§ 4401-A — Referral and evaluation for special education services or programs

* § 4401-a. Referral and evaluation for special education services or\nprograms. 1. Any student suspected of having a disability may be\nreferred for initial evaluation to determine if the student is a student\nwith a disability by the parent or person in parental relation, the\ncommissioner or a designee of a public agency responsible for providing\neducation to students with disabilities, including but not limited to\nthe school district in which the student resides. In addition, a\nprofessional staff member of the school which the student attends or\nprofessional staff member of the school district in which the student\nresides, physician, judicial officer, professional staff member of a\npublic agency, or the pupil himself or herself if such pupil is eighteen\nyears of age or older or is an emancipated minor may request that the\nschool district in which the student resides refer the student for\ninitial evaluation.\n 2. A request for referral submitted by an individual other than the\nstudent student or a judicial officer shall:\n a. state the reasons in writing for the referral and include any test\nresults, records or reports upon which the referral is based unless such\ntest results, records or reports are unavailable;\n b. describe in writing, intervention services programs or\ninstructional methodologies to remediate the student's performance prior\nto referral including any supplementary aids or support services\nprovided for this purpose or state the reason why no such attempts were\nmade; and\n c. describe the extent of contact or involvement prior to the referral\nwith the parent or person in parental relationship.\n 3. A referral submitted by a parent or person in parental relation\nshall be submitted in writing to the chairperson of the committee on\nspecial education or the building administrator of the school which the\nstudent attends or is eligible to attend. If such referral is submitted\nto the building administrator, the building administrator shall forward\na copy to the chairperson of the committee on special education. If such\nreferral is submitted to the chairperson of the committee such\nchairperson shall forward a copy of such referral to the building\nadministrator of the school which the student attends or is eligible to\nattend. A referral submitted by any other individual shall be submitted\nin writing to the chairperson of the committee on special education or\nthe building administrator of the school which the student attends or is\neligible to attend. The building administrator may request a meeting\nwith the parent or person in parental relation to the student for the\npurpose of discussing educational alternatives to special education.\nSuch alternatives may include the provision of services designed to\naddress the learning needs of the student and maintain a child's\nplacement in general education with the provision of appropriate\neducational and support services. Nothing contained in this section\nshall in any way impede a committee on special education from continuing\nits duties and functions under this article with regard to a student\nreferred for special education or a parent's access to the committee,\nexcept that, if the parent concurs in writing with the building\nadministrator to the provision of educational alternatives to special\neducation, the referral shall be deemed withdrawn.\n 4. The individual evaluation of the educational needs of a student\nreferred to the committee on special education shall be conducted by\nqualified individuals, in accordance with regulations of the\ncommissioner, with the results of such evaluation forwarded to the\ncommittee on special education and the student's parent or person in\nparental relation.\n 5. Special education services and programs shall be provided after the\nappropriateness of the resources of the regular education program,\nincluding, but not limited to, support services, speech and language\nservices, additional educational services and remedial instruction, have\nbeen considered. Each school district shall develop a plan and policies\nfor implementing school wide approaches and pre-referral interventions\nin order to implement the provisions of this subdivision.\n 6. If the committee on special education has determined that placement\nin special education services or programs is not appropriate for the\nchild under consideration, a copy of the committee's recommendation and\npertinent information supporting such recommendation shall be forwarded\nto the building administrator of the school which the child attends and\nto the parent or person in parental relation to the child. The building\nadministrator shall determine which support services, speech and\nlanguage services and additional educational services should be provided\nto the child in order to assist the child to benefit from a program of\nregular education and, to the extent available, shall assure that those\nservices are provided. Nothing contained in this subdivision shall be\nconstrued to limit the right of the parent or a person in parental\nrelation to the student to make a referral or to appeal the\nrecommendation of the committee on special education in accordance with\nthe provisions contained in section forty-four hundred four of this\nchapter.\n * NB Effective until June 30, 2027\n * § 4401-a. Referral and evaluation for special education services or\nprograms. 1. Any pupil suspected of having a handicapping condition may\nbe referred for special education services or programs by the parent or\nperson in parental relationship, professional staff member of the school\nwhich the pupil attends or professional staff member of the school\ndistrict in which the pupil resides, physician, judicial officer, the\ncommissioner or designee of a public agency, the pupil himself or\nherself if such pupil is eighteen years of age or older or is an\nemancipated minor.\n 2. A referral submitted by an individual other than the pupil, the\npupil's parent or person in parental relationship or a judicial officer\nshall:\n a. state the reasons in writing for the referral and include any test\nresults, records or reports upon which the referral is based unless such\ntest results, records or reports are unavailable;\n b. describe in writing, intervention services programs or\ninstructional methodologies to remediate the pupil's performance prior\nto referral including any supplementary aids or support services\nprovided for this purpose or state the reason why no such attempts were\nmade; and\n c. describe the extent of contact or involvement prior to the referral\nwith the parent or person in parental relationship.\n 3. A referral submitted by a parent, a person in parental relationship\nor the pupil, shall be submitted in writing to the chairperson of the\ncommittee on special education or the building administrator of the\nschool which the pupil attends or is eligible to attend. If such\nreferral is submitted to the building administrator, the building\nadministrator shall forward a copy to the chairperson of the committee\non special education. If such referral is submitted to the chairperson\nof the committee such chairperson shall forward a copy of such referral\nto the building administrator of the school which the pupil attends or\nis eligible to attend. A referral submitted by any other individual\nshall be submitted in writing to the chairperson of the committee on\nspecial education or the building administrator of the school which the\npupil attends or is eligible to attend. The building administrator may\nrequest a meeting with the parent, person in parental relationship to\nthe pupil and/or the pupil for the purpose of discussing educational\nalternatives to special education. Such alternatives may include the\nprovision of educationally related support services or any other\nservices designed to address the learning needs of the student and\nmaintain a child's placement in general education with the provision of\nappropriate educational and support services. Nothing contained in this\nsection shall in any way impede a committee on special education from\ncontinuing its duties and functions under this article with regard to a\npupil referred for special education or a parent's access to the\ncommittee, except that, if the parent concurs in writing with the\nbuilding administrator to the provision of educational alternatives to\nspecial education, the referral shall be deemed withdrawn.\n 4. The individual evaluation of the educational needs of a pupil\nreferred to the committee on special education shall be conducted by\nqualified individuals, in accordance with regulations of the\ncommissioner, with the results of such evaluation forwarded to the\ncommittee on special education and the pupil's parent or person in\nparental relationship.\n 5. Special education services and programs shall be provided after the\nappropriateness of the resources of the regular education program,\nincluding educationally related support service, speech and language\nimprovement services and remedial instruction, have been considered.\nEach school district shall develop a plan and policies for implementing\nschool wide approaches and prereferral interventions in order to\nimplement the provisions of this subdivision.\n 6. If the committee on special education has determined that placement\nin special education services or programs is not appropriate for the\nchild under consideration, a copy of the committee's recommendation and\npertinent information supporting such recommendation shall be forwarded\nto the building administrator of the school which the child attends and\nto the parent or person in parental relationship to the child. The\nbuilding administrator shall determine which educationally related\nsupport services, speech and language improvement services and\nadditional educational services should be provided to the child in order\nto assist the child to benefit from a program of regular education and,\nto the extent available, shall assure that those services are provided.\nNothing contained in this subdivision shall be construed to limit the\nright of the parent, a person in parental relationship to the pupil or\nthe pupil to make a referral or to appeal the recommendation of the\ncommittee on special education in accordance with the provisions\ncontained in section forty-four hundred four of this chapter.\n * NB Effective June 30, 2027\n