Special education proposals ruled out

By TYLER WHITLEY
Media General News Service
Published: September 12, 2008

Under pressure from politicians and thousands of parents of special-education students, the state Department of Education has backed down from proposed rule changes that would limit parental consent for ending special-education services.

Billy K. Cannaday Jr., superintendent of public instruction, said the department also would withdraw a proposal to move the due-process hearings from the Virginia Supreme Court to the Department of Education.

Cannaday said the two proposals will not be included in new regulations that will be presented to the Board of Education in about a week.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and Speaker of the House William J. Howell, R-Stafford, objected to the rule changes, which also drew overwhelming opposition from parents at a series of regional hearings held around the state.

Elizabeth Palen, executive director of the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules, which considered the proposed regulations at a hearing yesterday, said the proposed rule changes drew 77,000 comments from the public—the most ever.

Cannaday’s withdrawal of the proposed rule changes pleased Maureen Hollowell, a Virginia Beach parent who is associated with the Virginia Coalition for Students with Disabilities. But she said her group remains anxious about other proposed changes and will wait until they are issued before commenting further.

Del. H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, the House Majority Leader, said the General Assembly also was satisfied with the withdrawal, but would continue to monitor the situation.

The Board of Education is revising the state standards in order to comply with federal law. State education officials last amended Virginia’s regulations about eight years ago and must now review them to comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004.

But parents objected to a change, designed to give educators more flexibility, that would lessen the need for parental consent when a student is determined to no longer need special-education services.

Another proposed change would have moved hearing appeal officers from the Virginia Supreme Court to the Department of Education. The appeals are a last resort when parents and educators can’t agree on how to deal with a special-education student.

The Board of Education might vote Sept. 25 when it will see a final draft of the proposed regulation changes.