Bill Text: NJ S2855 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Codifies current State Board of Education regulations which limit who may serve as case managers for students with disabilities to members of child study teams and certain speech-language specialists.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-06-13 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S2855 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-S2855-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JEFF VAN DREW
District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)
SYNOPSIS
Codifies current State Board of Education regulations which limit who may serve as case managers for students with disabilities to members of child study teams and certain speech-language specialists.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning special education and supplementing chapter 46 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. A member of a child study team or a speech-language specialist when that person acts as a member of a child study team shall be designated and shall serve as the case manager for each student with a disability.
The case manager shall be responsible for those duties specified under chapter 46 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and the regulations promulgated thereto.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
Under current State Board of Education regulations at N.J.A.C.6A:14-3.2, a case manager is assigned to a student when it is determined that an initial evaluation for special education services should be conducted. Under this provision, case managers must be child study team members or speech-language specialists when they act as members of the child study team. This bill codifies the requirement currently in regulation that only persons with these qualifications are permitted to serve as case managers.
The Education Transformation Task Force in its final report dated September 5, 2012 recommended that State Board of Education regulations should be amended to allow school districts to assign personnel other than child study team members and speech-language specialists to serve as case managers for students with disabilities. Under language recommended by the task force, in addition to child study team members and speech-language specialists, "teachers and any other licensed staff member with appropriate knowledge about special education requirements, services and programs available for students with disabilities" would be permitted to serve as case managers. It is the sponsor's belief that only child study team members or speech-language specialists when they act as members of the child study team are appropriate individuals to serve as case managers for students with disabilities.
