Relates to children with handicapping conditions attending educational facility located outside the state

BILL NUMBER:S3618

Title of bill

An act to amend the education law, in relation to chil- dren with handicapping conditions attending an educational facility located outside the state

Purpose

This bill would reform the process by which local school districts apply to the New York State Education Department ("NYSED") for cost reimbursement for the continuation of placement of special-needs children in NYSED-approved non-public special education programs located outside the state. Under current NYSED policies and practices, local school districts and parents are required to engage in a burdensome search for an in-state transfer program in order to secure cost reimbursement, despite the determination of the district's committee on special education (with which the parents have participated and in which they agree) that the out-of-state placement has been and will continue to be successful in providing appropriate special education and related services for the upcoming school year. This bill would allow the district to implement the continuation of the placement and receive cost reimbursement without requiring the district to search for an in-state transfer school.

Summary of provisions

Section 1: Amends Section 4407 of the Education Law to provide that if an out-of-state program, in which a child is currently placed pursuant to federal and state law, is appropriately meeting the child's needs for special education and services, then the district will not have to amply for the child to be admitted to in-state programs and refer the parents to such programs for visits and interviews in order for the district to receive cost reimbursement from the NYSED, The application for cost reimbursement, thus, will not need to include documentation showing that there are no appropriate public or approved private facilities within the state, or that any efforts were made to obtain an in-state place- ment.

Section 2: Sets effective date.

Justification

N.Y. Social Services Law § 483-d (popularly referred to as "Billy's Law") was enacted to improve monitoring of the safety of New York residents with disabilities placed in out-of-state residential programs. The principal means of accomplishing this safety monitoring objective is to require that the State agencies and departments, which placed a New York State resident in an out-of-state program, establish and maintain procedures for transferring the resident back to an in-state facility when safety concerns warrant doing so. However, prob- lems exist in New York State's treatment of these disabled students.

The NYSED, under the guise of ostensibly complying with Billy's Law requires the search for an in-state transfer program to be undertaken not for reasons of safety, but rather as a revenue raising measure. The

NYSED,s policies and practices, moreover, conflict with the rights of parents and children to receive free appropriate public education ('TAPE") in accordance with federal and state education laws. The NYSED is, thereby, encroaching on the primary legal responsibility of local school districts to make an individualized determination of the proper disability classification of each child.

This bill will restore confidence and pride that New York State is truly committed to assisting and supporting the educational and treatment needs of our special-needs children and to allowing local school districts and the IEP team to make those placement decisions in the child's best interest.

Legislative history

S.7618 (2012)

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the first day of July after it shall have become a law.