The Arc of Virginia
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The Arc of Virginia
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The Arc's Respect PSA
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SPECIAL EDUCATION REGULATIONS UPDATE
Further Public Comment on Earlier this month, the Virginia Coalition for Students with Disabilities submitted a letter to Governor Kaine expressing further comments on the revisions to Virginia’s Special Education Regulations approved by the Board of Education. (The Virginia Board for People with Disabilities is a member in the Coalition, has participated in drafting its comments, and is one of the more than thirty organizations joining in the letter to the Governor.) The approved regulations are currently being reviewed by the Governor, who can require additional changes, and if those changes are significant, order an additional 30-day public comment period. If an additional 30-day public comment period is not required, then the Virginia Department of Education will have the regulations published in the Virginia Register, which then initiates the 30-day adoption period. A copy of the Coalition’s letter and detailed comments can be found at www.vaboard.org/vapolicy.htm, listed under IDEA 2004: New Federal and State Regulations and Related Resources. Additional related resources, including links to the full text of the approved regulations and information on the remaining steps of their review and implementation process, can also be found there as well. Citizens may also submit additional comments to the Governor or to the Virginia Department of Education as follows: To the Virginia Department of Education:
--- E-mail to ReviseSpedREgs@doe.virginia.gov
To Governor Kaine:
--- E-mail to tkaine@governor.virginia.gov For further information, contact:
Cheryl Ward, Educational Advocacy
Coordinator PREVIOUS UPDATES The Virginia Board of Education adopted the final Special Education Regulations September 25 in Richmond. The board maintained parental input when a school is considering terminating their child's special-education services, and it will keep the due-process hearing system under the purview of the Supreme Court of Virginia instead of moving it to the Board of Education. They also changed the definition of a developmental delay to include children up to age six instead of age five as recommended in the initial draft (current regulations use age eight). The next step in the regulatory process is for the final regulations to be published in the State Register, probably on October 27. There may be an additional 30-day public comment period. For more information, contact Jamie Trosclair, jtrosclair@arcofva.org Board of Education agenda item for September 25, which details the changes in the proposed and subsequently adopted Special Education Regulations. http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/meetings/2008/09_sep/agenda_items/item_b.pdf Article in the Richmond Times Dispatch: The Virginia Board of Education revised the state's regulations for special-education students yesterday, advancing a plan stripped of the proposals that were the most unpopular among parents and politicians. read more at http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-09-26-0116.html Washington Post article: The Virginia State Board of Education approved revisions to special education rules yesterday (September 25) that omitted two proposals that parents of disabled students had said would severely restrict their rights. But some parents said they are still worried about the state's procedures for evaluating children with special needs. Read more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/25/AR2008092503876.html Read more at WrightsLaw: http://wrightslaw.com/virginia/regs.index.htm#regs
Press Release
dated 9/10/08 from Speaker Howell on Special Ed Regs WHAT’S
HAPPENING NOW
WITH THE PROPOSED REGS? On Thursday, September 11th,
the Virginia General Assembly’s Joint Commission on Administrative Rules
held a public meeting to discuss the proposed special ed regs. At the
hearing, Billy Cannaday Jr., Superintendent of Public Instruction, said VDOE
would not include the proposed elimination of parental consent for
termination of services in the final regs. He also stated that VDOE would
withdraw a proposal to move appointment of due-process hearing officers from
the Virginia Supreme Court to VDOE. See the following news articles and video
portion of the public hearing:
http://www.nbc29.com/Global/story.asp?S=8994127
http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-09-12-0137.html. While this is great news for
parents, many existing rights, protections and procedures remain at
risk of being eliminated. These other provisions are important to protecting
children with disabilities and maintaining balance in the parent-school
partnership. Parents across Virginia are anxious about these other proposed
changes and eagerly waiting to see the revised regs. VDOE will present
the final draft regulations to the VA Board of Education (BOE) at its
September 25th meeting. WHAT
ACTIONS SHOULD PARENTS TAKE IN THE COMING WEEKS? ·
By close of business
Friday, September 19th: Be on the lookout for release
of the final proposed regs by close of business on Friday, September 19th.
The regs will be publically posted as the support documents for the Board’s
September 25th agenda. The number and types of changes expected in
the final draft of the regs will necessitate prompt parent action. See the BOE's website for its
agenda at:
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/meetings/index.shtml ·
Prior
to Thursday, September 25th:
Contact Virginia BOE members
who represent parents in Northern VA : o Mrs. Isis Castro
o Mrs. Eleanor Saslaw
o Dr. Gary Jones These individuals sat on the
panel at the Public Hearing in Oakton on June 2, 2008 so they are quite
familiar with our concerns as well as our tenacity For more information on the
Board's members, see
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/members/index.shtml. ·
On
Thursday, September 25th
, 9 – 10 am: The Monroe
Building, Jefferson Conference Room - 22nd Floor
· On October 27th:
WHAT ELSE CAN PARENTS DO? · Contact members of the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules concerning how the proposed changes to the regs will negatively affect students and their parents. Members of the Commission can be located at http://dls.state.va.us/JCAR.htm. One member is from Northern Virginia and represents Dist. 38 (Fairfax): Bob Hull, 703-573-4855; DelRHull@house.state.va.us. · Contact your state delegates and senators. Your legislators can be located at http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform. · Contact your Fairfax County School Board members to explain the negative impact of the proposed changes: SchoolBoardMembers@fcps.edu. Request members comment individually during the next round of the process. · Contact local newspapers. Write letters to the editor. SEE THE BELOW FOR A DESCRIPTION OF THE SOME OF THE NEGATIVE AFFECTS OF THE PROPOSED REGS. For background information and a history of the proposed regs, checkout the following special education site for parents: http://www.wrightslaw.com/virginia/regs.index.htm.
The proposed regulations do away with many current special education rights, practices and procedures, making the system less reliable and fair for children with disabilities and their parents. Specific provisions in the proposal which would demolish Virginia 's parent-school partnership and equitable special education procedures include: · Elimination of Child Study Committees with required timelines and protections [8 VAC 20-81-50, provision of existing regulation not included.] · Elimination of the current requirement that IEP teams conduct a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) if a child is removed from school for more than 10 days [8 VAC 20-81-160, pg. 187] · Elimination of the requirement that the IEP team meet upon parent [8 VAC 20-81-110, pg. 140] · Elimination of parent-only membership of local Special Education Advisory Committees and the addition of new restrictions which increase obstacles for volunteers [8 VAC 20-81-230, pg. 273-274] · Unnecessarily extending the timeline for initial evaluations; elimination of the current reevaluation timeline [8 VAC 20-81-60, pg. 97, 109] · More restrictive definition of "Developmental Delay" [8 VAC 20-81-80, pg. 121] · Lessening the current requirement for IEP progress reports [8 VAC 20-81-110, pg. 154] · Lessening the current requirement for IEP short-term objectives [8 VAC 20-81-110, pg. 151] · Addition of new restrictive eligibility criteria, especially for autism [8 VAC 20-81-80, pg. 117-129] · Lessening school accountability for IEPs [8 VAC 20-81-110, pg. 140]
Tia Marsili In collaboration with Sheree Brown-Kaplan
Look at these numbers! Tia Marsili, Director of Projects and Community Navigation at The Arc of Northern Virginia, and Sheree Brown Kaplan, Chair of the Fairfax County Council of PTAs have prepared a list of things you can do prior to the next meeting of the Virginia Board of Education meeting on September 25, 2008, when they will vote on revisions to the special education regulations. Click here to read their checklist.
The Regulations Governing
Special Education Programs for Children with Disabilities in Virginia,
effective March 27, 2002, (the Virginia Regulations), must be revised to comply
with the changes outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA ’04), and its federal implementing regulations.
For additional information, visit
Side by
Side Comparison of the Regulations:
Read The Arc of Virginia's
Comments:
Updated 11/24/2008 |
