H. B. 3078
(By Delegates Houston and Beach)
[Introduced
March 17, 2005
; referred to the
Committee on Education then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-20-1 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to eliminating the need for
children with learning disabilities or psychological or
behavioral disorders from having to be sent out of state in
order to receive treatment for their disability or problem;
directing the county boards of education to continue to
develop treatment capacity and programs for children with
learning disabilities and psychological or behavioral
disorders; and, directing the State Board of Education to
promulgate rules to be used as guidelines by county boards in
the continuing development and expansion of capacity and
programs to address these special needs of certain children.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-20-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 20. EDUCATION OF EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN.
§18-20-1. Establishment of special programs and teaching services
for exceptional children.
In accordance with the following provisions, county boards of
education throughout the state shall establish and maintain for all
exceptional children between five and twenty-one years of age
special educational programs, including, but not limited to,
special schools or classes, regular classroom programs,
home-teaching or visiting-teacher services for any type or
classification as the State Board shall approve. Special
educational programs shall continue to be provided to those
children who are at least twenty-one years of age and enrolled in
the above mentioned "special education program" prior to the first
day of September, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, until they
reach twenty-three years of age. Provisions shall be made for
educating exceptional children (including the handicapped and the
gifted) who differ from the average or normal in physical, mental
or emotional characteristics, or in communicative or intellectual
deviation characteristics, or in both communicative and
intellectual deviation characteristics, to the extent that they
cannot be educated safely or profitably in the regular classes of
the public schools or to the extent that they need special
educational provisions within the regular classroom in order to
educate them in accordance with their capacities, limitations and needs: Provided, That for the school year beginning on the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety, provisions shall be
made for educating exceptional children, including the handicapped,
the gifted in grades one through eight, the pupils enrolled on the
first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, in the
gifted program in grades nine through twelve and the exceptional
gifted in grades nine through twelve. The term "exceptional
gifted" means those students in grades nine through twelve
identified as gifted and at least one of the following: Behavior
disorder, specific learning disabilities, psychological adjustment
disorder, underachieving, or economically disadvantaged.
Exceptional gifted children shall be referred for identification
pursuant to recommendation by a school psychologist, school
counselor, principal, teacher, parent or by self-referral, at which
time the placement process, including development of an
individualized education program, and attendant due process rights,
shall commence. Exceptional gifted children, for purposes of
calculating adjusted enrollment pursuant to section two, article
nine-a of this chapter, shall not exceed one percent of net
enrollment in grades nine through twelve. Nothing herein shall be
construed to limit the number of students identified as exceptional
gifted and who receive appropriate services. Each county board of
education is mandated to provide gifted education to its students
according to guidelines promulgated by the State Board and consistent with the provisions of this chapter. Upon the
recommendation of a principal, counselor, teacher and parent, a
student who does not meet the gifted eligibility criteria may
participate in any school program deemed appropriate for the
student provided that classroom space is available. In addition,
county boards of education may establish and maintain other
educational services for exceptional children as the State
Superintendent of Schools may approve.
County boards of education shall establish and maintain these
special educational programs, including, but not limited to,
special schools classes, regular class programs, home-teaching and
visiting-teacher services. The special education programs shall
include home-teaching or visiting-teacher services for children who
are homebound due to injury or who for any other reason as
certified by a licensed physician are homebound for a period that
has lasted or will last more than three weeks: Provided, however,
That pupils receiving such homebound or visiting-teacher services
shall not be included when computing adjusted enrollment as defined
in section two, article nine-a, chapter eighteen of this code. The
State Board shall adopt rules to advance and accomplish this
program and to assure that all exceptional children in the state,
including children in mental health facilities, residential
institutions and private schools, will receive an education in
accordance with the mandates of state and federal laws: Provided, however, That commencing with the school year beginning on the
first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, all
exceptional children in the state in foster care and correctional
facilities will receive an education in accordance with the
mandates of state and federal laws.
It is the policy of the Legislature that no child with a
learning disability or psychological or behavioral disorder should
have to, of necessity, be treated out of state to address the
disability or disorder, due to the absence of sufficient treatment
capacity and programs in this state. In accordance with this
policy, county boards throughout the state shall establish and
maintain adequate treatment capacity and programs to address the
learning disabilities and psychological and behavioral disorders of
the children under their authority. Provided, That in the event
existing capacity or programs needed to address a child's
particular disability or disorder are insufficient or nonexistent
in state, nothing in this section may be construed from preventing
a child from receiving treatment out of state.
The State Board is hereby directed to promulgate rules in
accordance with the provisions of article three-b, chapter
twenty-nine-a, designed as guidelines for the various county boards
of education to develop treatment capacity and programs for
children with learning disabilities and psychological and
behavioral disorders.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
eliminate the need for
children with learning disabilities or psychological or behavioral
disorders from having to be sent out of state in order to receive
treatment for their disability or problem. In furtherance of this
end, the bill directs county boards of education to continue to
develop treatment capacity and programs for children with learning
disabilities and psychological or behavioral disorders, while
directing the State Board to promulgate rules to be used as
guidelines by county boards for continuing development of capacity
and programs.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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