As used in this part 1, unless the context otherwise
requires:
(1) Administrative unit means a school district, a board of cooperative
services, a multi-district administrative unit, a charter school network, a charter
school collaborative, or the state charter school institute, that is providing
educational services to exceptional children and that is responsible for the local
administration of this article 20.
(2) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2011, (HB 11-1077), ch. 30, p. 75, � 3, effective
August 10, 2011.)
(2.5) Applicable revenues means those revenues, as defined by rules
promulgated by the state board pursuant to this article, that support special
education expenditures.
(2.7) Approved facility school means an educational program that is
operated by a facility to provide educational services to students placed in the
facility and that, pursuant to section 22-2-407, has been placed on the list of
facility schools that are approved to receive reimbursement for providing those
educational services to students placed in the facility. An educational program
provided by an administrative unit at a facility is not an approved facility school but
is an educational program of the administrative unit that does not require approval
by the department.
(3) Board of cooperative services means a regional educational services
unit created pursuant to article 5 of this title and designed to provide supporting,
instructional, administrative, facility, community, or any other services contracted
by participating members.
(3.4) Charter school collaborative means a charter school collaborative
formed pursuant to section 22-30.5-603.
(3.5) Charter school network means a charter school network formed
pursuant to section 22-30.5-104.7.
(4) Child find means the program component of the IDEA that requires
states to find, identify, locate, evaluate, and serve all children with disabilities, from
birth to twenty-one years of age. Child find includes:
(a) Part C child find, administered by the department of human services, is
the program component of IDEA that requires states to find, identify, locate,
evaluate, and serve children with disabilities from birth through two years of age;
and
(b) Part B child find, administered by the department, is the program
component of IDEA that requires states to find, identify, locate, evaluate, and serve
children with disabilities from three to twenty-one years of age.
(5) (a) Children with disabilities means:
(I) Those persons from three to twenty-one years of age who, by reason of
one or more of the following conditions, are unable to receive reasonable benefit
from general education:
(A) Autism spectrum disorders;
(B) A hearing impairment, including deafness;
(C) A serious emotional disability;
(D) An intellectual disability;
(E) Multiple disabilities;
(F) An orthopedic impairment;
(G) Other health impairment;
(H) A specific learning disability;
(I) A speech or language impairment;
(J) Traumatic brain injury;
(K) A visual impairment, including blindness; and
(L) Deaf-blindness.
(M) Repealed.
(II) Those persons from birth through two years of age who have been
determined to be an infant or a toddler with a disability;
(III) Those persons from three through eight years of age who have been
determined pursuant to 34 CFR 300.8 (b) to be children experiencing
developmental delays.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection
(5), for purposes of child find activities, children with disabilities means persons
from birth to twenty-one years of age.
(6) Communication mode or language means one or more of the following
systems or methods of communication applicable to children who are deaf or hard
of hearing:
(a) American sign language;
(b) English-based manual or sign systems; or
(c) Oral, aural, or speech-based training.
(7) Department means the department of education created and existing
pursuant to section 24-1-115, C.R.S.
(8) District charter school means a charter school authorized by a school
district pursuant to part 1 of article 30.5 of this title.
(8.3) Early intervening services means programs and activities for students
in kindergarten through grade twelve, with an emphasis on students in kindergarten
through grade three, who at the time they receive early intervening services are not
identified as children with disabilities, but who need additional academic and
behavioral supports in order to succeed in a general education environment.
(8.5) Repealed.
(8.7) Educational placement means the provision of special education
services, including but not limited to those points along the continuum of
alternative placements. Educational placement does not mean a specific place,
such as a specific classroom or school.
(9) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2011, (HB 11-1277), ch. 306, p. 1478, � 11,
effective August 10, 2011.)
(9.5) Emergency public placement means a public placement made
necessary because of an imminent danger to a child or others.
(10) Equipment means that equipment used especially for the instruction or
assessment of children with disabilities.
(11) Evaluation means, for the purposes of part B child find, procedures
used under IDEA for children with disabilities to determine whether a child has a
disability and the nature and extent of special education and related services that
the child will need.
(12) Exceptional child means:
(a) A child defined in subsection (5) of this section as a child with a disability.
An administrative unit shall serve every child with a disability from three to twenty-one years of age.
(b) A child defined in section 22-20-202 (11) as a gifted child. Pursuant to
section 22-20-204 (1), an administrative unit shall adopt and submit to the
department a program plan to identify and serve gifted children who are at least
five years of age.
(12.3) Facility means a day treatment center, residential child care facility,
or other facility licensed by the department of human services pursuant to section
26-6-905 or a hospital licensed by the department of public health and
environment pursuant to section 25-1.5-103.
(12.7) Foster home has the same meaning as a foster care home as
defined in section 26-6-903 and must be licensed by the state department of
human services or certified by a county department of human or social services or
certified by a child placement agency as defined in section 26-6-903.
(13) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2011, (HB 11-1077), ch. 30, p. 75, � 3, effective
August 10, 2011.)
(13.3) Group home means a congregate care facility licensed by the
department of human services pursuant to section 26-6-905.
(13.5) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2011, (HB 11-1077), ch. 30, p. 75, � 3,
effective August 10, 2011.)
(14) IDEA means the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,
20 U.S.C. sec. 1400 et seq., as amended, and its implementing regulations, 34 CFR
part 300 and also 34 CFR part 303 as it pertains to child find.
(15) Individualized education program or IEP means a written statement
for a child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in accordance
with this part 1 and the rules promulgated by the state board.
(16) Individualized family service plan or IFSP means a written statement
developed by an entity representing the department of human services for a child
from birth through two years of age with a disability, which statement is developed,
reviewed, and revised in accordance with part C child find of IDEA and with rules
promulgated by the department of human services.
(17) Institute charter school means a charter school authorized by the state
charter school institute pursuant to part 5 of article 30.5 of this title.
(18) Least restrictive environment means that:
(a) To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including
children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with
children who do not have disabilities; and
(b) Special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with
disabilities from the general educational environment occurs only if the nature and
severity of the disability is such that education in general classes with the use of
supplementary aids and services cannot be satisfactorily achieved.
(19) Literacy mode means one of the following four systems or methods of
achieving literacy applicable to blind children:
(a) Auditory mode means any method or system of achieving literacy that
depends upon the auditory senses, including the use of readers, taped materials,
electronic speech, speech synthesis, or any combination of the above.
(b) Braille means the system of reading and writing by means of raised
points, commonly known as standard English braille.
(c) Print enlargement means any method or system of achieving literacy
that includes optical aids to enhance apprehension of printed material, electronic
enlargement of printed material, books and textual materials printed in large print,
and any combination of the above.
(d) Regular print mode means any method or system of achieving literacy
that depends upon the apprehension of regular-sized printed material.
(19.3) Multi-district administrative unit means a group of two or more
school districts that did not form a board of cooperative services but were parties
to an agreement existing on January 1, 2011, to provide educational services to
exceptional children and to be responsible for the local administration of this
article, which group of school districts the department recognized as of January 1,
2011, as an administrative unit.
(19.7) (a) Parent means:
(I) A biological or adoptive parent of a child;
(II) A foster parent;
(III) A guardian generally authorized to act as a child's parent, or authorized
to make educational decisions for the child, but not the state if the child is a ward of
the state;
(IV) An individual acting in the place of a biological or adoptive parent,
including but not limited to a grandparent, stepparent, or other relative, and with
whom the child lives, or an individual who is legally responsible for the child's
welfare; or
(V) An educational surrogate parent assigned by the responsible
administrative unit consistent with rules promulgated by the state board in
accordance with this article.
(b) (I) Except as provided in subparagraph (II) of this paragraph (b), the
biological or adoptive parent, when attempting to act as a parent pursuant to this
article, and when more than one party is qualified pursuant to paragraph (a) of this
subsection (19.7) to act as a parent, shall be presumed to be the parent for
purposes of this subsection (19.7) unless the biological or adoptive parent does not
have legal authority to make educational decisions for the child.
(II) If a judicial decree or order identifies a specific person or persons listed in
subparagraphs (I) to (IV) of paragraph (a) of this subsection (19.7) to act as the
parent of a child or to make educational decisions on behalf of a child, then the
person or persons shall be determined to be the parent for purposes of this article.
(20) Public agency means a public agency that:
(a) Is not an administrative unit; and
(b) Is legally authorized to place a child in a facility or another out-of-home
placement, including but not limited to a group home or a foster home.
(21) Public placement means the placement of a child with a disability in a
facility or another out-of-home placement, including but not limited to a group
home or foster home, by a court or public agency.
(22) School district means a school district organized and existing
pursuant to law, but shall not include a local college district.
(22.7) Special education expenditures means those expenditures that are
incurred by an administrative unit, state-operated program, or approved facility
school for professional services associated with special education referrals and
evaluations of children who may have a disability and the provision of special
education services as identified on an individual student's individualized education
program. Special education expenditures do not include the costs of the general
education program. Special education expenditures shall be supplemental to the
general education program and shall be above what is provided by the
administrative unit, state-operated program, or approved facility school for general
education students and staff and may include:
(a) Special education teachers;
(b) Home-hospital teachers for students with disabilities;
(c) Speech-language pathologists and speech-language pathology
assistants;
(d) Specialty teachers;
(e) Special education instructional paraprofessionals;
(f) Educational interpreters;
(g) School nurses;
(h) Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants;
(i) Physical therapists and physical therapy assistants;
(j) School psychologists;
(k) School social workers;
(l) Audiologists;
(m) Orientation and mobility specialists;
(n) Other special education professionals;
(o) Special education administrators and office support;
(p) Other noncertified or nonlicensed support;
(q) Employee benefits for special education staff;
(r) Supplies, materials, and equipment used for individual students' special
education programs and services;
(s) Purchased service contracts for personal services;
(t) Tuition to other administrative units and approved tuition rates to
approved facility schools for special education;
(u) Staff travel related to special education;
(v) Professional development for special education staff, or all staff, if the
content of the professional development is specific to services for children with
disabilities;
(w) Other purchased services related to special education;
(x) Dues, fees, and other expenditures specific to the special education
program; and
(y) Parent counseling and training, as defined by the IDEA and its
implementing regulations.
(23) Special education services or special education programs means the
services or programs provided to a child with a disability in conformity with the
child's IEP.
(24) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2011, (HB 11-1077), ch. 30, p. 75, � 3, effective
August 10, 2011.)
(25) Specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the
basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language,
spoken or written. The disorder may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen,
think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations, and includes such
conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction,
dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. Specific learning disability does not include
a learning problem that is primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor
disabilities; an intellectual and developmental disability; an emotional disturbance;
or an environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
(26) State board means the state board of education created and existing
pursuant to section 1 of article IX of the state constitution.
(27) State charter school institute means the state charter school institute
created pursuant to part 5 of article 30.5 of this title.
(28) State-operated program means an approved school program
supervised by the department and operated by:
(a) The Colorado school for the deaf and the blind;
(b) The department of corrections; or
(c) The department of human services, including but not limited to the
division of youth services and the mental health institutes.