Re: House bill 14

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Posted by Howard Richman on November 13 2005 at 07:47:31:

In Reply to: Re: House bill 14 posted by Howard Richman on November 12 2005 at 20:58:25:

As I see it, there are two problems with the bill:

  1. The parent would have to send in two affidavits. This would be an additional burden upon homeschooling parents of handicapped children.
  2. The Intermediate Unit would still have to provide services to homeschooled parents in a school even though the rest of the bill gives the Intermediate Unit flexibility about how and where it provides special education services. For some children, the home might be the appropriate location. For very sick children who are confined to a hospital bed, the hospital might be the appropriate location.
The following amendment would address both problems:
Instruction to children of compulsory school age provided in a home education program, as provided for in section 1327.1 of this act, shall be considered as complying with the provisions of this section, except that any student who has been identified pursuant to the provisions of the Education of the Handicapped Act (Public Law 91-230, 20 U.S.C. §1401 et seq.) as needing special education services, excluding those students identified as gifted and/or talented, shall be in compliance with the requirements of compulsory attendance by participating in a home education program, as defined in section 1327.1, when the program addresses the specific needs of the exceptional student and is approved by a teacher with a valid certificate from the Commonwealth to teach special education or a licensed clinical or certified school psychologist, and written notification of such approval is submitted with the notarized affidavit required under section 1327.1(b) to the Department of Education. IF THE STUDENT HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE EDUCATION OF THE HANDICAPPED ACT, THE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT SHALL FORWARD A COPY OF THE AFFIDAVIT AND ANY ATTACHMENTS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. The supervisor of a home education program may request that the [school district or] Department of Education through the intermediate unit of residence provide services that address the specific needs of the exceptional student in the home education program. When the provision of services is agreed to by both the supervisor and the [school district or intermediate unit] Department of Education, all services shall be provided in the public schools or in a private school licensed to provide such programs and services AT AN APPROPRIATE LOCATION.
Key: Please let me know what you think of this amendment that I am thinking of proposing.

Howard


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