You asked for a summary of the 2003 changes in the state special education laws required by the U. S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs to conform to the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

SUMMARY

As part of PA 03-6, June 30 Special Session, the General Assembly changed the state special education laws to conform to the federal special education law by eliminating certain state requirements on parents seeking special education due process hearings and by incorporating references to federal definitions and eliminating redundant and inconsistent state provisions. The 2003 changes were summarized in an October 17, 2003 circular letter to school superintendents from Mark Stapleton, then acting education commissioner (Circular Letter C-14, Series 2003-2004, copy attached).

OLR’s summaries of the special education federal conformity provisions of PA 03-6, June 30 Special Session appear below. The relevant section numbers are included. These special education sections were effective August 20, 2003.

SPECIAL EDUCATION DUE PROCESS HEARINGS

PA 03-6, June 30 Special Session (§§ 5-7) conforms state law to the federal IDEA by eliminating (1) a prohibition against parents, guardians, or local school boards raising issues at special education due process hearings that they did not previously raise at a meeting of the child’s planning and placement team (PPT) and (2) a requirement that the mandatory prehearing conference for parties to a due process hearing take place at least 10 days before the hearing is to begin.

The act also eliminates a local school board’s right to ask for a hearing when a parent or guardian refuses to consent to or withdraws consent for a pre-placement evaluation or initial special education placement of the child. But it expressly allows a board to ask for a hearing when a parent refuses to consent to or withdraws consent for a child’s initial evaluation or a reevaluation. As under prior law, the act requires a school board to request a hearing, and allows it to request mediation, when a parent or guardian refuses to consent to a private placement proposed by the PPT. But the act allows the board to do so only if the parent or guardian consented to the child’s initial receipt of special education services and the board sought a private placement after the child’s initial placement.

If a parent or guardian refuses to consent to a child’s initial evaluation or reevaluation, the act allows a hearing officer or hearing board to order the evaluation or reevaluation without that consent. Under prior law, the hearing officer or board could order special education evaluation or placement without the parent or guardian’s consent. As under prior law, such orders are subject to court appeal.

The act allows a local or regional board of education to reevaluate, as well as evaluate, a child without his parent or guardian’s consent if the hearing officer upholds the board on an evaluation issue. Under prior law, a local or regional board of education could also place a child without his parent or guardian’s consent if the hearing officer upheld the school board on a placement issue. The act specifies that the board’s authority to provide services applies only when the hearing officer upholds the board on the issue of placement in a private facility.

The act also requires the Superior Court, upon appeal of a hearing officer’s decision, to hear additional evidence at a party’s request. Prior law gave the court discretion to hear additional evidence at a party’s request only if it found certain circumstances to exist.

SPECIAL EDUCATION DEFINITIONS

PA 03-6, June 30 Special Session (§§ 2-4) conforms state law to the federal IDEA by incorporating references to federal definitions and terms and eliminating the following redundant and inconsistent state provisions and definitions:

The act also eliminates an inconsistent provision requiring local boards to identify children who may require special education only when they reach school age (age five). Another provision of Connecticut law makes children eligible for special education when they reach age three if they are experiencing a developmental delay. IDEA regulations expressly allow states to include such children aged three to nine (34 CFR 300. 7(b)).

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