The Texas Education Agency (TEA) will produce and provide to the local educational agencies (LEAs) a written explanation of the options and requirements for providing assistance to students who have learning difficulties or who need or may need special education.
The explanation must state that the parent is entitled at any time to request an evaluation of the student for special education services.
Each school year, each LEA must provide the written explanation to the parent of each student enrolled in the LEA by including the explanation in the student handbook or by another means.
Referral of students for an EVALUATION for possible special education services must be a part of the LEA’s overall general education referral or screening system.
The TEA does not have a performance indicator in any agency monitoring system, including the performance-based monitoring analysis system, that solely measures an LEA's aggregated number or percentage of enrolled students who receive special education services.
Either the parent of the student, a state educational agency, an LEA, an educational service agency (ESA), or a nonprofit public charter school that is not otherwise included as and not a school of an LEA or ESA, and any other political subdivision of the state that is responsible for providing education to children with disabilities, may initiate a request for an initial evaluation to determine if the student is a child with a disability.
If the student continues to experience difficulty in the general education classroom after the provision of intervention, the LEA must refer the student for an initial evaluation.
Whenever a student is referred for an initial evaluation, the LEA must provide PRIOR WRITTEN NOTICE of its proposal or refusal to evaluate the student.
For children who are homeless or in substitute care, the LEA must also provide notice to the child's educational decision-maker and caseworker regarding requests or referrals for an evaluation under Section 504, or special education.
Before conducting a full individual and initial evaluation, the LEA must obtain from the parent CONSENT FOR INITIAL EVALUATION.
For a student suspected of having a specific learning disability, the LEA must refer for an initial evaluation including by providing prior written notice, and promptly request consent for initial evaluation if, prior to a referral, the student has not made adequate progress after an appropriate period of time when provided:
The LEA must comply with the SPECIAL EDUCATION ELIGIBILITY FOLDER framework for maintaining copies of referral data.