S-484                 _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 5083

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1989 Regular Session

By Senators Smith and Bailey

Read first time 1/13/89 and referred to Committee on Education.

AN ACT Relating to braille instruction for blind students; and amending RCW 28A.13.010.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

        Sec. 1.  Section 28A.13.010, chapter 223, Laws of 1969 ex. sess. as last amended by section 4, chapter 341, Laws of 1985 and RCW 28A.13.010 are each amended to read as follows:

          There is established in the office of the superintendent of public instruction an administrative section or unit for the education of children with handicapping conditions.

          Handicapped children are those children in school or out of school who are temporarily or permanently retarded in normal educational processes by reason of physical or mental handicap, or by reason of emotional maladjustment, or by reason of other handicap, and those children who have specific learning and language disabilities resulting from perceptual-motor handicaps, including problems in visual and auditory perception and integration.

          The superintendent of public instruction shall require each school district in the state to insure an appropriate educational opportunity for all handicapped children between the ages of three and twenty-one, but when the twenty-first birthday occurs during the school year, the educational program may be continued until the end of that school year.  The superintendent of public instruction, by rule and regulation, shall establish for the purpose of excess cost funding, as provided in this chapter, RCW 28A.24.100 and 28A.41.053, functional definitions of the various types of handicapping conditions and eligibility criteria for handicapped programs.  For the purposes of this chapter, an appropriate education is defined as an education directed to the unique needs, abilities, and limitations of the handicapped children.  An appropriate education for visually impaired students who are  legally blind includes instruction in braille.    School districts are strongly encouraged to provide parental training in the care and education of the children and to involve parents in the classroom.

          Nothing in this section shall prohibit the establishment or continuation of existing cooperative programs between school districts or contracts with other agencies approved by the superintendent of public instruction, which can meet the obligations of school districts to provide education for handicapped children, or prohibit the continuation of needed related services to school districts by the department of social and health services.

          This section shall not be construed as in any way limiting the powers of local school districts set forth in RCW 28A.13.050.

          No child shall be removed from the jurisdiction of juvenile court for training or education under this chapter without the approval of the superior court of the county.