Ohio Code 3323.08 – Districts to submit implementation plans – interdistrict contracts
(A) Each school district shall submit a plan to the superintendent of public instruction that provides assurances that the school district will provide for the education of children with disabilities within its jurisdiction and has in effect policies, procedures, and programs that are consistent with the policies and procedures adopted by the state board of education in accordance with section 612 of the “Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004,” 20 U.S.C. § 1412, and that meet the conditions applicable to school districts under section 613 of that act, 20 U.S.C. § 1413.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 3323.08
- Child: includes child by adoption. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Child with a disability: means a child who is at least three years of age and less than twenty-two years of age; who has an intellectual disability, a hearing impairment (including deafness), a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment (including blindness), a serious emotional disturbance, an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, an other health impairment, a specific learning disability (including dyslexia), deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities; and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services. See Ohio Code 3323.01
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Homeless children: means "homeless children and youths" as defined in section 725 of the "McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act" 42 U. See Ohio Code 3323.01
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Related services: means transportation, and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services (including speech-language pathology and audiology services, interpreting services, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic recreation, school nurse services designed to enable a child with a disability to receive a free appropriate public education as described in the individualized education program of the child, counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and mobility services, school health services, social work services in schools, and parent counseling and training, and medical services, except that such medical services shall be for diagnostic and evaluation purposes only) as may be required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education, and includes the early identification and assessment of disabling conditions in children. See Ohio Code 3323.01
- School district: means a city, local, or exempted village school district. See Ohio Code 3323.01
- Special education: includes instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings, including an early childhood education setting, and instruction in physical education. See Ohio Code 3323.01
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
Each district’s plan shall do all of the following:
(1) Provide, as specified in section 3323.11 of the Revised Code and in accordance with standards established by the state board, for an organizational structure and necessary and qualified staffing and supervision for the identification of and provision of special education and related services for children with disabilities;
(2) Provide, as specified by section 3323.03 of the Revised Code and in accordance with standards established by the state board, for the identification, location, and evaluation of all children with disabilities residing in the district, including children with disabilities who are homeless children or are wards of the state and children with disabilities attending private schools and who are in need of special education and related services. A practical method shall be developed and implemented to determine which children with disabilities are currently receiving needed special education and related services.
(3) Provide, as specified by section 3323.07 of the Revised Code and standards established by the state board, for the establishment and maintenance of special education and related services for children with disabilities who are at least three years of age and less than twenty-two years of age, including children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school.
(4) Provide, as specified by section 3323.04 of the Revised Code and in accordance with standards adopted by the state board, for an individualized education program for each child with a disability who is at least three years of age and less than twenty-two years of age residing within the district;
(5) Provide, as specified by section 3323.02 of the Revised Code and in accordance with standards established by the state board, for special education and related services and a free appropriate public education for every child with a disability who is at least three years of age and less than twenty-two years of age, including children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school;
(6) Provide procedural safeguards and prior written notice as required under section 3323.05 of the Revised Code and the standards established by the state board;
(7) Outline the steps that have been or are being taken to comply with standards established by the state board.
(B)(1) A school district may arrange, by a cooperative agreement or contract with one or more school districts or with a cooperative education or joint vocational school district or an educational service center, to provide for the identification, location, and evaluation of children with disabilities, and to provide special education and related services for such children that meet the standards established by the state board. A school district may arrange, by a cooperative agreement or contract, for the provision of related services for children with disabilities that meet the standards established by the state board.
(2) A school district shall arrange by interagency agreement with one or more school districts or with a cooperative education or joint vocational school district or an educational service center or other providers of early learning services to provide for the identification, location, evaluation of children with disabilities of ages birth through five years of age and for the transition of children with disabilities at age three in accordance with the standards established by the state board. A school district may arrange by interagency agreement with providers of early learning services to provide special education and related services for such children that meet the standards established by the state board.
(3) If at the time an individualized education program is developed for a child a school district is not providing special education and related services required by that individualized education program, the school district may arrange by contract with a nonpublic entity for the provision of the special education and related services, provided the special education and related services meet the standards for special education and related services established by the state board and is provided within the state.
(4) Any cooperative agreement or contract under division (B)(1) or (2) of this section involving a local school district shall be approved by the governing board of the educational service center which serves that district.
(C) No plan of a local school district shall be submitted to the superintendent of public instruction until it has been approved by the superintendent of the educational service center which serves that district.
(D) Upon approval of a school district’s plan by the superintendent of public instruction, the district shall immediately certify students for state funds under section 3317.03 of the Revised Code to implement and maintain such plan. The district shall, in accordance with guidelines adopted by the state board, identify problems relating to the provision of qualified personnel and adequate facilities, and indicate the extent to which the cost of programs required under the plan will exceed anticipated state reimbursement. Each school district shall immediately implement the identification, location, and evaluation of children with disabilities in accordance with this chapter, and shall implement those parts of the plan involving placement and provision of special education and related services.