Implementation of Board Policy: Special Education Operating Procedures
“Help! We need special education operating procedures!” In the fall of 2020 districts across the state nervously acknowledged the reality of this phrase as many scrambled to respond to a mandate from the Texas Education Agency to upload special education operating procedures to the Legal Framework for the Child-Centered Special Education Process website. The majority of districts met the requirement by the deadline, or soon after. However, four years later many still share those now out-of-date procedures on the newly named Texas Legal Framework for the Child-Centered Special Education Process under new naming guidelines issued by the TEA. To maintain compliance, districts must regularly update procedures to reflect current federal and state requirements and align with actual district practices. Do your district’s special education operating procedures meet this expectation?
School Board Role
Texas public school boards approve a multitude of policies that incorporate legal and local requirements to conduct school business effectively and efficiently. These policies provide the what and why for district staff to follow. Special education operating procedures indicate how and when the district will implement policy requirements and delineate who will do so. Adopted board policy restates laws and regulations. Operating procedures indicate how the district will carry out board adopted policies with a focus on day-to-day functions of the program and drive continuous improvement. Each district determines whether or not local operating procedures require board approval.
Special Education Operating Procedures in Texas
Districts that apply for and receive federal special education funds must establish and follow procedures to ensure program compliance. This ongoing IDEA-B expectation received significant attention in October 2020 when the Texas Education Agency mandated, for the first time, that districts upload designated procedures for agency review. Although each district should create written procedures for each area identified on the Texas Legal Framework for the Child-Centered Special Education Process (Legal Framework) website, the TEA currently only requires each district to upload Child Find, Evaluation, and FAPE (ARD Committee) frameworks. By August 31 of each year the district must review their special education operating procedures currently uploaded in the Legal Framework system to ensure the content reflects relevant legislative changes, updates to Texas education and administrative codes, and current district practices.
Components of Special Education Operating Procedures
The Legal Framework identifies 10 frameworks for special education operating procedures. Each framework includes specific areas in which the district must establish written procedures. TEA guidance indicates that each procedure include:
- An explanation of how the district will meet federal and state requirements in the specific area
- Relevant timelines
- Staff positions accountable for executing required actions
- A list of ways in which the district can prove implementation.
To meet these requirements, a district may choose to create their own special education operating procedures from scratch, use templates in each area provided by TEA, or purchase a commercial product such as operating procedures available through a membership to TASB Student Solutions. The chosen method must incorporate all required components and utilize naming conventions established by TEA in August 2022.
Steps to Ensure Compliant Procedures
Before August 31 of each year, district special education administrators should review the special education operating procedures currently uploaded in the Legal Framework.
During the Review
- Update all areas impacted by legislative, commissioner’s rules, or State Board of Education changes.
- Ensure continued alignment with current practices. Ask if what your written procedures say you do matches what your staff at all levels actually does.
- Communicate with district and campus level staff responsible for implementing the procedures to ensure everyone understands expectations. Ask what works or does not work to ascertain whether changes need to occur in procedures or additional training needs exist.
Following the Review
- Train district and campus administrators in the special education processes written in the procedures.
- Train all district staff involved in the education of or interaction with students receiving special education services in the special education processes written in the procedures.
- In all training sessions, highlight updates and significant changes from previous procedures.
Does your district’s special education operating procedures meet expectations? If you engage in these practices, they likely do, and you will meet an important first step of a compliant special education program, provide clear guidance for staff, and likely positively impact student performance.
Contact TASB Student Solutions for more information about special education operating procedures, as well as procedures for other special populations programs. Visit our webpage, call us at 888-247-4829, or email studentsolutions@tasb.org for more information.
Denise Carter
Denise Carter serves as manager of TASB Student Solutions, where she leads an energetic and innovative team dedicated to supporting districts in special populations areas.
Carter’s 28 years of education experience in special education, general education, and administrative roles help her to meet the varied needs of all Texas school districts such as operating procedures, full program and folder reviews, professional development, executive coaching, and special education workload staffing analysis.
Carter joined TASB in 2019. She holds a bachelor’s in education from Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos and a master’s in education from The University of Texas at Austin. She is pursuing a doctorate in educational leadership from Hardin Simmons University in Abilene.