§ 3120. | § 3121. | § 3122. | § 3123. | § 3124.
§ 3120. Right to receive public education.
The State shall provide, in the school districts of the State, or in other state institutions and agencies or in special programs and private agencies as established or approved by the Department with the approval of the State Board, that each disabled person as defined in this chapter shall receive a free and appropriate public education designed to meet that disabled person's own needs. The Department of Education shall be the agency responsible for the implementation of this required provision. (61 Del. Laws, c. 190, § 7; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 180, §§ 148, 148A.)
§ 3121. Special classes and facilities.
Each school district and other state agencies responsible for the care of Delaware citizens shall provide and maintain, under appropriate regulations of the Department of Education approved by the State Board of Education, special classes and facilities to meet the needs of disabled persons as herein defined and recommended for special education or training who are residents of any geographical area within the State and who can be served by such special classes and facilities. This and other sections of this chapter and this title may be carried out by assigning children who are residents of 1 school district to attend classes in facilities of another school district according to Chapter 6 of this title concerning tuitions. Placement in a state agency that is not part of the public school system shall be in accordance with rules developed under § 3110 of this title. (42 Del. Laws, c. 125, § 1; 14 Del. C. 1953, § 3103; 51 Del. Laws, c. 287, § 2; 61 Del. Laws, c. 190, § 7; 71 Del. Laws, c. 180, §§ 148A, 149.)
§ 3122. Identification and reporting of disabled person.
Each school district shall be required to identify, locate and evaluate, or reevaluate, any person residing within the confines of that school district who is disabled, regardless of the severity of the disability, and who is in need of special education and related services. The Department of Education with the approval of the State Board of Education shall provide through rules and regulations that a practical method for carrying out this section be developed. The identification system so developed shall provide information concerning the time and method of the evaluation or reevaluation of the disabled person and shall indicate the training, education or related services the disabled person is receiving and the location of that training, education or related services. The system shall further indicate any instance in which the person is not receiving training, education or related services and the reason for that situation. Nothing in this chapter or the rules and regulations issued thereunder shall authorize or require medical treatment of any person who objects, or, in the case of a minor, whose parent or guardian objects thereto on religious grounds. (42 Del. Laws, c. 125, § 1; 14 Del. C. 1953, § 3105; 51 Del. Laws, c. 287, § 2; 61 Del. Laws, c. 190, § 7; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 180, §§ 148A, 150.)
§ 3123. Supportive services and residential programs.
(a) Any school district administering a program for autistic children may provide from its own personnel or contract with another state agency or a private service provider if necessary for appropriate supportive services, including, but not limited to, respite care, physical, art and music education, psychological services, language and speech therapy, physical and occupational therapy. The supportive services to be provided shall be based upon a program for each child as approved by the Department of Education; provided, that the State Board may review any objection to the Department's decision. The school district designated by the Department with State Board approval as the administering agency for a statewide program for autistic pupils shall annually submit in its budget a request for funds for such services.
(b) Community-based residential units for autistic children may be operated by a school district designated and approved by the Department with State Board approval as the administering agency for a statewide program for autistic pupils. When the school district operates a community-based residential program, that program shall meet the following minimum standards:
(1) Pre-puberty and post-puberty children shall be housed separately. In no case shall a child under age 12 be housed with a child over age 16 except as approved by the Human Rights and Peer Review committees of the statewide autistic program.
(2) Residential units shall be provided at the rate of 1 residential unit for each 4 residential pupils except that a maximum of 5 pupils may be housed in 1 residential unit. Pupils housed for the purpose of respite care, additionally defined to mean a period not to exceed 12 months, shall not be counted with respect to this provision. At no time shall the total number of pupils exceed 6 including respite placements.
(3) Residential teacher coordinators shall be provided for a period of 12 months per year at the rate of 3 full-time equivalent teacher coordinators per residential unit.
(4) Residential child care specialists shall be provided for a period of 12 months per year at the rate of 6 full-time equivalent residential child care specialists per residential unit. The Department with the approval of the State Board of Education shall determine the necessary educational requirements for the residential child care specialists. (61 Del. Laws, c. 190, §§ 5, 8; 64 Del. Laws, c. 381, §§ 1, 2; 71 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 151.)
§ 3124. Private placement with financial aid.
(a) Private placement with financial aid shall be granted only to a "complex or rare" disabled person defined as a person in the chronological age group 3 through 20 years inclusive, who is found to suffer from 2 or more of the defined disabilities, or who is so severely afflicted by a single disability, that the total impact of the condition means that the person cannot benefit from the regularly offered free appropriate public educational programs. The determination shall be made by a committee appointed by the local board of education for identification, placement, review and dismissal of disabled persons and by the Department of Education that no school district or other state agency has a suitable free and appropriate program of education for the particular person. Such private placement shall be in a school/institution approved by the Department of Education. The Department shall make the final determination concerning the designation of a person eligible under this definition.
(b) Before the Department of Education can authorize expenditures for new placements according to this section, the case must be reviewed by the Interagency Collaborative Team (ICT).
(1) The ICT shall consist of:
a. Division Director, Division of Child Mental Health Services of the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF);
b. Division Director, Family Services of DSCYF;
c. Division Director, Division of Youth Rehabilitation Services of DSCYF;
d. Division Director, Division of Developmental Disabilities Services of the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS);
e. Division Director, Division of Alcoholism, Drug Abuse and Mental Health of DHSS;
f. Director of the Office of Management and Budget or designee;
g. The Controller General or designee;
h. Director, Exceptional Children's Group, Department of Education (DOE), who will serve as Chair; and
i. Associate Secretary, Curriculum and Instructional Improvement, DOE.
(2) A director assigned to the ICT may designate staff to represent the director on the ICT only if these designated representatives are empowered to act on behalf of the division director, including commitment of division resources for a full fiscal year.
(3) The ICT shall invite to its meetings:
a. A representative of a responsible school district for the case under consideration;
b. The parents of the child;
c. Other persons the team believes can contribute to their deliberations.
(4) The ICT shall:
a. Review existing assessments of new referrals;
b. Prescribe, if required, additional assessments for new referrals;
c. Review proposed treatment plans of new referrals;
d. Recommend alternatives for treatment plans of new referrals;
e. Coordinate interagency delivery of services;
f. Review, at least annually, current unique alternatives for the appropriateness of treatment plans and transition planning;
g. If appropriate, designate a primary case manager for the purpose of coordination of service agencies;
h. If appropriate, designate agencies to be involved in collaborative monitoring of individual cases.
(5) The ICT will ensure that state costs incurred as the result of a Team recommendation or assessment of a child currently funded from the Unique Alternatives appropriation will be covered from the existing appropriation. New referrals will be assessed in the interagency manner described above. The ICT may accept and review cases initiated by other agencies, but in all cases the school district of residence must be involved in the review.
(6) Cases reviewed by the ICT will employ Unique Alternatives funding to cover state costs to the extent determined appropriate by the Interagency Collaborative Team. Other agencies may recognize a portion of the responsibility for the treatment of these children if determined appropriate by the Team. Cases involving individuals who are wards of the State shall be fully funded from Unique Alternatives funding. Funds may be transferred upon the approval of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Controller General.
(7) The ICT shall report on its activities to the Governor, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, President Pro Tempore, Speaker of the House and the Controller General by February 15 of each year. The report shall address the status of items addressed in the previous February ICT Annual Report.
(c) Disputes concerning the private placement of a child are subject to the hearing procedures set forth in § 3135 of this title. Subject to the parties' right to appeal, the decision of the hearing panel appointed by the Secretary of Education is final and binding on all parties and the State Board of Education.
(d) "Financial aid" shall include maintenance, transportation and tuition as herein defined:
(1) "Maintenance" shall mean the cost for room and board at a residential institution or in a residence approved by the institution in which a person is enrolled. Maintenance does not include the cost of health care or treatment. Maintenance shall be provided on a 12-month basis in appropriate cases.
(2) "Transportation" or the reimbursement for transportation provided by the State for an eligible disabled person will be by the most economically feasible means compatible with the person's disabling condition and approved under rules and regulations of the Department approved by the State Board of Education and according to the following:
a. When the legal residence of a person receiving tuition assistance for private placement is within 60 miles (1 way) of the school or institution, the person shall be eligible for round trip transportation or a reimbursement for that transportation on a daily basis.
b. When the legal residence of a person receiving tuition assistance for private placement is in excess of 60 miles but less than 100 miles from the school or institution, the person shall be eligible for transportation or a reimbursement for that transportation from that person's residence to the school or institution and return on a 1 round trip per week basis and on such other occasions as may be required because the school is not in session due to scheduled vacations or holidays of the school or institution.
c. When the legal residence of a person receiving tuition assistance for private placement is in excess of 100 miles from the school or institution, the person shall be eligible for transportation or a reimbursement for that transportation on the basis of 1 round trip per year from that person's residence to the school or institution and return and at such other times when care and maintenance of the person is unavailable due to the closing of the residential facility provided in conjunction with the school or institution.
(3) "Tuition" shall mean payment for instructional services, materials and supplies. Tuition does not include the cost of health care or treatment. Tuition shall be provided on a 12-month basis in appropriate cases.
(4) The amount authorized for payment shall be the amounts charged by that institution for tuition or for program costs, transportation and maintenance in accordance with the definitions set forth herein.
(e) The Department of Education is authorized to continue utilizing funds appropriated for this section to develop unique educational alternatives, in lieu of private placement, for persons who have been, or who would otherwise be, identified as "complex or rare" and unable to benefit from the regularly offered free, appropriate public educational programs and students in present education programs within this State whose individual education plan requires services not presently available within the present unit funding system. Unique educational alternatives shall be defined and approved by the Department of Education and may include, but not be limited to, related and supportive services. Any placement made pursuant to this subsection shall be considered a special program placement and shall be eligible for inclusion in local school district tuition tax rate setting per § 604(c) of this title. (61 Del. Laws, c. 190, §§ 5, 8; 61 Del. Laws, c. 271, § 1; 61 Del. Laws, c. 337, §§ 1, 2; 64 Del. Laws, c. 63, § 4; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 180, §§ 148A, 152; 73 Del. Laws, c. 321, §§ 12, 13; 74 Del. Laws, c. 98, § 1; 75 Del. Laws, c. 88, § 21(7); 76 Del. Laws, c. 280, § 383.)
NOTICE: The Delaware Code appearing on this site was prepared by the Division of Research of Legislative Council of the General Assembly with the assistance of the Government Information Center, under the supervision of the Delaware Code Revisors and the editorial staff of LexisNexis, includes all acts up to and including 76 Del. Laws, c. 288, effective July 1, 2008.
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