§ 4355 — Admission

§ 4355. Admission. All deaf or blind and deaf children between the age\nof three years and twenty-one years and of suitable capacity for\ninstruction who are legal residents of the state shall be eligible for\nappointment to the New York state school for the deaf without charge for\nsuch period of time in each individual case as may be set by the\ncommissioner, either: (i) upon the recommendation of the committee on\nspecial education or committee on preschool special education of the\nchild's school district of residence, as applicable; or (ii) where the\nparents of a school age child make application directly to the\ncommissioner or the school, upon recommendation of the school's\nmultidisciplinary team in accordance with the joint placement procedures\nestablished in this section.\n 2. a. Upon receipt of an application for admission of a child who has\nnot been recommended for placement by the committee on special education\nor committee on preschool special education of the child's school\ndistrict of residence, the school shall immediately notify such school\ndistrict of such application. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision\nof law, the school shall make available to such school district of\nresidence, upon request, all records in its possession relating the\nevaluation, placement and educational performance of each child who has\napplied for admission or is attending the school, including the results\nof any current evaluations of such child.\n b. Prior to any meeting of its multidisciplinary team to develop an\nindividualized education program for a school age child, either upon\ninitial admission to the school or in an annual review, the school shall\nnotify the school district of residence of such meeting and shall offer\nthe district the opportunity to identify and present to the\nmultidisciplinary team, an alternative placement recommendation for\nservices in the least restrictive environment. In addition, such notice\nshall advise the school district of its right to appoint additional\nmembers to the multidisciplinary team pursuant to paragraph c of this\nsubdivision. The multidisciplinary team shall consider such alternative\nand, if it rejects the alternative, shall include in its recommendation\na statement of its reasons for doing so.\n c. In addition to the members required for a committee on special\neducation pursuant to subdivision one of section forty-four hundred two\nof this chapter, the school's multidisciplinary team may include\nadditional members appointed by the board of education of the school\ndistrict of residence pursuant to this paragraph, and shall include such\nmembers if appointed by such board of education. For each member\nappointed by the school, the school district may appoint a corresponding\nmember, including a representative of the committee on special education\nwho is qualified to teach or supervise special education, a school\npsychologist, the child's teacher, a parent member, a physician where\nthe parent requests attendance of the physician member, and, for a child\nwho has been evaluated for the first time, a person who is knowledgeable\nabout the evaluation procedures used with the child and familiar with\nthe results of the evaluation. The commissioner shall determine the\nlocation at which the multidisciplinary team meeting will be held. In\nthe event of a tie vote on the multidisciplinary team, the parents shall\ncast the deciding vote.\n d. The majority of the multidisciplinary team shall state the reasons\nfor its recommendation, and submit such recommendation to the\ncommissioner for consideration in determining whether to appoint the\nchild. If the representatives appointed by the school district of\nresidence disagree with the recommendation of the multidisciplinary\nteam, they shall be entitled to prepare a dissenting opinion on the\nplacement recommendation and to submit such opinion to the commissioner\nfor consideration in determining whether to appoint the child to the\nschool.\n e. The commissioner, or his or her designee, in determining whether to\nappoint a school age child to the school, shall consider whether the\nplacement at the state school is an appropriate placement in the least\nrestrictive environment, taking into account the school district's\nrecommended alternative placement. If the commissioner or his or her\ndesignee determines that placement in the state school is not in the\nleast restrictive environment or otherwise disagrees with such\nrecommendation, the commissioner shall state his or her reasons in\nwriting and shall send the recommendation back to the multidisciplinary\nteam for reconsideration, with notice to the parents. If the\ncommissioner refers the recommendation back to the multidisciplinary\nteam for reconsideration, the commissioner shall also notify the parents\nand the multidisciplinary team in writing of the need to schedule a\nmeeting to ensure timely placement.\n * f. Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the\ncontrary, a member of the multidisciplinary team, other than the parents\nor persons in parental relation to the student is not required to attend\na meeting of the team, in whole or in part, if the parent or person in\nparental relation to the student and the department agree, in writing,\nthat the attendance of the member is not necessary because the member's\narea of the curriculum or related services is not being modified or\ndiscussed at the meeting.\n * NB Repealed June 30, 2027\n * g. Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the\ncontrary, a member of the multidisciplinary team, other than the parents\nor persons in parental relation to the student, may be excused from\nattending a meeting of the team, in whole or in part, when the meeting\ninvolves a modification to or discussion of the member's area of the\ncurriculum or related services if the parent or person in parental\nrelation to the student and the department consent, in writing, to the\nexcusal and the excused member submits to the parent or person in\nparental relation to the student and the multidisciplinary team, written\ninput into the development of the individualized education program, and\nin particular written input with respect to their area of curriculum or\nrelated services prior to the meeting.\n * NB Repealed June 30, 2027\n * h. Requests for excusal of a member of the multidisciplinary team as\nprovided for in paragraphs f and g of this subdivision, and the written\ninput as provided for in paragraph g of this subdivision, shall be\nprovided not less than five calendar days prior to the meeting date, in\norder to afford the parent or person in parental relation a reasonable\ntime to review and consider the request. Provided however, that a parent\nor person in parental relation shall retain the right to request and/or\nagree with the department to excuse a multidisciplinary team member at\nany time including where the member is unable to attend the meeting\nbecause of an emergency or unavoidable scheduling conflict and the\ndepartment submits the written input for review and consideration by the\nparent or person in parental relation within a reasonable time prior to\nthe meeting and prior to obtaining written consent of the parent or\nperson in parental relation to such excusal.\n * NB Repealed June 30, 2027\n * i. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation to\nthe contrary, in making changes to a student's individualized education\nprogram after the annual review has been conducted, the parent or person\nin parental relation to the student and the department may agree not to\nconvene a multidisciplinary team meeting for the purpose of making those\nchanges, and instead may develop a written document to amend or modify\nthe student's current individualized education program under the\nfollowing circumstances:\n (i) The parent or person in parental relation makes a request to the\ndepartment for an amendment to the individualized education program and\nthe department and such parent or person in parental relation agree in\nwriting; or\n (ii) The department provides the parent or person in parental relation\nwith a written proposal to amend a provision or provisions of the\nindividualized education program that is conveyed in language\nunderstandable to the parent or person in parental relation in such\nparent's or such person's native language or other dominant mode of\ncommunication, informs and allows the parent or person in parental\nrelation the opportunity to consult with the appropriate personnel or\nrelated service providers concerning the proposed changes and the parent\nor person in parental relation agrees in writing to such amendments.\n (iii) If the parent or person in parental relation agrees to amend the\nindividualized education program without a meeting, the parent or person\nin parental relation shall be provided prior written notice of the\nchanges to the individualized education program resulting from such\nwritten document and the multidisciplinary team shall be notified of\nsuch changes. If the department makes such changes by rewriting the\nentire individualized education program, it shall provide the parent or\nperson in parental relation with a copy of the rewritten individualized\neducation program. If the department amends the individualized education\nprogram without rewriting the entire document, the department shall\nprovide the parent or person in parental relation with a copy of the\ndocument that amends or modifies the individualized education program\nor, upon request of the parent or person in parental relation, a revised\ncopy of the individualized education program with the amendments\nincorporated.\n Amendments to an individualized education program pursuant to this\nparagraph shall not affect the requirement that the multidisciplinary\nteam review the individualized education program at the annual meeting,\nor more often if necessary.\n * NB Repealed June 30, 2027\n 3. The commissioner shall adopt regulations to prescribe the\nprocedures for evaluation, placement and admission of children in\naccordance with this section, which shall include but not be limited to\nprocedures to ensure that the due process rights of parents are\nprotected and that placement recommendations are made in a timely\nmanner.\n