2023 New York Laws › EDN - Education › Title 6 - Special Schools and Instruction › Article 87 - New York State School for the Blind › 4308 - Admission.

§  4308.  Admission.  1.  All  blind  or  blind  and deaf or blind and
cerebral palsied children of suitable age and capacity for  instruction,
who  are legal residents of the state, shall be eligible for appointment
to the New York State School for the Blind, without charge, and for such
a period of  time  in  each  individual  case  as  may  be  set  by  the
commissioner,  either:  (i)  upon the recommendation of the committee on
special education of the child's school district of residence;  or  (ii)
where  the  child  is  placed  by a state agency in an intermediate care
facility in such school pursuant to paragraph d of subdivision  five  of
section  thirty-two  hundred two of this chapter, upon recommendation of
the committee on special education of the school district in  which  the
intermediate  care  facility is located; or (iii) where the parents make
application  directly  to  the  commissioner   or   the   school,   upon
recommendation of the school's multidisciplinary team in accordance with
the  joint  placement  procedures established in subdivision two of this
section.
2. a. Upon receipt of an application for admission of a child who  has
not been recommended for placement by the committee on special education
of   the   child's  school  district  of  residence,  the  school  shall
immediately  notify  such   school   district   of   such   application.
Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the school shall make
available  to  such  school  district  of  residence,  upon request, all
records  in  its  possession  relating  the  evaluation,  placement  and
educational  performance  of each child who has applied for admission or
is  attending  the  school,  including  the  results  of   any   current
evaluations of such child.
b.  Prior  to  any meeting of its multidisciplinary team to develop an
individualized education  program  for  a  child,  either  upon  initial
admission  to the school or in an annual review, the school shall notify
the school district of residence of such meeting  and  shall  offer  the
district    the   opportunity   to   identify   and   present   to   the
multidisciplinary team,  an  alternative  placement  recommendation  for
services  in the least restrictive environment. In addition, such notice
shall advise the school district of  its  right  to  appoint  additional
members  to  the  multidisciplinary team pursuant to paragraph c of this
subdivision. The multidisciplinary team shall consider such  alternative
and,  if it rejects the alternative, shall include in its recommendation
a statement of its reasons for doing so.
c. In addition to the members required  for  a  committee  on  special
education  pursuant to subdivision one of section forty-four hundred two
of  this  chapter,  the  school's  multidisciplinary  team  may  include
additional  members  appointed  by  the board of education of the school
district of residence pursuant to this paragraph, and shall include such
members if appointed  by  such  board  of  education.  For  each  member
appointed by the school, the school district may appoint a corresponding
member, including a representative of the committee on special education
who  is  qualified  to  teach  or  supervise special education, a school
psychologist, the child's teacher, a parent member,  a  physician  where
the parent requests attendance of the physician member, and, for a child
who has been evaluated for the first time, a person who is knowledgeable
about  the  evaluation  procedures used with the child and familiar with
the results of the evaluation.  The  commissioner  shall  determine  the
location  at  which  the multidisciplinary team meeting will be held. In
the event of a tie vote on the multidisciplinary team, the parents shall
cast the deciding vote.
d. The majority of the multidisciplinary team shall state the  reasons
for   its   recommendation,   and  submit  such  recommendation  to  the
commissioner for consideration in determining  whether  to  appoint  the

child.  If  the  representatives  appointed  by  the  school district of
residence disagree with  the  recommendation  of  the  multidisciplinary
team,  they  shall  be  entitled  to prepare a dissenting opinion on the
placement  recommendation and to submit such opinion to the commissioner
for consideration in determining whether to appoint  the  child  to  the
school.
e. The commissioner, or his or her designee, in determining whether to
appoint the child to the school, shall consider whether the placement at
the  state  school  is an appropriate placement in the least restrictive
environment, taking  into  account  the  school  district's  recommended
alternative  placement.  If  the  commissioner  or  his  or her designee
determines that placement in the  state  school  is  not  in  the  least
restrictive environment or otherwise disagrees with such recommendation,
the  commissioner  shall  state  his or her reasons in writing and shall
send  the  recommendation  back  to  the  multidisciplinary   team   for
reconsideration,  with notice to the parents. If the commissioner refers
the   recommendation   back   to   the   multidisciplinary   team    for
reconsideration,  the commissioner shall also notify the parents and the
multidisciplinary team in writing of the need to schedule a  meeting  to
ensure timely placement.
* f.  Notwithstanding  any provision of law, rule or regulation to the
contrary, a member of the multidisciplinary team, other than the parents
or persons in parental relation to the student is not required to attend
a meeting of the team, in whole or in part, if the parent or  person  in
parental  relation  to the student and the department agree, in writing,
that the attendance of the member is not necessary because the  member's
area  of  the  curriculum  or  related services is not being modified or
discussed at the meeting.
* NB Repealed June 30, 2024
* g. Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation  to  the
contrary, a member of the multidisciplinary team, other than the parents
or  persons  in  parental  relation  to the student, may be excused from
attending a meeting of the team, in whole or in part, when  the  meeting
involves  a  modification  to  or discussion of the member's area of the
curriculum or related services if  the  parent  or  person  in  parental
relation  to  the student and the department consent, in writing, to the
excusal and the excused member  submits  to  the  parent  or  person  in
parental relation to the student and the multidisciplinary team, written
input  into the development of the individualized education program, and
in particular written input with respect to their area of the curriculum
or related services, prior to the meeting.
* NB Repealed June 30, 2024
* h. Requests for excusal of a member of the multidisciplinary team as
provided for in paragraphs f and g of this subdivision, and the  written
input  as  provided  for  in  paragraph  g of this subdivision, shall be
provided not less than five calendar days prior to the meeting date,  in
order  to  afford the parent or person in parental relation a reasonable
time to review and consider the request. Provided however, that a parent
or person in parental relation shall retain the right to request  and/or
agree  with  the department to excuse a multidisciplinary team member at
any time including where the member is  unable  to  attend  the  meeting
because  of  an  emergency  or  unavoidable  scheduling conflict and the
department submits the written input for review and consideration by the
parent or person in parental relation within a reasonable time prior  to
the  meeting  and  prior  to  obtaining written consent of the parent or
person in parental relation to such excusal.
* NB Repealed June 30, 2024
* i. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation to
the contrary, in making changes to a student's individualized  education
program after the annual review has been conducted, the parent or person
in  parental relation to the student and the department may agree not to
convene a multidisciplinary team meeting for the purpose of making those
changes,  and  instead may develop a written document to amend or modify
the  student's  current  individualized  education  program  under   the
following circumstances:
(i)  The  parent or person in parental relation makes a request to the
department for an amendment to the individualized education program  and
the  department  and such parent or person in parental relation agree in
writing; or
(ii) The department provides the parent or person in parental relation
with a written proposal to  amend  a  provision  or  provisions  of  the
individualized   education   program   that   is  conveyed  in  language
understandable to the parent or person  in  parental  relation  in  such
parent's  or  such  person's  native  language or other dominant mode of
communication, informs and allows  the  parent  or  person  in  parental
relation  the  opportunity  to consult with the appropriate personnel or
related service providers concerning the proposed changes and the parent
or person in parental relation agrees in writing to such amendments.
(iii) If the parent or person in parental relation agrees to amend the
individualized education program without a meeting, the parent or person
in parental relation shall be  provided  prior  written  notice  of  the
changes  to  the  individualized  education  program resulting from such
written document and the multidisciplinary team  shall  be  notified  of
such  changes.  If  the  department  makes such changes by rewriting the
entire individualized education program, it shall provide the parent  or
person  in parental relation with a copy of the rewritten individualized
education program. If the department amends the individualized education
program without rewriting the  entire  document,  the  department  shall
provide  the  parent with a copy of the document that amends or modifies
the individualized education program or, upon request of the  parent  or
person  in  parental  relation,  a  revised  copy  of the individualized
education program with the amendments incorporated.
Amendments to an individualized education  program  pursuant  to  this
paragraph  shall  not  affect the requirement that the multidisciplinary
team review the individualized education program at the annual  meeting,
or more often if necessary.
* NB Repealed June 30, 2024
3.   The   commissioner  shall  adopt  regulations  to  prescribe  the
procedures for  evaluation,  placement  and  admission  of  children  in
accordance  with this section, which shall include but not be limited to
procedures to  ensure  that  the  due  process  rights  of  parents  are
protected  and  that  placement  recommendations  are  made  in a timely
manner.