WSSDA%202161.pdf

Parent document: Regular Meeting and Budget Hearing-06-26-2024.pdf

Text

New Legislation Expands

OSPI’s Oversight of

Entities Providing Special

Education Services

By Dr. Tania May & Scott Raub

are safe and supportive, maximize access to general

education settings in their neighborhood school, create
positive interactions with peers, and provide meaningful
engagement with core curriculum. These ideals are especially
important for students receiving special education services
who have extensive support needs and are served in settings
along the continuum of placement options, such as non-public
agencies (NPAs).

Ee: student has the right to educational services that

The term NPA refers to any in-state private school/facility, or any
out-of-state public or private school/facility, that a local schoo!
district may contract with to provide special education services.
A local school district, in some instances, may determine that

it cannot provide free appropriate public education (FAPE) for a
student with a disability within their district. In partnership with
the student's family and teachers, as part of the Individualized
Education Program (IEP) process, the IEP team may decide

the student would be best served in a private school or facility
better suited to meet the student’s unique needs.

Recently enacted legislation Senate Bill (SB) 5315 - Special
Education - Nonpublic Agencies affirms and expands upon

the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s (OSPI)
responsibility to ensure that certain non-public entities (i.e.,
NPAs) are authorized to provide services to students who are
eligible to receive special education services. Federal law
requires states to have a process for ensuring that students
eligible to receive special education services, who are placed

in or referred to a private school or facility by a school district or
other public agency, are provided special education and related
services in conformance with a properly formulated IEP, at no
cost to parents/guardians; are provided an education that
meets state standards; and retain all the rights of an eligible
student served by a school district in the state of Washington
(34 CFR §300.146). Even when a student is being served by
an NPA, the student’s school district remains responsible for
ensuring that the student is provided FAPE as required by law.

CONTINUED on next page

JULY 2023

MODEL PROCEDURE
2161P
Special Education and Related
Services for Eligible Students

MODEL PROCEDURE
3246P

Restraint, Isolation, and Other
Uses of Reasonable Force

School District Oversight Responsibilities

Aschool district remains responsible for ensuring that
its students who are served by another entity are:

¢ Provided with a free appropriate public education
(FAPE),

¢ Provided with special education and related
services at no cost to the student’s parents and
in conformance with the student’s Individualized
Education Program (IEP), and

¢ Provided with an opportunity to participate in
state and district assessments.

School districts that enter into agreements with other
entities must annually conduct an on-site visit to
ensure that the authorized entity’s facilities, staffing
qualifications and levels, and procedural safeguards
are sufficient to provide a safe and appropriate

learning environment for students. A school district
may arrange for another school district to complete
the annual on-site visit on its behalf, so long as the
school district conducting the on-site visit provides a
written report that documents the on-site visit results,
including any concerns, to the contracting school
district.

Aschool district must provide the parents of the
student being served with:

¢ Asummary of the processes and responsibilities
for reporting incidents of isolation and restraint,
and

¢ Acopy of the complaint procedure developed by
OSPI.

Aschool district contracting with an authorized entity
must also report to OSPI and the State Auditor with
any concerns.

POLICY AND LEGAL NEWS =» WSSDA 13


CONTINUED from previous page

The OSPI approval process for NPAs, outlined in
Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 392-172A-04080
through WAC 392-172A-04110, sets the minimum
requirements for when an IEP team determines it cannot
provide an appropriate education for the student within
the district. OSPI regularly monitors both school district
and NPA compliance through procedures such as written
reports, on-site visits, file reviews, policy guidance, and
parent/guardian interviews.

SB 5315 directs OSPI and school districts to play a more
active role in the ongoing oversight of NPAs. The new
legislation adds requirements in the following areas:

* Expanding OSPI’s oversight authority for authorizing,
monitoring, and investigating NPAs;

* Requiring more frequent on-site visits to NPAs by OSPI
and school district personnel;

* Creating a complaint and investigation processes for
NPAs;

¢ Adding additional minimum contract requirements for
authorizing and reauthorizing entities as NPAs;

¢ Adding additional NPA data collection and reporting to

JULY 2023

OSPI in areas such as attendance, graduation, and the
use of restraints/isolation; and

* Requiring OSPI to submit an annual report to the
Legislature, made available to the public, regarding
students placed at these authorized entities (NPAs).

SB 5315 creates opportunities for the continued
improvement of an important aspect of the overall

system of supports available to students receiving special
education services. OSPI is already at work beginning to
implement changes to the NPA oversight process, including
revisions to the NPA application, approval, and renewal
processes. Conversations with partners from across the
educational landscape are ongoing in order to learn about
the various perspectives on the services made available to
students with disabilities, their families, and the school and
district partners who support them. Schoo! district leaders
are encouraged to reach out to OSPI at npas@k12.wa.us
with any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

Dr. Tania May is the Assistant Superintendent of Special
Education for OSPI. Scott Raub is the Assistant Director of
Special Education Policy & Community Engagement for OSPI.

Based on Senate Bill 5315 - Special Education - Nonpublic Agencies, WSSDA has revised:
¢ 2161P - Special Education and Related Services for Eligible Students, and
¢ 3246P - Restraint, Isolation, and Other Uses of Reasonable Force.

These are both Essential policies. The revisions mainly impact the model procedures associated with the
policies. The revisions to the model policies themselves are limited to updating legal citations and other

references.