H259 - 2023 Appropriations Act. (SL 2023-134)

Overview: Section 7.49 of S.L. 2023-134 directs the Department of Public Instruction to study the following and report any legislative recommendations based on the outcomes of the study to the House Appropriations Committee on Education, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Education/Higher Education, and the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by January 15, 2024:

• A method of improving options for children with disabilities with intensive needs which require private placement in an Approved School consistent with the student's individualized education program (IEP).
• A method of determining that placement in an Approved School is the means that most appropriately suits the child's individual needs.
• Extraordinary costs incurred by the public school unit by student placement in Approved Schools.
• Methods of creating a network of Approved Schools into which a child with disabilities with intensive needs can be placed consistent with the student's IEP.
• A method of prioritizing dispersal of funds to public school units to assist with the cost associated with enrolling in an Approved School in early grades to incentivize public school units to enroll students in the Approved Schools at the earliest appropriate age.
• Recommendations on the proportion of a student's extraordinary cost to be paid from local, State, and federal sources, respectively, and to identify existing funds at each level that can be available for the purposes studied pursuant to this section.
• A method to monitor overidentification of children with disabilities with intensive needs.
• Methods to allow for Medicaid reimbursement for additional services, such as transportation, and expanding the eligible age range to receive reimbursement for services.
• An estimated range of costs associated with implementing the studied methods.
• The advisability of one or more pilot programs with one or more Approved Schools.

For the purposes of this section, the term "Approved School" means a private school with approved nonpublic education programs providing special education for students with intensive needs.

This section became effective July 1, 2023.