UPDATE ON SPECIAL EDUCATION BILL HB-5001 (formerly HB-7277)
For better or worse, HB-5001 passed the House.
The better:
Students still have the ability to receive special education services through the end of the school year they turn 22.
There are no changes to burden of proof in due process hearings or to who has to go first in due process hearings. The district has burden of proof and has to go first.
For Dr. Ross Greene fans, there is language in the bill that references “Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems”–to be part of a study related to trying to reduce restraint and seclusion.
Short-term objectives remain in IEPs.
Regarding outplacements, the rate-setting process has been slowed way down–with the state having until 1/2028 to come up with something. In addition, the General Assembly has to vote on approving it–which gives us time to make this go away if needed.
The worse:
The service implementer column is to be removed from the IEP as of January 1, 2026. Of course, this will happen only if the state department of education gets around to this by then, which they may very well not. HOWEVER, Representative Khan, the bill’s author, provided legislative intent during the floor discussion–explaining that “service implementer” and “responsible staff” in the IEP simply reflected duplicative information and that this was the reason for removing that column. This had not been my interpretation previously, but given the stated legislative intent, we can request that the “responsible staff” column reflect the provider of services.
Due process hearings are to be limited to four days, unless the hearing officer chooses to extend it. This could be fine as long as the family has sufficient time to present their case. However, if some complex cases need more time and don’t get it, this could result in a lot more litigation and expense. Fortunately, this applies to a very small number of children, as the vast majority of families never need to file for a hearing. And even of those who do file, 95% of those cases resolve through a settlement agreement–without going to an actual hearing.
I don’t have time to provide a full analysis, but I wanted to make sure people know that HB-5001 is done for now. There is more language in SB-1 that will be coming up for a vote. SB-1 includes an Office of the Educational Ombudsman to support families, which could be enormously helpful.
Note that nothing is law yet. The legislative session ends June 4, so we’ll have more information then!
