Texas Administrative Code › Title 19 - EDUCATION › Part 2 - TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY › Chapter 89 - ADAPTATIONS FOR SPECIAL POPULATIONS › Subchapter AA - COMMISSIONER'S RULES CONCERNING SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES › Division 7 - DISPUTE RESOLUTION › Section 89.1197 - State Individualized Education Program Facilitation

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) In accordance with the Texas Education
					 Code, §
											29.020, the Texas
					 Education Agency (TEA) will establish a program that provides independent
					 individualized education program (IEP) facilitators beginning with the
					 2014-2015 school year.
(b) For the
					 purpose of this section, IEP facilitation has the same general meaning as
					 described in §
											89.1196(a)
					 of this title (relating to Individualized Education Program Facilitation),
					 except that state IEP facilitation is used when the admission, review, and
					 dismissal (ARD) committee is in dispute about decisions relating to the
					 provision of a free and appropriate public education to a student with a
					 disability and the facilitator is an independent facilitator provided by the
					 TEA.
(c) A request for IEP
					 facilitation under this section must be filed by completing a form developed by
					 the TEA that is available upon request from the TEA and on the TEA website. The
					 form must be filed with the TEA by one of the parties by electronic mail, mail,
					 hand-delivery, or facsimile.
(d)
					 IEP facilitation under this section must be voluntary on the part of the
					 parties and provided at no cost to the parties.
(e) In order for the TEA to provide an
					 independent facilitator, the following conditions must be met.
(1) The required form must be completed and
					 signed by both parties.
(2) The
					 dispute must relate to an ARD committee meeting in which mutual agreement about
					 one or more of the required elements of the IEP was not reached and the parties
					 have agreed to recess and reconvene the meeting in accordance with §
												89.1050(g)
					 of this title (relating to The Admission, Review, and Dismissal
					 Committee).
(3) The request for IEP
					 facilitation must have been filed within 10 calendar days of the ARD committee
					 meeting that ended in disagreement, and a facilitator must be available on the
					 date set for reconvening the meeting.
(4) The dispute must not relate to a
					 manifestation determination or determination of interim alternative educational
					 setting under 34 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), §300.530 or
					 §300.531.
(5) The same parties
					 must not be concurrently involved in special education mediation under §
												89.1193
					 of this title (relating to Special Education Mediation).
(6) The issues in dispute must not be the
					 subject of a special education complaint under §
												89.1195
					 of this title (relating to Special Education Complaint Resolution) or a special
					 education due process hearing under §
												89.1151
					 of this title (relating to Special Education Due Process Hearings) and §
												89.1165
					 of this title (relating to Request for Special Education Due Process
					 Hearing).
(7) The same parties must
					 not have participated in IEP facilitation concerning the same student under
					 this section within the same school year of the filing of the current request
					 for IEP facilitation.