Our View of the Legislature: Special Education

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January 24, 2023January 24, 2023
by Colleen Millerin 2023 Legislative Highlights, Legislative Highlightstags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The legislature is looking at many bills that concern special education issues. Please see our report on bills relating to student discipline (January 13, 2023) for additional information.

Here are some of the special education bills we are tracking:

  • SB 1334 (Hashmi) would require the State Board of Education to develop a “code of ethics” that could be enforced against all participants in an IEP meeting. dLCV has asked the patron to consider a purely voluntary code of ethics, with no threat of enforcement. The bill will be heard in Senate Education and Health, possibly this Thursday, January 26th.
  • SB 943 (Suetterlein) and HB 1554 (Brewer) require all school districts to publicly post the name and contact information of the special education coordinators. The Senate bill has been approved by the full Senate. The House bill has been approved by the House Committee on Education and now moves to the full House.
  • HB 1492 (Davis) changes the deadlines by which a school must complete an evaluation and develop an IEP after referral. The bill will be heard by the House Committee on Education subcommittee on early childhood.
  • SB 830 (Favola) and HB 1659 (Bell) ask the Department of Behavioral Health to develop best practice standards relating to the transfer of records of students with disabilities who reach the age of majority. The House bill has been approved by the committee. The senate version is in the Committee on Rules.
  • HB 1884 (Wampler) would allow students with disabilities to take the Standards of Learning assessments less often than general education students. It will be heard in the House Committee on Education subcommittee on early childhood.
  • HB 1983 (Kory) requires the development of best practice standards relating to positive behavioral supports. This bill was tabled in the subcommittee.

The disAbility Law Center of Virginia will follow the education bills and other bills concerning the rights of people with disabilities throughout the session. Our mission is to advance independence, choice, and self-determination; protect legal, human, and civil rights; and eliminate abuse, neglect, and discrimination of people with disabilities through zealous and uncompromising legal advocacy and representation. We are available to educate policymakers about the potential impact of legislative proposals. Please let us know of any issues that you think we should be following. Contact us at ga@dlcv.org or info@dlcv.org or by calling 1-800-552-3962 or 804-225-2042.