A bill providing greater choice making for families of students with special needs passed the Senate unanimously Monday, and its companion is on today’s Special Order Calendar in the House.
SB 1108, sponsored by Senators Andy Gardiner and John Thrasher, awaits today’s passage of HB 465 by Rep. Jason Brodeur. These bills, if signed into law, will empower parents of special needs students to engage in the decision making process regarding student’s course curriculum and their Individual Education Programs (IEPs). In addition to parental involvement, the measure will provide greater access to therapists who may help students during the school day and will require all 67 school districts to complete a Best Practice for Inclusive Education assessment with a Florida Inclusion Network facilitator every three years.
“This bill is the product of listening to parents that want the best educational outcomes for their children,” said Senator Gardiner. “Senator Thrasher and I know that by increasing the options for parent’s, these students will have a better opportunity to succeed.”
Indeed, the bill reiterates and clarifies many aspects of existing federal and state laws and Board of Education rules with the goal of ensuring that special needs students receive the best education possible and that parents have the tools and information to guide their child’s progress.
Going beyond existing regulation, the measure codifies that schools must make parents aware of their right to have other adults attend meetings about their child’s progress and plan, and forbids schools from discouraging these additional inputs through any coercive means. Further, the measure provides for new forms which must notify parents of the school’s intent to administer certain tests to special needs students and provides various means through which parents can be engaged in this process.
