S02675 Summary:

BILL NOS02675
 
SAME ASNo Same As
 
SPONSORBROOKS
 
COSPNSRBOYLE, FUNKE, HELMING, LAVALLE, MARTINEZ, RANZENHOFER, SKOUFIS, THOMAS
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd §§3004 & 4402, Ed L
 
Requires the certification or training of teachers, administrators and instructors in the area of dyslexia and related disorders.
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S02675 Actions:

BILL NOS02675
 
01/28/2019REFERRED TO EDUCATION
01/08/2020REFERRED TO EDUCATION
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S02675 Committee Votes:

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S02675 Floor Votes:

There are no votes for this bill in this legislative session.
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S02675 Memo:

Memo not available
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S02675 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          2675
 
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                    January 28, 2019
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  Sen.  BROOKS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
 
        AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the  certification  or
          training  of  teachers,  administrators and instructors in the area of
          dyslexia and related disorders

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section  1.  Section  3004 of the education law is amended by adding a
     2  new subdivision 7 to read as follows:
     3    7. a.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commissioner is
     4  authorized and empowered to certify or  require  training  of  teachers,
     5  administrators  and  instructors in the area of dyslexia and its related
     6  disorders. The commissioner shall have the power to prescribe the neces-
     7  sary regulations and establish such programs and training related to the
     8  needs of children with dyslexia or a related disorder. Such programs and
     9  training shall include, but not be limited to, successful completion  of
    10  sufficient  hours  of  coursework and supervised clinical experience, as
    11  determined by the commissioner to be evidence-based effective  programs,
    12  such  as  multisensory  structured  language  education or other similar
    13  education programs for teaching children at risk for being, or diagnosed
    14  as, dyslexic or a related disorder. Such programs  or  training  may  be
    15  obtained  from an institution or provider which has been approved by the
    16  department to provide such programs and training.
    17    b. For the purposes of this section, the term "dyslexia" shall mean  a
    18  specific  learning  disorder  that is neurological in origin and that is
    19  characterized by unexpected difficulties with accurate  or  fluent  word
    20  recognition  and  by poor spelling and decoding abilities not consistent
    21  with the person's intelligence, motivation,  and  sensory  capabilities,
    22  which  difficulties  typically result from a deficit in the phonological
    23  component of language.
    24    § 2. Clause (a) and subclause (i) of clause (b) of subparagraph  3  of
    25  paragraph  b  of  subdivision  1  of  section 4402 of the education law,
    26  clause (a) as amended by chapter 53 of the laws of  1991  and  subclause
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05494-01-9

        S. 2675                             2
 
     1  (i)  of  clause  (b)  as amended by chapter 378 of the laws of 2007, are
     2  amended to read as follows:
     3    (a)  Obtain,  review  and evaluate all relevant information, including
     4  but not limited to that presented by  the  parent,  person  in  parental
     5  relationship  and teacher, pertinent to each child suspected of or iden-
     6  tified as having a handicapping condition, including the  results  of  a
     7  physical  examination performed in accordance with sections nine hundred
     8  three, nine hundred four and nine hundred  five  of  this  chapter  and,
     9  where  determined to be necessary by a school psychologist, an appropri-
    10  ate psychological evaluation performed by a qualified private or  school
    11  psychologist,  and  other appropriate assessments as necessary to ascer-
    12  tain the physical, mental, emotional  and  cultural-educational  factors
    13  which  may contribute to the suspected or identified handicapping condi-
    14  tion, and all other school data which  bear  on  the  child's  progress,
    15  including,  where appropriate, observation of classroom performance.  If
    16  the committee or subcommittee has reason to believe that  the  handicap-
    17  ping condition may involve dyslexia, as defined in paragraph b of subdi-
    18  vision  seven  of  section  three  thousand  four  of this chapter, or a
    19  related disorder, the child shall be evaluated and tested  according  to
    20  current  scientific  understanding  of dyslexia to determine whether the
    21  child has dyslexia or a related disorder.
    22    (i) Make recommendations based upon a written evaluation setting forth
    23  the reasons for the recommendations, to the child's parent or person  in
    24  parental  relation  and board of education or trustees as to appropriate
    25  educational programs and placement in accordance with the provisions  of
    26  subdivision six of section forty-four hundred one-a of this article, and
    27  as  to the advisability of continuation, modification, or termination of
    28  special class or program placements which evaluation shall be  furnished
    29  to  the  child's parent or person in parental relation together with the
    30  recommendations provided, however that the  committee  may  recommend  a
    31  placement  in a school which uses psychotropic drugs only if such school
    32  has a written policy pertaining to such  use  that  is  consistent  with
    33  subdivision  four-a  of section thirty-two hundred eight of this chapter
    34  and that the parent or person in parental relation is given such written
    35  policy at the time such recommendation is made.  If the child is  deter-
    36  mined  to  have dyslexia, as defined in paragraph b of subdivision seven
    37  of section three thousand four of this chapter, or a  related  disorder,
    38  the recommendations shall be made by the individual educational planning
    39  team, which shall be knowledgeable in the current scientific understand-
    40  ing  of  dyslexia, including the instructional components and approaches
    41  for students with dyslexia. If such recommendation is not acceptable  to
    42  the  parent  or  person  in  parental relation, such parent or person in
    43  parental relation may appeal such  recommendation  as  provided  for  in
    44  section forty-four hundred four of this [chapter] article.
    45    §  3.  Clause (b) of subparagraph 3 of paragraph b of subdivision 1 of
    46  section 4402 of the education law, as amended by chapter 716 of the laws
    47  of 1991, is amended to read as follows:
    48    (b) Make recommendations based upon a written evaluation setting forth
    49  the reasons for the recommendations, to the child's parent or person  in
    50  parental relationship and board of education or trustees as to appropri-
    51  ate educational programs and placement in accordance with the provisions
    52  of  subdivision six of section forty-four hundred one-a of this article,
    53  and as to the advisability of continuation, modification, or termination
    54  of special  class  or  program  placements  which  evaluation  shall  be
    55  furnished  to  the  child's  parent  or  person in parental relationship
    56  together with the recommendations provided, however that  the  committee

        S. 2675                             3
 
     1  may recommend a placement in a school which uses psychotropic drugs only
     2  if  such school has a written policy pertaining to such use and that the
     3  parent or person in parental relationship is given such  written  policy
     4  at  the time such recommendation is made.  If the child is determined to
     5  have dyslexia, as defined in paragraph b of subdivision seven of section
     6  three thousand four of this chapter, or a related disorder,  the  recom-
     7  mendations  shall  be  made by the individual educational planning team,
     8  which  shall  be  knowledgeable  in  the  instructional  components  and
     9  approaches  for  students  with  dyslexia. If such recommendation is not
    10  acceptable to the parent or person in parental relationship, such parent
    11  or person in parental relationship may  appeal  such  recommendation  as
    12  provided  for in section forty-four hundred four of this [chapter] arti-
    13  cle.
    14    § 4. Paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section  4402  of  the  education
    15  law,  as  amended by section 16-a of part A of chapter 56 of the laws of
    16  2014, is amended to read as follows:
    17    a. The board of education or trustees of each school district shall be
    18  required to furnish suitable educational opportunities for students with
    19  disabilities by one of the special services or programs listed in subdi-
    20  vision two of section forty-four hundred one of this article.  The  need
    21  of  the individual child shall determine which of such services shall be
    22  rendered.  If the student is a student with dyslexia or a related disor-
    23  der, the district shall be required  to  provide  to  such  student  the
    24  services  of  a  teacher  or  instructor trained in dyslexia and related
    25  disorders pursuant to subdivision seven of section three  thousand  four
    26  of  this  chapter.  Each  district  shall  provide to the maximum extent
    27  appropriate such services in a manner which enables students with  disa-
    28  bilities  to participate in regular education services when appropriate.
    29  Such services or programs shall  be  furnished  between  the  months  of
    30  September  and  June  of each year, except that for the nineteen hundred
    31  eighty-seven--eighty-eight school year and thereafter, with  respect  to
    32  the  students  whose  disabilities are severe enough to exhibit the need
    33  for a structured learning environment of twelve months duration to main-
    34  tain developmental levels, the board of education or  trustees  of  each
    35  school  district  upon  the  recommendation  of the committee on special
    36  education shall also provide, either directly or by  contract,  for  the
    37  provision  of special services and programs as defined in section forty-
    38  four hundred one of this article during the months of July and August as
    39  contained in the individualized  education  program  for  each  eligible
    40  student,  and  with  prior  approval  by  the  commissioner if required;
    41  provided that a student with a disability who is eligible for  services,
    42  including  services  during  the  months of July and August, pursuant to
    43  section forty-four hundred ten of this article shall not be eligible  to
    44  receive  services  pursuant  to this paragraph during the months of July
    45  and August.
    46    § 5. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
    47  have  become  a  law,  provided  that the amendments to subclause (i) of
    48  clause (b) of subparagraph 3 of paragraph b of subdivision 1 of  section
    49  4402  of  the  education  law  made  by section two of this act shall be
    50  subject to the expiration and  reversion  of  such  clause  pursuant  to
    51  section  22 of chapter 352 of the laws of 2005, as amended, and subdivi-
    52  sion d of section 27 of chapter 378 of the laws  of  2007,  as  amended,
    53  when  upon  such  date the provisions of section three of this act shall
    54  take effect.
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