49-10-301 - State plan.
49-10-301. State plan.
(a) The commissioner of education, as head of the department of education and acting through its division of special education, shall make and keep current a plan for the implementation of the policy set forth in § 49-10-101.
(b) The plan shall include:
(1) A census of the children with disabilities in this state showing the total number of children with disabilities and the geographic distribution of children with disabilities as a whole;
(2) Provision for diagnosis and screening of children with disabilities;
(3) An inventory of the personnel and facilities available to provide instruction and other services for children with disabilities;
(4) An analysis of the present distribution of responsibility for special education between the state and local school systems and general units of local government, together with recommendations for any necessary or desirable changes in the distribution of responsibilities;
(5) Identification of the criteria for determining how children with disabilities are to be educated;
(6) Standards for the education to be received by each of the several categories of children with disabilities in regular schools or school districts and in state institutions, including methods of assuring that education afforded children with disabilities will be as nearly equivalent as may be to that afforded regular children and also will take account of their special needs;
(7) A program for the preparation, recruitment and in-service training of personnel in special education and allied fields, including participation, as appropriate, by institutions of higher learning, state and local agencies and any other public and private entities having relevant expertise;
(8) A program for the development, acquisition, construction and maintenance of facilities and new, enlarged, redesigned and replacement facilities needed to implement the policy of parts 1 and 2, this part and parts 4-6 of this chapter;
(9) A full description of the state plan for providing special education to all children with disabilities in this state, including each of the matters enumerated in this section, and any other necessary or appropriate matters; and
(10) Any additional matters that may be necessary or appropriate, including recommendations for amendment of laws, changes in administrative practices and patterns of organization and changes in levels and patterns of financial support.
(c) (1) Amendments to or revisions of the plan shall be submitted to the governor and general assembly and be made available for public distribution no less than ninety (90) days prior to the convening of each regular session of the general assembly.
(2) All amendments or revisions of the plan shall detail progress made in fulfilling the plan and in implementing the policy of parts 1 and 2, this part and parts 4-6 of this chapter.
(d) The publication of the plan or any amendments or revisions to the plan shall be made in accordance with the rules, regulations, policies and procedures of the state publications committee.
[Acts 1972, ch. 839, § 5; T.C.A., § 49-2932; Acts 1990, ch. 1024, § 28; 1994, ch. 768, § 2.]