CHAPTER 328
HB 661-FN-A – FINAL VERSION
05/10/07 1435s
05/24/07 1692s
27Jun2007… 2355eba
2007 SESSION
04/09
HOUSE BILL 661-FN-A
AN ACT establishing an executive planning commission on special education.
SPONSORS: Rep. Stiles, Rock 15; Rep. Claire Clarke, Merr 6; Rep. Jillette, Sull 2; Rep. Casey, Rock 11; Sen. Hassan, Dist 23
This bill establishes an executive planning commission on special education and authorizes the commission to accept gifts, grants, or donations from any source to hire staff or retain consultants.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
05/10/07 1435s
05/24/07 1692s
27Jun2007… 2355eba
07-0184
04/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven
AN ACT establishing an executive planning commission on special education.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
328:1 Purpose.
I. The general court has determined that a significant barrier to the provision of an education that supports personal, social, physical, and academic growth of children with disabilities is the shortage of qualified personnel. This shortage particularly affects the capacity of schools to provide children with highly challenging needs or low-incidence disabilities a free appropriate public and adequate education in the least restrictive environment. For purposes of this act, children with highly challenging needs or low-incidence disabilities shall include, but not be limited to, children with emotional disabilities, autism, multiple disabilities, traumatic or acquired brain injury, deafness, deaf-blindness, and blindness.
II. The general court has further determined that the personnel shortage and related issues adversely affect school capacity to educate and support personal, social, physical, and academic growth resulting in relatively poorer educational outcomes for children with disabilities, increased numbers of schools failing to make adequate yearly progress, increased dropout rates, unwarranted diversion of children into the court system, and placements into separate private or public residential or day placements, all of which have high human and financial costs. Related issues include:
(a) The need for more comprehensive pre-service and in-service training of educational personnel, and promoting the dissemination and application of best educational practices, including assistive technology, to children with low-incidence and other disabilities.
(b) The need for more widespread and comprehensive delivery of technical assistance to schools.
(c) The often fragmented, temporary, grant-to-grant based approach to in-service training and technical assistance, and unnecessary duplication and inefficiencies existing in the delivery of technical assistance and professional development.
III. The general court has further determined that a joint, coordinated, comprehensive, and systematic approach among responsible state agencies, working with state institutions of higher education, is needed to address these human resource issues and assist schools in improving their capacity. This will have the added benefit of maximizing existing resources and providing expanded higher educational opportunities in the state for the ultimate purpose of better meeting children’s needs.
328:2 Special Education; Executive Planning Commission on Special Education. Amend RSA 186-C:21 to read as follows:
186-C:21 [Development of In-state Services for Severely Multi-disabled Developmentally Disabled Children] Executive Planning Commission on Special Education.
[I. The division of educational improvement of the department of education and the department of health and human services shall, subject to approval by the commissioner of education and the commissioner of health and human services, develop a joint plan for establishing a regional system of in-state, community-based residential and educational services for severely multi-disabled developmentally disabled children, ages 3-21. The plan shall also address the development of staff and educators with expertise in serving this population.
II. Under this plan the department of education shall be responsible for all services to severely multi-disabled children, ages 3-21, established by a local pupil planning team in accordance with P.L. 94-142 and RSA 186-C, within the limits of appropriated funds.
III. The department of health and human services shall provide technical assistance to and cooperate with the department of education in the development of any programs under this joint plan.
IV. For children receiving services under this plan, the legally responsible school district shall be responsible for paying, each year, $10,000 plus 20 percent of the additional cost, with the state funding the balance of the cost through funds appropriated to the department of education. For children receiving services under this plan, the legally responsible school district shall be determined in accordance with RSA 186-C:19, I(a) and (b).
V. For the purposes of this section “severely multi-disabled children” shall be defined as a sub-category of those educationally disabled children who are identified by local school districts as multi-disabled, or severely or profoundly mentally retarded and who are provided with an individualized education plan in accordance with RSA 186-C:7.]
I. There is hereby established an executive planning commission on special education, consisting of the governor, the commissioners of the departments of education, health and human services, and regional community-technical colleges, and the chancellor of the university system of New Hampshire or respective designees who shall have substantial experience at the executive level in the public or private sector.
II. The commission shall develop a plan providing for an improved comprehensive, systemic, and sustained approach in the following areas:
(a) Methods for delivering student-specific and general technical assistance.
(b) Systems of pre-service and in-service education to professional, paraprofessional, and administrative personnel, including improved coordination between personnel preparation at the university level and the curriculum frameworks, evidence based practices, and the needs of students with disabilities.
(c) Strategies to address educational personnel shortages.
(d) One or more pools of specialists, within or outside of the university system, or both, which school districts can use on a contract or other basis to address temporary or permanent personnel shortages or when special expertise is necessary, including for individual student evaluations and delivery of services.
(e) Methods of research and development and dissemination of best practices across the state.
(f) Provision of assistive technology and reasonable accommodations.
(g) Methods to assist schools and other service systems in developing local school-based options for students who have been placed in alternative or separate schools.
(h) Methods and standards to evaluate the performance of the above functions.
III. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, the identification of persons or agencies responsible, timelines, resources, and any necessary statutory, regulatory, or policy changes. The commission shall provide the plan and any other recommendations the commission deems necessary and appropriate to the general court and the governor by December 1, 2008, and may at any time prior to said date propose any initiatives which may be implemented earlier.
IV. In developing the plan, the commission shall consider:
(a) A regional model for addressing children with particularly low-incidence disabilities or technical assistance of a highly specialized nature, desirability of lodging expertise in separate single statewide sources.
(b) Whether the plan and model should be phased in and how; whether the plan and model should apply only to educationally disabled children as defined by RSA 186-C:2 or expanded at the outset or a later point to include other students, such as students at risk of needing special education, dropping out, court placed, or students for whom English is a second language; whether the plan and model should apply to all students; and whether schools failing to make adequate yearly progress should be prioritized.
(c) To what extent and from where existing state or federal dollars may be used to fund some of the services proposed in this section, and the apportionment of costs between the state and local school districts for the provision of such services.
(d) Whether a single entity within an institution would be responsible for directing or coordinating the functions listed in this section, including addressing personnel shortage issues.
(e) The need or desirability of coordinating with other entities to take advantage of existing expertise possibly through a consortium or similar model.
(f) The need for memoranda of understanding between state agencies and the universities or other entities.
V. The commission may accept gifts, donations, or grants from any source provided the gifts, donations, or grants received shall be used for the purpose of hiring staff and retaining consultants with relevant information and expertise as deemed necessary by the commission.
328:3 Repeal. RSA 186-C:22, relative to development of in-state services for severely emotionally disturbed children is repealed.
328:4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.
Approved: July 16, 2007
Effective: July 1, 2007