Section 186-C:21 Executive Planning Commission on Special Education.
I. There is hereby established an executive planning commission on special education, consisting of the governor, the commissioners of the departments of education, health and human services, and regional community-technical colleges, and the chancellor of the university system of New Hampshire or respective designees who shall have substantial experience at the executive level in the public or private sector.
II. The commission shall develop a plan providing for an improved comprehensive, systemic, and sustained approach in the following areas:
(a) Methods for delivering student-specific and general technical assistance.
(b) Systems of pre-service and in-service education to professional, paraprofessional, and administrative personnel, including improved coordination between personnel preparation at the university level and the curriculum frameworks, evidence based practices, and the needs of students with disabilities.
(c) Strategies to address educational personnel shortages.
(d) One or more pools of specialists, within or outside of the university system, or both, which school districts can use on a contract or other basis to address temporary or permanent personnel shortages or when special expertise is necessary, including for individual student evaluations and delivery of services.
(e) Methods of research and development and dissemination of best practices across the state.
(f) Provision of assistive technology and reasonable accommodations.
(g) Methods to assist schools and other service systems in developing local school-based options for students who have been placed in alternative or separate schools.
(h) Methods and standards to evaluate the performance of the above functions.
III. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, the identification of persons or agencies responsible, timelines, resources, and any necessary statutory, regulatory, or policy changes. The commission shall provide the plan and any other recommendations the commission deems necessary and appropriate to the general court and the governor by June 1, 2010, and may at any time prior to said date propose any initiatives which may be implemented earlier
IV. In developing the plan, the commission shall consider:
(a) A regional model for addressing children with particularly low-incidence disabilities or technical assistance of a highly specialized nature, desirability of lodging expertise in separate single statewide sources.
(b) Whether the plan and model should be phased in and how; whether the plan and model should apply only to children with disabilities as defined by RSA 186-C:2 or expanded at the outset or a later point to include other students, such as students at risk of needing special education, dropping out, court placed, or students for whom English is a second language; whether the plan and model should apply to all students; and whether schools failing to make adequate yearly progress should be prioritized.
(c) To what extent and from where existing state or federal dollars may be used to fund some of the services proposed in this section, and the apportionment of costs between the state and local school districts for the provision of such services.
(d) Whether a single entity within an institution would be responsible for directing or coordinating the functions listed in this section, including addressing personnel shortage issues.
(e) The need or desirability of coordinating with other entities to take advantage of existing expertise possibly through a consortium or similar model.
(f) The need for memoranda of understanding between state agencies and the universities or other entities.
V. The commission may accept gifts, donations, or grants from any source provided the gifts, donations, or grants received shall be used for the purpose of hiring staff and retaining consultants with relevant information and expertise as deemed necessary by the commission.
Source. 1985, 317:2. 1990, 140:2, X. 1994, 379:20. 1995, 310:181. 2007, 328:2, eff. July 1, 2007. 2008, 274:31, eff. July 1, 2008. 2009, 202:14, eff. July 15, 2009.