State Board Considers Rules on Admission of Students with Disabilities:
Written Comments, Video, and In-person Testimony Welcome
The Colorado State Board of Education (SBE) is revising rules regarding the enrollment of students with disabilities in charter schools. Draft rules are available for comment and will be addressed by the SBE on January 12.
The SBE is updating rules in two phases. The January hearing will address the first set of revisions, which clarify that charter schools must not ask about any prospective students’ disability prior to enrollment. Under the new rule, charter schools would also be required to update their websites, train staff, and ensure admissions processes did not discriminate against students with disabilities.
A second revision, expected to be released in draft in January and finalized in March, will address circumstances in which students with disabilities would not be served in a charter school that would otherwise enroll them. Based on previous comments from staff at the Colorado Department of Education, the draft from the state is expected to require that such location decisions be made during an IEP or 504 meeting.
The changes were prompted by recent complaints to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) regarding charter school enrollment forms that ask about students’ disability status.The proposed rule aligns Colorado policy with federal requirements that prohibit charter schools from asking applicants about disability status. You can read the final form of the proposed rules here, and a redline with changes here. The federal requirements are addressed in a 2016 FAQ available here.
Those wishing to comment can do so in writing, via video recording, and remotely or in person during the meeting. Send written comments or a three-minute video of testimony to state.board@cde.state.co.us prior to the meeting. If you wish to testify remotely, register by 10:00 A.M. on Tuesday, January 11, 2022, by sending the following information to the above email:
- Your name. Use the same name when logging in to testify.
- Name of group or organization you represent (if applicable).
- Agenda item or rule number: 1 CCR 301-88
- Whether you support or oppose the rule.
- Written summary as backup is encouraged.
Once you have registered to testify, an email will be sent with the meeting link and instructions for participating. You can also sign-up to testify in-person outside the meeting room entrance on the day of the hearing.
If you have any questions about the proposed rules or would like to discuss the implications of these changes, please reach Alex Medler at CACSA directly by email at: alex.medler@coauthorizers.org.