85R25895 KKA-F     By: Moody H.B. No. 3437     Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3437:     By:  VanDeaver C.S.H.B. No. 3437       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to a notice of educational rights and recovery by school   districts and open-enrollment charter schools of costs for certain   student evaluations.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 29, Education Code, is   amended by adding Section 29.023 to read as follows:          Sec. 29.023.  NOTICE OF RIGHTS; COST RECOVERY PROGRAM. (a)   The agency shall develop a notice for distribution as provided by   Subsection (c) and posting on the agency's Internet website that   indicates:                (1)  the change made from 2016 to 2017 in reporting   requirements for school districts and open-enrollment charter   schools regarding the special education representation indicator   adopted in the Performance-Based Monitoring Analysis System   Manual; and                (2)  in plain language, the rights of a child under both   federal and state law and the general process available to initiate   a referral of a child for a full individual and initial evaluation   under Section 29.004 to determine the child's eligibility for   special education services.          (b)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school   shall include in the notice developed by the agency under   Subsection (a) information indicating where the local processes and   procedures for initiating a referral for special education services   eligibility evaluation may be found.          (c)  By a date established by the commissioner, each school   district or open-enrollment charter school shall provide the notice   to the parent of each child who attends school in the district or at   the school at any time during the 2017-2018 school year. A school   district or open-enrollment charter school shall also make the   notice available on request to any person. The notice must be   available in English and Spanish, and a school district or   open-enrollment charter school shall make a good faith effort to   provide the notice in the parent's native language if the parent's   native language is a language other than English or Spanish.           (d)  The notice is in addition to requirements imposed by   Section 26.0081.          (e)  Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, from federal   funds available for this purpose, the agency shall establish a   reimbursement fund from which school districts and open-enrollment   charter schools may apply and receive cost reimbursement if the   district or school experiences a significant increase from the   preceding school year in the number of full individual and initial   evaluations conducted under Section 29.004. A decision by the   commissioner to provide reimbursement from the fund is final and   may not be appealed.          (f)  The commissioner may adopt rules necessary to implement   this section.          (g)  This section expires September 1, 2021.          SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives   a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as   provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this   Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this   Act takes effect September 1, 2017.