H.B. 143 Special Education Amendments: transcript

All right, here we go. First one of the session, Ryan. I think we're all starting. Um, so, uh, last year actually during the legislative session, there was a group of parents here at the Capitol, um, that I met with. Um, and they talked to me at that time about an experience that they had had with their special education student when their student who was in a contained classroom. So that's not just a student with an IEP, but a, a student in a specific classroom to, um, best serve their needs. Um, moved to a, got moved to a different school and they felt like there was no opportunity as a parent to have enough notice to prepare their student that they were going to be going to a different school. That, um, they didn't really get to give a, a chance to comment or let people, um, you know, uh, their school board or others know about their thoughts or concerns about that change. And they said to me, it doesn't seem right because all through, uh, in your code, you have a whole section where you provide that if there's a boundary change for a general education student, that you have all of these requirements as a school district to make sure the parents are notified and to have them come to meetings. And there's all of these protections for our general education students, but there are not protections for our special education students when they're moved. And so, as I looked into it as, um, I talked to, um, some of our experts in special education, I found that to be the case. And so we drafted this legislation to provide those protections for special education students, um, that their parents can be notified. So if you look in the bill, so this is not just any student with an IEP, it's a student in a specific class. So a, a contained classroom, that's what I would call it. But these special classes where they just serve special education students, if they move them from elementary A to elementary b to best serve them, that's fine. Uh, but they have to, um, the school district will need to notify them at least 30 days before they move their student. Uh, at minimum there's some requirements on the information provided to parents. You'll see those in lines 34, um, through through 45. So, um, where can the parent, uh, understand, uh, what's happening, who is their contact so they can talk to at the district so they can understand why it's happening, what day is it happening, um, what's the contact information at the new school? Um, all of that kind of information, how that's gonna work with their IEP, uh, as they transfer over. And then, um, and it shows how they have to be notified. It also gives them the opportunity to provide a written or verbal comment, uh, to that change to their school board. So the bill's pretty simple, but I think it affords, um, some protections that our special education students deserve and their parents also deserve. So that's the bill.

I move that we favorably recommend H HP 1 43.

I'll waive very well.

Yes, please. Okay.

Thank you chair, and thanks for, um, having me in your committee today. So this bill came to me, um, from a group of parents, um, who have special education students who are in a contained classroom. So not just every student with an IEP, but as students that are in, um, a special class is how we've defined it in the bill. Um, who receive their services, maybe not at this school, where they would go if they were a general education student, but somewhere in the district to receive services. Um, the, the parents' concern was that sometimes school districts determine to move these students, uh, to different schools to receive the same programming, not to change their, um, their placement and of their special education services or the services that they qualify for. They just literally moved the location of their class from one school to another school. When that happens, there is no, um, there was no obligations in code on how the school district needed to work with those parents to make sure that they knew that the change was happening, that they were notified properly, that they had an opportunity to weigh in, that they had, um, the information provided early on transportation or, or how that might, um, you know, in any way, uh, change how they, they're receiving the services that they are required to get under their IEP. The interesting thing is we have very, um, specific protections in code for a general education student who has moved from one school to another school. But we have no protections in code for special education students. So I worked with the State Office of Education to ensure that this complies with all federal laws related to, um, special education students. And really, this bill just provides that, uh, notification to parents so that they have an opportunity to understand what's happening with their student, um, and to ensure that, um, those students can be prepared to move to a new location to receive services and, um, that their education can continue. And that's the bill. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, I just see on line 48 it says certified mail. Um, so through one or more of these following methods, do they have to be, um, they have to have, uh, receipt of confirmation and if they don't have receipt of confirmation, will that put our school districts in any of harm's way? Yeah, so, um, they have a couple of options, um, right there. And, um, so I think the school district needs to demonstrate that they did these things, but not necessarily that, you know, you know, sometimes parents are great about acknowledging things and sometimes they're not. So they just need to be able to demonstrate they, they sent the mail.

Yeah, it, it is hard. And some of our parents that, um, I have actually been on IEPs and five oh fours in those meetings, and our parents sometimes really struggle to get there. And so I just wanna make sure there's nothing in this bill that would hold a district liable if they weren't able to try when those, so if they just sent an email and they sent it to 'em and it wasn't received, that would still be okay?

Yes. I mean, 'cause they're supposed to do one or more, so hopefully they're sending 'em an email and they're handing their kid, you know, something at the school, you know, to get to their parent. They're sending a mail and they're sending an email.

Do we want 'em to do at least one or two methods to make sure we have covered our bases? Thank you for being, uh, such a diligent guardian of our special ed kids.

As the floor sponsor of this bill, I just wanted to thank, um, Representative Peterson for bringing this forward and, and letting the audience know as well that a 30 day notice is, um, is required as part of this bill. And thank you so much for helping our this population.

Go Ahead. Thank you. Thank you Chair. Amanda Bollinger. I'm the Vice Chair of Utah State Board of Education, and we just wanted to let you all know that this is a bill that our state board did vote to support. So we, we really appreciate both Senator Baldry and Representative Peterson for their work on this. And I can tell you just personally as a special educator myself, that this is best practice and the, and making sure that parents have that notification is, is great. So we appreciate the work on this and hope you support it as well. Thank

I recommend that we pass out with a favorable recommendation to the full body of the Senate House Bill 1 43.

Was an aye, Mr. Chair. Thank

Um, so this bill was actually brought to me by a group of parents who have special education students who pointed out to me that in the code we have a lot of protections. If we move the boundaries on a general education student and they have to move, for example, from Clinton Elementary in my area to Parkside Elementary. We have a lot of, um, uh, notification requirements and, and ways that we connect with the parents to let them know that changes happening. If we move a special education student that's in a contained classroom from one school to another school, we have no protections in code about ensuring that that student has proper notice and making sure, um, that as a parent I can prepare my student to get moved from one school to another. So what this bill does is it puts those protections in place for special education students. Um, specifically talking about making sure that the parents know the name and location of the school they're moving to, what their transportation is going to look like, how it's going to impact their IEP. Um, and that's what the bill does open to. Any questions? Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the, the sponsor yield to a question?

Thank you. Speaker In section three, it states that before implementing a boundary change that affects a special class, an LEA shall provide a parent and affected eligible student an opportunity to submit a written or verbal comment regarding the proposed boundary change. So Mr. Speaker, does that mean that before a boundary change is even made, a parent will have the opportunity to weigh in on that?

Yes. Yes. And that is, that is a change right now. Um, they, they notice them, um, and, and sometimes short amounts of notice. Um, but this says that parents are gonna have the opportunity to, uh, give comment to their school board member, um, and people in their district about how they impact, uh, that change will impact their student.

Mr. Speaker as a, as a teacher of students with disabilities, I particularly appreciate this, uh, inclusion in the bill. Uh, giving parents every opportunity to not only respond to a change that has been made, but to inform one, I think is, is respectful of the, the input that we should always be seeking from our parents. So thank you. I I support this bill.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uh, Mr. Speaker, just standing in support. I don't know that it that we need it. Um, we've got, uh, a number of the, uh, families in this situation where that hasn't happened in the past in my district and, uh, both with this and with udot, uh, but we're working on the other one. But thank you for taking care of this one, uh, to the good representative in Davis County. Um, it really is just a, the right communication that can solve a lot of these problems ahead of time. And it, there is a disparate impact on our, our families with disabled children. It just is different for all of 'em. Thank You. Thank you, Representative Wilcox.

Thank you. Will the sponsor yield to a question?

Um, would this make, um, simple human errors like, um, like delayed emails, um, a crime of like, when delaying notification, would that make it that illegal or a crime?

No. Thank you.

Uh, thank you so much for the, the comments. Um, you know, these sped kids are close to my heart and so, um, I think affording them the same protections we provide general education students is, uh, something that our legislature should do. Thank you.

Thank you Mr. President. This bill came directly from special education parents who felt frustrated when school boundary changes move their children without clear notice or time to plan. House bill 1 43 simply requires school districts to provide written notice at least 30 days before boundary change that relocates a special education student in a contained classroom. Parents receive clear, practical information about what is changing, when it will happen and how it'll affect their child's, uh, services, transportation and IEP. And it just ensures that families can provide input before final decisions are made. This is a communication and or transparency. Bill.

Thank you, Mr. President. This bill, um, is again, just a reminder that, um, somehow our special education, uh, students got, they were, they just weren't in code. Um, and that whenever there was a boundary change, they weren't required to notify them. And this just, this bill just fixes that loop and it gives, uh, at least 30 days notice to parents, uh, who are going to require a school district boundary change. And with that, I conclude my presentation and, and that's it. And I'm open to questions.

Uh, I move that house. Bill 1 43 shall pass.

Representative Peterson moves to concur with the Senate amendments. Like to speak to it. Yes. So the, um, in the Senate, we made a clarification for if a student is programmed, their special education is program is moved. If they, they follow this process, but if their school is closing and that's why their program is moved, then they follow the other process in the law. So we just made a clarification for our school districts to know which process to follow.