BEFORE THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

OF THE STATE OF MONTANA

 

In the matter of the amendment of ARM 10.16.3803 and 10.16.3818 pertaining to special education

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NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED AMENDMENT

 

TO:  All Concerned Persons

 

            1.  On Thursday, October 6, 2011, at 11:30 a.m., the Superintendent of Public Instruction will hold a public hearing in the Superintendent's Conference Room at 1227 11th Avenue, Helena, Montana, to consider the proposed amendment of the above-stated rules.

 

2.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction will make reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities who wish to participate in this rulemaking process or need an alternative accessible format of this notice.  If you require an accommodation, contact the Office of Public Instruction no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, October 3, 2011, to advise us of the nature of the accommodation that you need.  Please contact Beverly Marlow, OPI Legal Division, P.O. Box 202501, Helena, Montana, 59620-2501; telephone (406) 444-3712; fax (406) 444-2893; or e-mail bemarlow@mt.gov.

 

3.  The rules as proposed to be amended provide as follows, new matter underlined, deleted matter interlined:

 

            10.16.3803  DEFINITIONS  The following definitions apply to rules affecting the funding of special education programs:

            (1) through (10) remain the same.

            (11)  "Low incidence disability services" means services to students whose disability occurs in less than one percent of the school population, presents a need for very intensive special education services, and costs for the services exceed the average costs for other students with disabilities.  Low incidence disabilities include autism, deafness or hearing impairments, vision impairments, and emotional disturbance when the emotional disturbance requires a more intense program such as day treatment most effectively provided in a multidistrict program.

            (11) through (15) remain the same but are renumbered (12) through (16).

 

AUTH:  20-7-402, 20-7-431, 20-7-457, MCA

IMP:      20-7-414, 20-7-431, 20-7-457, 20-9-321, MCA

 

            10.16.3818  SPECIAL EDUCATION TUITION RATES  (1) through (3)(b)(i) remain the same. 

            (ii)  the costs are for special education and related services unique to the student, including specialized one-on-one staff and specialized equipment and supplies and excluding:

            (A)  the costs for removal of architectural barriers;

            (B)  prorated costs of ordinary special education services such as teachers' salaries and benefits; and

            (C)  costs of equipment and supplies commonly used in special education programs.

            (c)  Option C:  For specialized school district programs which provide concentrated services for significant numbers of students with low incidence disabilities, including nonresident students who enroll in the host district specifically to attend the program, the estimated total per-pupil cost of the program including administrative operating costs, less 80% of the maximum per ANB rate established in 20-9-306(1), MCA for the year of attendance and less the per ANB special education block grants received by the district, may be added to the rate in ARM 10.10.301, provided:

            (i)  such services provided in any multidistrict program must be determined by the student's IEP team and cannot be based solely on the student's identified low incidence disability;

            (ii)  the host district has submitted a written description of the program and the Office of Public Instruction has provided written approval for the host district to apply the Option C special education tuition add-on rate for nonresident students of the program;

            (iii)  the host district does not pass program costs for resident students on to parties paying nonresident student tuition;

            (iv)  the host district uses any remaining balance after operating the prior year's special education program for low incidence disabilities to defray the following year's program costs used to determine the tuition rate; and

            (v)  the total per-pupil cost of operating the program is determined based on the estimated average number of students expected to participate in the program for the following year.

            (4) through (7) remain the same.

 

AUTH:  20-5-323, MCA

IMP:      20-5-320, 20-5-321, 20-5-323, 20-5-324, 20-9-306, MCA

 

REASON:   The Superintendent of Public Instruction finds that it is reasonable and necessary to amend the above rules to provide another option for special education funding.  School districts provide services regionally to certain groups of students with low incidence disabilities that cannot receive a free appropriate public education in their home districts.  Due to the complexity of the services provided, any public school district that provides such services must be able to receive a reasonable amount of funds to staff and house the program as the host district.  The current options available under ARM 10.16.3818 are not sufficient for the host district to receive adequate funding to operate the program.  The proposed Option C will allow for host districts to provide appropriate services and receive the amount of funding necessary.

 

            4.  Concerned persons may submit their data, views, or arguments either orally or in writing at the hearing.  Written data, views, or arguments may also be submitted to: Beverly Marlow, OPI Legal Division, P.O. Box 202501, Helena, Montana, 59620-2501; telephone (406) 444-3712; fax (406) 444-2893; or e-mail bemarlow@mt.gov and must be received no later than 5:00 p.m., Thursday, October 6, 2011.

 

5.  Ann Gilkey, OPI Chief Legal Counsel, has been designated to preside over and conduct this hearing.

 

6.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction maintains a list of interested persons who wish to receive notices of rulemaking actions proposed by this agency. Persons who wish to have their name added to the list shall make a written request that includes the name, e-mail, and mailing address of the person to receive notices and specifies for which program the person wishes to receive notices.  Notices will be sent by e-mail unless a mailing preference is noted in the request.  Such written request may be mailed or delivered to the contact person in 2 above or may be made by completing a request form at any rules hearing held by the agency.

 

7.  An electronic copy of this proposal notice is available through the Secretary of State's web site at http://sos.mt.gov/ARM/Register.  The Secretary of State strives to make the electronic copy of the notice conform to the official version of the notice, as printed in the Montana Administrative Register, but advises all concerned persons that in the event of a discrepancy between the official printed text of the notice and the electronic version of the notice, only the official printed text will be considered.  In addition, although the Secretary of State works to keep its web site accessible at all times, concerned persons should be aware that the web site may be unavailable during some periods, due to system maintenance or technical problems.

 

8.  The bill sponsor contact requirements of 2-4-302, MCA, do not apply.

 

 

 

/s/ Ann Gilkey                                               /s/ Dennis Parman for Denise Juneau

Ann Gilkey                                                    Denise Juneau

Rule Reviewer                                             Superintendent of Public Instruction

                                                                       

           

Certified to the Secretary of State August 29, 2011.