N.Y. Education Law § 4355: Admission

§ 4355. Admission. All deaf or blind and deaf children between the age

of three years and twenty-one years and of suitable capacity for

instruction who are legal residents of the state shall be eligible for

appointment to the New York state school for the deaf without charge for

such period of time in each individual case as may be set by the

commissioner, either: (i) upon the recommendation of the committee on

special education or committee on preschool special education of the

child's school district of residence, as applicable; or (ii) where the

parents of a school age child make application directly to the

commissioner or the school, upon recommendation of the school's

multidisciplinary team in accordance with the joint placement procedures

established in this section.

2. a. Upon receipt of an application for admission of a child who has

not been recommended for placement by the committee on special education

or committee on preschool special education of the child's school

district of residence, the school shall immediately notify such school

district of such application. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision

of law, the school shall make available to such school district of

residence, upon request, all records in its possession relating the

evaluation, placement and educational performance of each child who has

applied for admission or is attending the school, including the results

of any current evaluations of such child.

b. Prior to any meeting of its multidisciplinary team to develop an

individualized education program for a school age child, either upon

initial admission to the school or in an annual review, the school shall

notify the school district of residence of such meeting and shall offer

the district the opportunity to identify and present to the

multidisciplinary team, an alternative placement recommendation for

services in the least restrictive environment. In addition, such notice

shall advise the school district of its right to appoint additional

members to the multidisciplinary team pursuant to paragraph c of this

subdivision. The multidisciplinary team shall consider such alternative

and, if it rejects the alternative, shall include in its recommendation

a statement of its reasons for doing so.

c. In addition to the members required for a committee on special

education pursuant to subdivision one of section forty-four hundred two

of this chapter, the school's multidisciplinary team may include

additional members appointed by the board of education of the school

district of residence pursuant to this paragraph, and shall include such

members if appointed by such board of education. For each member

appointed by the school, the school district may appoint a corresponding

member, including a representative of the committee on special education

who is qualified to teach or supervise special education, a school

psychologist, the child's teacher, a parent member, a physician where

the parent requests attendance of the physician member, and, for a child

who has been evaluated for the first time, a person who is knowledgeable

about the evaluation procedures used with the child and familiar with

the results of the evaluation. The commissioner shall determine the

location at which the multidisciplinary team meeting will be held. In

the event of a tie vote on the multidisciplinary team, the parents shall

cast the deciding vote.

d. The majority of the multidisciplinary team shall state the reasons

for its recommendation, and submit such recommendation to the

commissioner for consideration in determining whether to appoint the

child. If the representatives appointed by the school district of

residence disagree with the recommendation of the multidisciplinary

team, they shall be entitled to prepare a dissenting opinion on the

placement recommendation and to submit such opinion to the commissioner

for consideration in determining whether to appoint the child to the

school.

e. The commissioner, or his or her designee, in determining whether to

appoint a school age child to the school, shall consider whether the

placement at the state school is an appropriate placement in the least

restrictive environment, taking into account the school district's

recommended alternative placement. If the commissioner or his or her

designee determines that placement in the state school is not in the

least restrictive environment or otherwise disagrees with such

recommendation, the commissioner shall state his or her reasons in

writing and shall send the recommendation back to the multidisciplinary

team for reconsideration, with notice to the parents. If the

commissioner refers the recommendation back to the multidisciplinary

team for reconsideration, the commissioner shall also notify the parents

and the multidisciplinary team in writing of the need to schedule a

meeting to ensure timely placement.

* f. Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the

contrary, a member of the multidisciplinary team, other than the parents

or persons in parental relation to the student is not required to attend

a meeting of the team, in whole or in part, if the parent or person in

parental relation to the student and the department agree, in writing,

that the attendance of the member is not necessary because the member's

area of the curriculum or related services is not being modified or

discussed at the meeting.

* NB Repealed June 30, 2027

* g. Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the

contrary, a member of the multidisciplinary team, other than the parents

or persons in parental relation to the student, may be excused from

attending a meeting of the team, in whole or in part, when the meeting

involves a modification to or discussion of the member's area of the

curriculum or related services if the parent or person in parental

relation to the student and the department consent, in writing, to the

excusal and the excused member submits to the parent or person in

parental relation to the student and the multidisciplinary team, written

input into the development of the individualized education program, and

in particular written input with respect to their area of curriculum or

related services prior to the meeting.

* NB Repealed June 30, 2027

* h. Requests for excusal of a member of the multidisciplinary team as

provided for in paragraphs f and g of this subdivision, and the written

input as provided for in paragraph g of this subdivision, shall be

provided not less than five calendar days prior to the meeting date, in

order to afford the parent or person in parental relation a reasonable

time to review and consider the request. Provided however, that a parent

or person in parental relation shall retain the right to request and/or

agree with the department to excuse a multidisciplinary team member at

any time including where the member is unable to attend the meeting

because of an emergency or unavoidable scheduling conflict and the

department submits the written input for review and consideration by the

parent or person in parental relation within a reasonable time prior to

the meeting and prior to obtaining written consent of the parent or

person in parental relation to such excusal.

* NB Repealed June 30, 2027

* i. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation to

the contrary, in making changes to a student's individualized education

program after the annual review has been conducted, the parent or person

in parental relation to the student and the department may agree not to

convene a multidisciplinary team meeting for the purpose of making those

changes, and instead may develop a written document to amend or modify

the student's current individualized education program under the

following circumstances:

(i) The parent or person in parental relation makes a request to the

department for an amendment to the individualized education program and

the department and such parent or person in parental relation agree in

writing; or

(ii) The department provides the parent or person in parental relation

with a written proposal to amend a provision or provisions of the

individualized education program that is conveyed in language

understandable to the parent or person in parental relation in such

parent's or such person's native language or other dominant mode of

communication, informs and allows the parent or person in parental

relation the opportunity to consult with the appropriate personnel or

related service providers concerning the proposed changes and the parent

or person in parental relation agrees in writing to such amendments.

(iii) If the parent or person in parental relation agrees to amend the

individualized education program without a meeting, the parent or person

in parental relation shall be provided prior written notice of the

changes to the individualized education program resulting from such

written document and the multidisciplinary team shall be notified of

such changes. If the department makes such changes by rewriting the

entire individualized education program, it shall provide the parent or

person in parental relation with a copy of the rewritten individualized

education program. If the department amends the individualized education

program without rewriting the entire document, the department shall

provide the parent or person in parental relation with a copy of the

document that amends or modifies the individualized education program

or, upon request of the parent or person in parental relation, a revised

copy of the individualized education program with the amendments

incorporated.

Amendments to an individualized education program pursuant to this

paragraph shall not affect the requirement that the multidisciplinary

team review the individualized education program at the annual meeting,

or more often if necessary.

* NB Repealed June 30, 2027

3. The commissioner shall adopt regulations to prescribe the

procedures for evaluation, placement and admission of children in

accordance with this section, which shall include but not be limited to

procedures to ensure that the due process rights of parents are

protected and that placement recommendations are made in a timely

manner.