Section 186-C:3-a Duties.
I. The division shall help school districts meet their responsibilities under this chapter and under federal law regarding the education of children with disabilities.
I-a. The special education program of the department of education shall develop and analyze information on issues and problems of regional and statewide importance and on assisting school districts in dealing with these issues and problems. The department shall ensure that the regulation and monitoring of school district activities shall not exceed what is necessary for compliance with this chapter and with state and federal law regarding the education of children with disabilities.
II. The department of education shall collect, organize, and analyze data and information about programs, conditions, instruction, and trends in special education in the state. In addition, the department shall be responsible for monitoring and maintaining information about national and regional trends, instructions and issues affecting special education in New Hampshire. The department shall make this information available to the districts and use this information to:
(a) Assess the needs of school districts for assistance in carrying out their responsibilities for educating children with disabilities;
(b) Identify cost effective and appropriate alternative programs that meet the needs of children with disabilities;
(c) Focus resources on students requiring extensive services;
(d) Develop cost and service level benchmarks for special education in New Hampshire which may be used as reference points by districts to measure the effectiveness of their programs in meeting goals and objectives of the individualized education program; and
(e) Develop and promote evidence-based practices supporting the education of children with disabilities in the least restrictive environment, provided that:
(1) If children with disabilities are being placed in out-of-district programs solely due to a lack of qualified personnel, the department shall develop and implement strategies, in addition to the requirements of RSA 186-C:21, to help address the shortage and increase the capacity of local education agencies to serve children in the schools they would attend if not disabled.
(2) The department shall identify disproportionate representation in out-of-district programs and provide focused technical assistance to help the identified school districts serve children with disabilities in the least restrictive environment.
II-a. (a) In addition to the requirements of paragraph II, the department of education shall annually submit a report to the commissioner of the department and the state board of education that:
(1) Shows the identification of children with disabilities analyzed according to the following criteria: age and grade level, and number and percentage of the total number of children with disabilities in each disability category.
(2) Includes expenditures for special education as reported to the department of education by school districts and state and federal revenues for special education received by school districts.
(3) Shows the annual progress and compliance on the state's performance plan required by 20 U.S.C. section 1416(b), 20 U.S.C. section 1412(a)(15), and 20 U.S.C. section 1416(a)(3).
(4) Shows the progress and compliance with the requirements in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 U.S.C. section 6311(b), and RSA 193-E:3 and RSA 193-H:2 with respect to children with disabilities.
(b) These findings shall be reported for the state and for each school district. The commissioner shall make this report available upon request to all legislators, school officials from school districts, school administrative units, cooperative schools, AREA schools, and the general public, and shall make it available in an easily accessible format on the department of education website. In preparing such reports, the department of education shall not disclose personally identifiable information.
III. The department of education shall provide technical assistance and information to the school districts so that the districts may effectively and efficiently identify, clarify and address their specific responsibilities under state and federal special education laws. This assistance shall include the provision of mediation services to resolve special education disputes and the provision of expertise regarding specific educationally disabling conditions. Whenever technical assistance of a specialized nature, beyond that available in the department, is required, the department shall assume a leadership role in identifying sources of such assistance in other state agencies, the federal government, volunteer services or the private sector.
IV. The department of education shall administer those federal and state funding programs for special education assigned to it by law. The department shall also make recommendations to the state board regarding management systems, standard definitions and procedures in order to provide uniform reporting of special education services and expenditures by school districts and school administrative units.
V. The department of education shall monitor the operations of local school districts, regional special education centers, chartered public schools, and private organizations or state programs for the benefit of the education of children with disabilities regarding compliance with state and federal laws regarding the education of students with disabilities. The department's monitoring, regulatory oversight, and program approval shall be structured and implemented in a prudent manner and shall not place an excessive administrative burden on local districts. The department and districts shall approach monitoring and regulation in a constructive, cooperative manner, while also ensuring accountability for failing to meet standards and ensuring that the special education needs of children with disabilities are met.
VI. [Repealed.]
VII. (a) Granite State high school shall submit a plan for department approval to be adopted by November 1, 2009, to meet the special education needs of persons incarcerated in the state prison system.
(b) Each county correctional facility shall designate one special education coordinator who shall act as the contact person for outside entities on matters related to special education, and to consolidate and coordinate existing functions associated with providing a free appropriate public education to eligible students, including the assessment of eligibility and educational needs, and who shall participate in hiring or contracting with necessary staff, coordinate with local school district staff or other individuals to provide special education and related services, coordinate evaluations and meetings, and oversee the planning of special education after discharge.
(c) County correctional facilities shall be exempt from state board of education rules, except that the standards for the education of students with disabilities and all educational programs shall be set by interagency agreements between the department of education and each county correctional facility.
(d) Granite State high school and each county correctional facility shall be subject to the monitoring requirements in RSA 186-C:5, and shall be monitored in 2007, and subject to on-site monitoring at least annually through 2010.
Source. 1985, 269:3. 1987, 345:7. 1990, 140:2, X, XII. 1994, 379:14, 24, V. 1997, 232:1. 1998, 68:1, eff. July 11, 1998. 2008, 302:36, eff. Jan. 1, 2009.