SECTION 89.1085. Referral for the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Texas School for the Deaf Services

(a) A student's admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee may place the student at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) or the Texas School for the Deaf (TSD) in accordance with the provisions of 34 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 300, the Texas Education Code (TEC), including, specifically, §§30.021, 30.051, and 30.057, and the applicable rules of this subchapter.

(b) In the event that a student is placed by his or her ARD committee at either the TSBVI or the TSD, the student's "resident school district," as defined in subsection (e) of this section, shall be responsible for assuring that a free appropriate public education (FAPE) is provided to the student at the TSBVI or the TSD, as applicable, in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 United States Code (USC), §§1400 et seq., 34 CFR, Part 300, state statutes, and rules of the State Board of Education (SBOE) and the commissioner of education. If representatives of the resident school district and representatives of the TSBVI or the TSD disagree, as members of a student's ARD committee, with respect to a recommendation by one or more members of the student's ARD committee that the student be evaluated for placement, initially placed, or continued to be placed at the TSBVI or TSD, as applicable, the representatives of the resident school district and the TSBVI or TSD, as applicable, may seek resolution through the mediation procedures adopted by the Texas Education Agency or through any due process hearing to which the resident school district or the TSBVI or the TSD are entitled under the IDEA, 20 USC, §§1400, et seq.

(c) When a student's ARD committee places the student at the TSBVI or the TSD, the student's resident school district shall comply with the following requirements.

(1) For each student, the resident school district shall list those services in the student's individualized education program (IEP) which the TSBVI or the TSD can appropriately provide.

(2) The district may make an on-site visit to verify that the TSBVI or the TSD can and will offer the services listed in the individual student's IEP and to ensure that the school offers an appropriate educational program for the student.

(3) For each student, the resident school district shall include in the student's IEP the criteria and estimated time lines for returning the student to the resident school district.

(d) In addition to the provisions of subsections (a)-(c) of this section, and as provided in TEC, §30.057, the TSD shall provide services in accordance with TEC, §30.051, to any eligible student with a disability for whom the TSD is an appropriate placement if the student has been referred for admission by the student's parent or legal guardian, a person with legal authority to act in place of the parent or legal guardian, or the student, if the student is age 18 or older, at any time during the school year if the referring person chooses the TSD as the appropriate placement for the student rather than placement in the student's resident school district or regional program determined by the student's ARD committee. For students placed at the TSD pursuant to this subsection, the TSD shall be responsible for assuring that a FAPE is provided to the student at the TSD, in accordance with IDEA, 20 USC, §§1400, et seq., 34 CFR, Part 300, state statutes, and rules of the SBOE and the commissioner of education.

(e) For purposes of this section and §89.1090 of this title (relating to Transportation of Students Placed in a Residential Setting, Including the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Texas School for the Deaf), the "resident school district" is the school district in which the student would be enrolled under TEC, §25.001, if the student were not placed at the TSBVI or the TSD.

Source Note: The provisions of this §89.1085 adopted to be effective March 6, 2001, 26 TexReg 1837; amended to be effective November 11, 2007, 32 TexReg 8129