FINAL BILL REPORT

                 EHB 2327

                         C 105 L 94

                     Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Requiring appropriate services for disabled students at institutions of higher education.

By Representatives Jacobsen, Brumsickle, Quall, Basich, Ogden, Kessler, Mastin, Wood, Casada, Shin, Orr, Rayburn, Romero and Anderson.

House Committee on Higher Education

House Committee on Appropriations

Senate Committee on Higher Education

Background:  In 1990, legislation was enacted directing the Governor's Committee on Disability Issues and Employment to convene a task force on students with disabilities in higher education. The task force was charged with making recommendations on the roles of state agencies, colleges, universities, and students to ensure that students with disabilities have an opportunity to obtain a higher education.

The task force identified a need to establish a clear, broad-based understanding of the rights and responsibilities of students with disabilities. In order to help colleges and universities recognize the issues and implement the recommendations, the task force suggested the passage of legislation describing core services available at each institution of higher education.

Summary:  The act is intended to provide a clear, succinct statement of rights for students with disabilities.  The Legislature does not intend to confer any new or expanded rights.

A student with disabilities is entitled to a core service only if the service is necessary to accommodate the student's disability.  The student must be reasonable in requesting the service and the institution must respond in a reasonable and timely manner.

The suggested core services are as follows:  (1) flexible procedures in the admissions process; (2) early registration; (3) sign language and oral and tactile interpreter services; (4) textbooks and other educational materials in alternative media; (5) provision of readers, notetakers, scribes and proofreaders; (6) ongoing review and coordination of efforts to improve campus accessibility; (7) facilitation of physical access including relocation of classes and institution-sponsored activities and services; (8) access to adaptive equipment; (9) referral to appropriate on- and off-campus support resources; (10) release of instructional materials in advance; (11) access to campus support resources; (12) flexibility in test-taking arrangements; (13) referral to the appropriate entity for diagnostic assessment and documentation of the disability; (14) flexibility in timeline for completion of course certification and degree; (15) flexibility in credits required to satisfy institutional eligibility for financial aid; and (16) notification of the institution's policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of disability and the procedure an aggrieved student must follow.

Votes on Final Passage:

House  94 0

Senate 44 0

Effective:  June 9, 1994