, review, and dismissal
committee must consider, and if appropriate, address the following
issues in the student's individualized education program:
(1) [appropriate] student involvement and
participation in the student's transition to life outside the
public school system;
(2) if the student is younger than 18 years of age,
[appropriate] involvement and participation in any discussion or
meeting concerning the student's transition by the student, the
student's parents, and other persons invited to participate by:
(A) the student's parents; or
(B) the school district in which the student is
enrolled;
(3) if the student is at least 18 years of age,
involvement in the student's transition and future by the student's
parents and other persons, if the parent or other person:
(A) is invited to participate by the student or
the school district in which the student is enrolled; or
(B) has the student's consent to participate
pursuant to a supported decision-making agreement under Chapter
1357, Estates Code;
(4) appropriate postsecondary education options,
including preparation for postsecondary-level coursework;
(5) an appropriate functional vocational evaluation;
(6) appropriate employment goals and objectives;
(7) if the student is at least 18 years of age, the
availability of age-appropriate instructional environments,
including community settings or environments that prepare the
student for postsecondary education or training, competitive
integrated employment, or independent living, in coordination with
the student's transition goals and objectives;
(8) appropriate independent living goals and
objectives, including orientation and preparation for the use of
local public or private transportation systems designed for the
general public or for persons with disabilities;
(9) appropriate circumstances for facilitating a
referral of a student or the student's parents to a governmental
agency for services or public benefits, including for health care
coverage or a referral to a governmental agency to place the student
on a waiting list for public benefits available to the student, such
as a waiver program established under Section 1915(c), Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1396n(c)); [and]
(10) the use and availability of appropriate:
(A) supplementary aids, services, curricula, and
other opportunities to assist the student in developing
decision-making skills; and
(B) supports and services to foster the student's
independence and self-determination, including a supported
decision-making agreement under Chapter 1357, Estates Code;
(11) appropriate coordination with any transition
planning or services provided to the student by the following
agencies, including by inviting those agencies to participate in
the student's transition or future under Subdivision (2) or (3):
(A) state agencies, including the Texas
Workforce Commission, Health and Human Services Commission, or
Department of Family and Protective Services; or
(B) local agencies, including centers for
independent living, local intellectual and developmental
disability authorities, or community-based mental health centers;
and
(12) appropriate information on available services
provided by the school district if the student will graduate from
high school but not be awarded a high school diploma under Section
28.025(c)(1).
(a-3) A school district that does not invite a state or
local agency described by Subsection (a)(11) to participate in a
student's transition or future under Subsection (a)(2) or (3) must
include a statement in the student's individualized education
program indicating the reason the agency was not invited to
participate.
SECTION 3. Section 29.0112(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The transition and employment guide must be written in a
plain-language, student-friendly format [plain language] and
contain information specific to this state regarding:
(1) transition services;
(2) employment and supported employment services that
adhere to the employment-first policy adopted under Section
531.02447, Government Code;
(3) social security programs, including the Ticket to
Work Program authorized by the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives
Improvement Act of 1999 (Pub. L. No. 106-170);
(4) community and long-term services and support,
including the option to place the student on a waiting list with a
governmental agency for public benefits available to the student,
such as a waiver program established under Section 1915(c), Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1396n(c));
(5) postsecondary educational programs and services,
including the inventory maintained by the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board under Section 61.0663;
(6) information sharing with health and human services
agencies and providers;
(7) guardianship and alternatives to guardianship,
including a supported decision-making agreement under Chapter
1357, Estates Code;
(8) self-advocacy, person-centered and
person-directed planning, and self-determination; [and]
(9) public and private transportation systems,
including options designed for persons with disabilities;
(10) health care services and coverage, including the
process for transitioning to adult health care;
(11) mental health and wellness services;
(12) voting and civic engagement;
(13) financial literacy, including plain-language
information and curricula that promotes the understanding and
effective management of financial resources for a lifetime of
financial well-being;
(14) available programs that promote employment and
financial independence, including:
(A) special needs trusts;
(B) the Texas Achieving a Better Life Experience
(ABLE) Program under Subchapter J, Chapter 54, authorized under
Section 529A, Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
(C) the Medicaid buy-in programs implemented
under Section 531.02444, Government Code; and
(D) other work incentive programs; and
(15) contact information for all relevant state
agencies.
SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.0113 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.0113. SUBMINIMUM WAGE EMPLOYMENT FOR STUDENTS WITH
DISABILITIES. The commissioner shall adopt rules that comply with:
(1) the requirements under 34 C.F.R. Section 397.30
relating to subminimum wage employment for students with
disabilities; and
(2) the prohibition under 34 C.F.R. Section 397.31 on
contractual or other arrangements to provide subminimum wage
employment for students with disabilities.
SECTION 5. Section 352.108, Labor Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b), (d), and (e) and adding Subsection (f) to
read as follows:
(b) The commission and the Texas Education Agency shall
collaborate to develop a mechanism to identify the areas of the
state with the greatest needs for transition services for students
with disabilities. The mechanism must account for the commission's
limited resources and a public school's [school district's] needs,
including:
(1) the school's [school district's] resources for
special education;
(2) the number of students with disabilities in the
school [district]; and
(3) other factors that the commission and the Texas
Education Agency consider important.
(d) The commission shall develop uniform, statewide
policies for transition services that include:
(1) the goal that a transition counselor initiate
contact with a student approximately three years before the student
is expected to graduate from high school;
(2) the minimum level of services to be provided to a
student at the time that a transition counselor initiates contact
with the student;
(3) standards, based on the mechanism developed under
Subsection (b), for assigning a transition counselor to a public
school that ensure consistency among regions but that are not too
restrictive;
(4) expectations for transition counselors to develop
relationships with public school personnel, including the employee
designated to serve as the school's [school district's] designee on
transition and employment services under Section 29.011(b),
Education Code; and
(5) expectations for regional commission staff to work
with education service center representatives on a regular basis to
identify areas of greatest need and to discuss local strategies for
coordination between transition counselors and public schools.
(e) The commission and the Texas Education Agency shall
enter into a memorandum of understanding to comply with the
policies under this section and to improve coordination between the
agencies. The memorandum of understanding must include:
(1) strategies to better inform transition clients,
clients' families, and public school personnel regarding the
commission's available services, including by:
(A) providing [and] contact information for
commission transition counselors; and
(B) ensuring public schools provide commission
transition counselors with timely access to students with
disabilities and the students' parents or guardians to discuss the
commission's available services and the role of commission
transition counselors;
(2) a process to be used by the commission and the
Texas Education Agency to develop and update the mechanism used to
identify students who may need services; and
(3) strategies to promote the development,
coordination, provision, and evaluation of pre-employment
transition services provided to students with disabilities in
accordance with Section 113, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C.
Section 733).
(f) The commission and the Texas Education Agency shall
review and, if necessary, update the memorandum of understanding
under Subsection (e) at least once every four years. In conducting
the review, the commission and the Texas Education Agency shall
solicit input from the continuing advisory committee appointed
under Section 29.006, Education Code, and the Rehabilitation
Council of Texas.
SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2019-2020
school year.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2019.