SECOND REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 2023

91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY


INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE FRANKLIN.

Read 1st time February 21, 2002, and 1000 copies ordered printed.

TED WEDEL, Chief Clerk

3746L.01I


AN ACT

To repeal sections 162.961 and 162.962, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to resolution conferences.




Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Sections 162.961 and 162.962, RSMo, are repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 162.961 and 162.962, to read as follows:

162.961. 1. The resolution conference provided for in section 162.950 shall be conducted by the chief administrative officer of the responsible school district or a designee. The conference shall be informal, witnesses need not be sworn and a record of the proceedings need not be made. The school district or the state department of elementary and secondary education shall see that the parent or guardian or his representative is advised of and permitted to review all diagnoses, evaluations and reevaluations obtained by the board of education or the state department of elementary and secondary education which pertain to the child. The school district or state department of elementary and secondary education shall fully advise the parents or guardian or their representative of each reason relied upon by it in taking the proposed action. The parents or guardian or their representative may present any information whether written or oral to the officer which pertains to the recommended action. Questioning of all witnesses shall be permitted.

2. The resolution conference may be waived by the parents or guardian. If the parent or guardian waives the resolution conference and requests a three-member panel hearing, the state board of education shall empower such a panel pursuant to subsection 3 of this section. That empowerment shall take place within fifteen days of the request for the three-member panel hearing.

3. A parent, guardian or the responsible educational agency may request a due process hearing by the state board of education with respect to any matter relating to identification, evaluation, educational placement, or the provision of a free appropriate public education of the child. Such request shall include the child's name, address, school, issue, and suggested resolution of dispute if known. Except as provided in subsection 6 of this section, the board or its delegated representative shall within fifteen days after receiving notice empower a hearing panel of three persons who are not directly connected with the original decision and who are not employees of the board to which the appeal has been made. All of the panel members shall have some knowledge or training involving children with disabilities, none shall have a personal or professional interest which would conflict with his or her objectivity in the hearing, and all shall meet the department of elementary and secondary education's training and assessment requirements pursuant to state regulations. One person shall be chosen by the local school district board or its delegated representative or the responsible educational agency, and one person shall be chosen at the recommendation of the parent or guardian. If either party has not chosen a panel member ten days after the receipt by the department of elementary and secondary education of the request for a due process hearing, such panel member shall be chosen instead by the department of elementary and secondary education. Each of these two panel members shall be compensated pursuant to a rate set by the department of elementary and secondary education. The third person shall be appointed by the state board of education and shall serve as the chairperson of the panel. The chairperson shall be an attorney licensed to practice law in this state. During the pendency of any three-member panel hearing, or prior to the empowerment of the panel, the parties may, by mutual agreement, submit their dispute to a mediator pursuant to section 162.959.

4. The parent or guardian, school official, and other persons affected by the action in question shall present to the hearing panel all pertinent evidence relative to the matter under appeal. All rights and privileges as described in section 162.963 shall be permitted.

5. After review of all evidence presented and a proper deliberation, the hearing panel, within forty-five days of receipt of the request for a due process hearing, except as provided in subsection 6 of this section relating to expedited hearings, shall by majority vote determine its findings, conclusions, and decision in the matter in question and forward the written decision to the parents or guardian of the child and to the president of the appropriate local board of education or responsible educational agency and to the department of elementary and secondary education. A specific extension of the time line may be made by the chairman at the request of either party, except in the case of an expedited hearing as provided in subsection 6 of this section.

6. An expedited due process hearing by the state board of education may be requested by a parent to challenge a [discipline] disciplinary change of placement [to an interim alternative educational setting,] or to challenge a manifestation determination in connection with a disciplinary [action involving a forty-five day placement for weapons, drugs, or because the child is a danger to himself or others, or by a responsible educational agency to seek a forty-five day alternative educational placement for a dangerous or violent student] change of placement. The board or its delegated representative shall appoint a hearing officer to hear the case and render a decision within the time line required by federal law and state regulations implementing federal law. The hearing officer shall be an attorney licensed to practice law in this state. The hearing officer shall have some knowledge or training involving children with disabilities, shall not have a personal or professional interest which would conflict with his or her objectivity in the hearing, and shall meet the department of elementary and secondary education's training and assessment requirements pursuant to state regulations. A specific extension of the time line is only permissible to the extent consistent with federal law and pursuant to state regulations.

7. If the responsible public agency requests a due process hearing to seek a forty-five day alternative educational placement for a dangerous or violent student, the agency shall show by substantial evidence that there is a substantial likelihood the student will injure himself or others and that the agency made reasonable efforts to minimize that risk, and shall show that the forty-five day alternative educational placement will provide a free appropriate public education which includes services and modifications to address the behavior so that it does not reoccur, and continue to allow [access to] progress in the general education curriculum.

162.962. In a case where review of the hearing panel's decision is sought by a school district or a parent or guardian, either party may appeal as [provided in chapter 536, RSMo.] follows:

(1) The court shall hear the case without a jury and shall hear it upon the petition and record filed as provided in sections 162.950 to 162.961;

(2) The inquiry may extend to a determination of whether the action of the agency:

(a) Is in violation of constitutional provisions;

(b) Is unsupported by competent and substantial evidence upon the entire record;

(c) Is made upon unlawful procedure or without a fair trial;

(d) Is arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable; or

(e) Involves an abuse of discretion.



Missouri House of Representatives