New Student? New Rules
When a student transfers to the district during the school year with an IEP, the IDEA provides rules for providing services to the student. If a student moves during the summer, the IDEA is silent, other than the general rule that an IEP must be in effect for all eligible students on the first day of school. The Texas regulations provide timelines to adopt or create a new IEP for transfer students, and revised regulations in effect starting this school year provide additional details and shorten some of those timelines. The requirements can seem a bit confusing because they vary depending on whether the student is transferring intrastate or interstate and during the school year or summer. We have summarized the requirements for you in the chart below.
Introducing Thompson & Horton’s FAPE Focus
Introducing Thompson & Horton’s FAPE Focus, a series of short posts on our SpEd Law Spotlight blog to provide timely updates, practical tips, and useful reminders. First up: TEA has released the form required by HB 3928 that districts must provide to parents when there is reason to suspect a student may have dyslexia and need specialized instruction. The TEA FAQ clarifies that TEA expects districts to provide the form to parents when the district proposes to conduct an IDEA evaluation for dyslexia, refuses to conduct such an evaluation, and when the district proposes or refuses to conduct an IDEA evaluation for any other suspected disability. Districts should incorporate provision of the form into their practices starting immediately.
Thompson & Horton 2023-24 Special Education Webinar Series
This school year, sharpen your skills and stay up to date with the latest changes to special education law with Thompson & Horton’s 2023-24 Special Education Webinar series.
Join our team, the first Thursday of every month at 1pm, for a look at the latest changes and developing issues you face as a special education leader.
TEA Provides Clarification on the Implementation of HB 3928
As you gear up for the beginning of the school year, your special education teams are likely discussing the new dyslexia bill, HB 3928, and how these recent legislative changes will impact your operations. In case you missed it, we provided an overview of the bill’s new requirements on our blog back in June, which you can find here.
On August 3, 2023, TEA released an FAQ guidance document in an effort to assist local education agencies in the implementation of HB 3928 while the State Board of Education works to update the Dyslexia Handbook. While we highly recommend a thorough review of the entire FAQ document, below is a summary of TEA’s current guidance on some of the more common questions we have been receiving.
New Accelerated Instruction Requirements Call for Changes to Policies & Procedures for 2023-2024
In the wake of the pandemic, House Bill 4545 left school districts scrambling to figure out how to address learning loss for all students, including students with disabilities, through accelerated instruction. School districts were cautiously optimistic that the most recent legislative session would ease many of the burdens of House Bill 4545. In June 2023, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1416—otherwise known as the House Bill 4545 ‘Clean-Up Bill—which introduces new changes to the accelerated education environment. While House Bill 1416 narrows some requirements for school districts, it broadens others.