2023 New York Laws › EDN - Education › Title 6 - Special Schools and Instruction › Article 89 - Children With Disabilities. › 4401 - Definitions.

§ 4401. Definitions.  As  referred  to  in this article. * 1. A "child
with a disability" or "student with a disability" means a  person  under
the  age of twenty-one who is entitled to attend public schools pursuant
to section thirty-two hundred two of this chapter and  who,  because  of
mental,  physical  or  emotional  reasons  can  only receive appropriate
educational opportunities from a program of special education. Such term
does not include a child whose educational needs are  due  primarily  to
unfamiliarity  with  the  English  language,  environmental, cultural or
economic factors. Lack of appropriate instruction in reading,  including
in  the  essential  components  of  reading  instruction  as  defined in
subsection three of section twelve hundred eight of the  elementary  and
secondary  education  act  of  nineteen  hundred  sixty-five, or lack of
appropriate instruction in mathematics or  limited  English  proficiency
shall  not  be  the  determinant  factor  in  identifying a student as a
student with a disability. "Special education" means specially  designed
instruction which includes special services or programs as delineated in
subdivision two of this section, and transportation, provided at no cost
to  the parents to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. A
"child with a handicapping condition" means a child with a disability.
* NB Effective until June 30, 2024
* 1. A "child with a disability" or "student with a disability"  means
a  person  under  the age of twenty-one who is entitled to attend public
schools pursuant to section thirty-two hundred two of this  chapter  and
who,  because  of mental, physical or emotional reasons can only receive
appropriate  educational  opportunities  from  a  program   of   special
education.  Such  term  does not include a child whose educational needs
are  due  primarily  to  unfamiliarity  with   the   English   language,
environmental,  cultural  or  economic  factors.  Lack of instruction in
reading or mathematics or limited English proficiency shall not  be  the
determinant  factor  in  identifying  a  student  as  a  student  with a
disability. "Special education"  means  specially  designed  instruction
which includes special services or programs as delineated in subdivision
two  of  this  section,  and  transportation, provided at no cost to the
parents to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. A  "child
with a handicapping condition" means a child with a disability.
* NB Effective June 30, 2024
2.  "Special  services  or  programs".  For  purposes of this article,
special services or programs shall mean the following:
a. Special classes, transitional  support  services,  resource  rooms,
direct  and indirect consultant teacher services, transition services as
defined in  subdivision  nine  of  this  section,  assistive  technology
devices as defined under federal law, travel training, home instruction,
and  special  teachers  to include itinerant teachers as provided by the
schools of the district of residence with such terms and services to  be
defined by regulations of the commissioner.
b. Contracts with other districts for special services or programs.
c.  Contracts  with or special services or programs provided by boards
of cooperative educational services.
d. Appointment by the commissioner to a  state  school  in  accordance
with   article  eighty-seven  or  eighty-eight  of  this  chapter  or  a
state-supported school in accordance with article  eighty-five  of  this
chapter.
e.  Contracts  with  private  non-residential  schools which have been
approved by the commissioner and which are within the state for  special
services or programs.
f.  Contracts  with  private  non-residential  schools which have been
approved by the commissioner and which are  outside  of  the  state  for
special services or programs.
g. Contracts with private residential schools which have been approved
by  the commissioner and which are within the state for special services
or programs.
h. Contracts with private residential schools which have been approved
by the commissioner and which are outside the state for special services
or programs.
i.   Contracts   with   the   state   university   at  Binghamton  for
non-residential special services or programs at the children's unit  for
treatment and evaluation which have been approved by the commissioner.
j. Provision of educational services in a residential facility for the
care  and treatment of students with disabilities under the jurisdiction
of a state agency other than the department.
* k. Related services which shall in appropriate cases be furnished to
students with disabilities shall include audiology, counseling including
rehabilitation  counseling  services,  occupational  therapy,   physical
therapy, speech pathology, medical services as defined by regulations of
the commissioner, psychological services, school health services, school
nurse  services,  school  social  work, assistive technology services as
defined  under  federal  law,  interpreting  services,  orientation  and
mobility  services, parent counseling and training and other appropriate
developmental, corrective or  other  support  services  and  appropriate
access  to  recreation. Such term does not include a medical device that
is surgically implanted, the optimization of that  device's  functioning
(e.g.,  mapping), maintenance of that device, or the replacement of such
device.
* NB Effective until June 30, 2024
* k. Related services which shall in appropriate cases be furnished to
students with disabilities shall include audiology, counseling including
rehabilitation  counseling  services,  occupational  therapy,   physical
therapy, speech pathology, medical services as defined by regulations of
the commissioner, psychological services, school health services, school
social work, assistive technology services as defined under federal law,
orientation  and  mobility  services, parent counseling and training and
other appropriate developmental, corrective or  other  support  services
and appropriate access to recreation.
* NB Effective June 30, 2024
l.  Contracts  for  residential  or  nonresidential  placements with a
special act school district listed in chapter five hundred sixty-six  of
the laws of nineteen hundred sixty-seven.
m.   Provision  of  nonresidential  education  services  in  Fairmount
children's center, which facility has been approved by the  commissioner
for  the  education of students with disabilities. Students placed under
the provisions of this paragraph shall not be  eligible  for  state  aid
under  the  provisions of sections thirty-six hundred two and thirty-six
hundred two-c of this chapter.
n. Formalized agreements for the provision of transition  services  as
defined  in  subdivision  nine  of  this  section  in  programs  such as
vocational training programs approved by the department  or  by  another
state  agency.  Nothing  in  this  article shall be construed to relieve
another agency of responsibility to provide or pay  for  any  transition
service  that  the  agency  would  otherwise  provide  to  students with
disabilities who meet the eligibility criteria of that agency.
3. "Maintenance". For purposes of  this  article  "maintenance"  shall
mean the amount charged for room and board and allocable debt service as
determined  by  the  commissioner for the living unit of the residential
facility by a residential school and such  reasonable  medical  expenses
actually  and  necessarily  incurred  by a child with disabilities while
actually in attendance at  a  residential  school,  provided  that  such

medical  expenses  shall  be  for  diagnostic, evaluative, educationally
related, and emergency care services as defined by  regulations  of  the
commissioner.  Such  amount,  which shall not include expenses which are
otherwise  reimbursable to a residential facility by a federal, state or
local agency, shall be approved by the commissioner of  social  services
and  the  director  of  the  division  of  the  budget  and shall not be
otherwise payable or reimbursable.
4.  "Transportation  expense."  For  the   purposes   of   determining
transportation  aid  pursuant  to this article, "transportation expense"
shall  mean  any  cost  incurred  by  the  school   district   for   the
transportation  of  a child with disabilities pursuant to the provisions
of subdivision four of section forty-four hundred two of  this  article,
notwithstanding  any  minimum  or  maximum aidable limits established by
other provisions of the education law or pursuant to regulations of  the
commissioner  or  school  district,  allowed  pursuant to the applicable
provisions of parts two and  three  of  article  seventy-three  of  this
chapter,  provided,  however,  that  such transportation shall not be in
excess of fifty miles from the home of such  pupil  to  the  appropriate
special service or program unless the commissioner shall certify that no
appropriate  non-residential  special  service  or  program is available
within such fifty miles, and that  the  commissioner  may  establish  by
regulation  a  maximum  number  of  trips between a pupil's home and the
private residential school which provides special services  or  programs
to  such  pupil.  Such  cost shall include the cost of joint or regional
transportation provided by school districts  or  boards  of  cooperative
educational services for such purposes and subject to the same limits.
5.  "Tuition"  shall  mean  the  per  pupil  cost of all instructional
services,  supplies  and  equipment,  the  operation  of   instructional
facilities  and allocable debt service for the instructional facilities,
as determined by the commissioner. Approved tuition  shall  be  computed
from  expenditures  from  which  no  revenue  has been received from the
following sources:
(a) receipts from the federal government;
(b) any cash receipts which reduce the cost of an item applied against
the item therefor, except gifts, donations and earned interest, and
(c) any refunds made or any apportionment or payment received from the
state  for  experimental  or  special  programs  as  approved   by   the
commissioner.
6. "Excess cost" shall mean the difference between the tuition and the
sum of the following:
a.  the  school  district basic contribution as defined in subdivision
eight of this section; and
b. the amount of federal funds received by  the  school  district  and
expended  for such pupil which in the judgment of the commissioner shall
be deemed duplicative.
7. "Excess cost aid ratio" for a school district shall be computed  by
subtracting  from  one  the  product obtained by multiplying fifteen per
centum by the combined wealth ratio as  defined  in  section  thirty-six
hundred  two  of  this  chapter.  This aid ratio shall be expressed as a
decimal carried to three places without rounding, but shall not be  less
than fifty hundredths, nor more than one.
8.  "School district basic contribution" shall mean an amount equal to
the total school district local property and non-property tax  levy  for
the base year divided by the base year public school district enrollment
of  resident  pupils of the school district as defined in paragraph n of
subdivision one of section  thirty-six  hundred  two  of  this  chapter,
except that for the two thousand thirteen--two thousand fourteen and two
thousand  fourteen--two thousand fifteen school year and thereafter, for

school districts other than central  high  school  districts  and  their
components, such tax levy for the base year shall be divided by the year
prior  to  the  base  year pupil count as determined by the commissioner
pursuant to paragraph f of subdivision two of section thirty-six hundred
two  of this chapter for any school district in which such year prior to
the base year pupil count exceeds one hundred fifty percent of such base
year public school district enrollment of resident pupils.
* 9. "Transition services" shall mean a coordinated set of  activities
for   a   student   with   a   disability,   designed  to  be  within  a
results-oriented process, that is focused on improving the academic  and
functional  achievement  of  the student with a disability to facilitate
movement from school to post-school activities, including post-secondary
education,  vocational  education,  integrated   employment   (including
supported  employment),  continuing and adult education, adult services,
independent living, or community participation. The coordinated  set  of
activities  shall be based upon the student's strengths, preferences and
interests, and shall include instruction,  related  services,  community
experiences,  the  development of employment and other post-school adult
living objectives, and, if  appropriate,  acquisition  of  daily  living
skills and provision of a functional vocational evaluation.
* NB Effective until June 30, 2024
* 9.  "Transition services" shall mean a coordinated set of activities
for a student with a disability,  designed  within  an  outcome-oriented
process,  which promotes movement from school to post-school activities,
including  post-secondary  education,  vocational  training,  integrated
competitive  employment (including supported employment), continuing and
adult  education,  adult  services,  independent  living,  or  community
participation. The coordinated set of activities shall be based upon the
individual   student's   needs,   taking   into  account  the  student's
preferences  and  interests,  and  shall  include  instruction,  related
services, community experiences, the development of employment and other
post-school adult living objectives, and, if appropriate, acquisition of
daily living skills and functional vocational evaluation.
* NB Effective June 30, 2024
10. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of this article, where
a  private  not-for-profit school enters into a lease, sublease or other
agreement with the  dormitory  authority  pursuant  to  section  sixteen
hundred  eighty  of  the  public  authorities  law,  the  tuition  rates
established by the  commissioner  pursuant  to  this  section  shall  be
established  in two parts, one part of which shall be the cost per child
of the annual rental payment pursuant to such lease, sublease  or  other
agreement  to  be  paid  by  the  school district or the social services
district, as the case may be, to the fund established by  this  chapter;
the remaining part shall be the tuition amount to be paid to the private
not-for-profit school.
11. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of this article, where
the  special  act school district enters into a lease, sublease or other
agreement with the dormitory authority pursuant to section four  hundred
seven-a   of   this  chapter,  the  tuition  rates  established  by  the
commissioner pursuant to this section shall be established in two parts,
one part of which shall be the cost  per  child  of  the  annual  rental
payment pursuant to such section four hundred seven-a of this chapter to
be  paid  by the school district or the social services district, as the
case may be, to the fund established in such section; the remaining part
shall be the tuition amount  to  be  paid  to  the  special  act  school
district.