Homebound

 34 CFR Part 300; 19 TAC Chapters 75, 89

Special Education Homebound

This instructional arrangement/setting is for providing special education and related services to students who are served at home or hospital bedside. Students served on a homebound or hospital bedside basis are expected to be confined for a minimum of four consecutive weeks as documented by a physician licensed to practice in the United States. Homebound or hospital bedside instruction may, as provided by local district policy, also be provided to chronically ill students who are expected to be confined for any period of time totaling at least four weeks throughout the school year as documented by a physician licensed to practice in the United States. The student's ARD committee shall determine the amount of services to be provided to the student in this instructional arrangement/setting in accordance with federal and state laws, rules, and regulations.

The “Medical Homebound Instruction Form” Report can be located within Project Education (SPED) Process FAQ. This document is required to be filled out by the student’s licensed physician or TEA-approved licensed healthcare professional when considering Homebound placement. 

To be placed in the special education homebound instructional setting, a student aged six years or older must meet the following four criteria:

• The student is eligible for special education and related services as determined by an ARD committee.

• The student is expected to be confined at home or hospital bedside for a minimum of four weeks. The weeks need not be consecutive if the student is chronically ill and the local district policy allows for such.

• The student is confined at home or hospital bedside for medical reasons only.

• The student’s medical condition is documented by a physician licensed to practice in the United States.

Students aged three through five years may be placed in the homebound instructional setting if their ARD committees determine that placement is appropriate.

Hospital/Residential Program 

Students served in this program are confined to a hospital or residential facility who are enrolled in ILTEXAS.  Students receive instruction in available core subject areas in which they were previously enrolled at their sending campus. Instruction is provided by a certified general education and/or special education teacher.

TEA Homebound FAQ

Homebound Services Referral Process and Checklist

The following procedures need to be completed prior to scheduling an ARDC meeting to consider Special Education Homebound Services.

1. Contact the Director for Speech Therapy and Related Services and the Director of Special Education Compliance prior to initiating any Homebound referral procedures 

2. Have the parent or guardian provide authorization for the release of confidential information (SPED Authorized Release of Confidential Information Form)

3. Send the Medical Homebound Instruction Form to the student's licensed medical service provider

4. When the completed, signed Medical Homebound Instruction Form is received from the student's licensed medical service provider, schedule a staffing and invite the special education area director, the director of speech therapy and related services, and the special education director of compliance.

5. Inform the parent that the student must be supervised by an adult while the homebound teacher is in the home.

6. Inform the parent that Homebound placement is an ARDC decision.

7. Document efforts/results of sending assignments home if the student has already missed school.