2014 Indiana Code TITLE 20. EDUCATION ARTICLE 35. SPECIAL EDUCATION CHAPTER 4. SCHOOL CORPORATIONS: POWERS AND DUTIES REGARDING CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
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IC 20-35-4
Chapter 4. School Corporations: Powers and Duties
Regarding Children With Disabilities
IC 20-35-4-1
Instruction of children with disabilities; powers and duties;
funding; personnel; rules
Sec. 1. (a) A school corporation acting individually or in a joint
school services program with other corporations may establish and
maintain instructional facilities for the instruction of children with
disabilities.
(b) A school corporation may provide transfer and transportation
of children with disabilities residing in the geographical limits of the
corporation to facilities for the instruction of children with disabilities
that are not maintained by the school corporation.
(c) A school corporation acting individually or in a joint school
services program with other corporations may convert, build, or lease
the necessary school buildings or use existing buildings to establish
and maintain classes of one (1) or more pupils who are:
(1) residents of Indiana; and
(2) children with disabilities.
(d) A school corporation may provide for instruction of any child
with a disability who is not able to attend a special class or school for
children with disabilities. Special personnel may be employed in
connection with these classes of schools, and any expenditures for
these classes of schools are lawful expenditures for maintaining the
education of children with disabilities.
(e) All nurses, therapists, doctors, psychologists, and related
specialists employed under this chapter:
(1) must be registered and authorized to practice under Indiana
law; and
(2) are subject to any additional requirements of the division.
(f) A school corporation acting individually or in a joint school
services program with other corporations may purchase special
equipment needed in a class or school for children with disabilities,
and any expenditures made for this special equipment are lawful
expenditures for maintaining the education of children with
disabilities.
(g) Children with disabilities shall receive credit for schoolwork
accomplished on the same basis as children without disabilities who
do similar work.
(h) A school corporation constructing or operating a school under
this chapter:
(1) shall pay the operating expense for each student attending;
and
(2) is entitled to receive state aid for these students under the
applicable laws.
Other school corporations sending children with disabilities as
students of the school shall pay tuition in accordance with
IC 20-35-8-1 through IC 20-35-8-2.
(i) If the state receives funds from the federal government to aid
in the operation of any school for children with disabilities, the
division shall distribute among these schools the grant of federal
funds that are appropriated. The federal funds shall be expended for
the purposes for which the funds are granted.
(j) Except as provided in section 9 of this chapter with regard to
preschool children with disabilities, schools or classes for children
with disabilities shall be operated by the school corporation
establishing the schools or classes under:
(1) Indiana laws applying to the operation of public schools; and
(2) the supervision of the division.
(k) Teachers in classes and schools for children with disabilities:
(1) shall be appointed in the same manner as other public school
teachers; and
(2) must possess:
(A) the usual qualifications required of teachers in the public
schools; and
(B) any special training that the state board requires.
(l) The state board shall adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 governing the
qualifications required of preschool teachers under contractual
agreements entered into under section 9 of this chapter.
(m) Qualifications of paraprofessional personnel to be employed
under this chapter are subject to a determination by the department.
Before any type of special class organized or to be organized under
this chapter is established in any school corporation or through any
contractual agreement, the special class must be submitted to and
approved by the state board.
(n) The state board shall adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 necessary for
the proper administration of this chapter.
As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.19. Amended by P.L.99-2007,
SEC.179.
IC 20-35-4-2
Special schools for children with disabilities; payment and
financing
Sec. 2. (a) The division may, upon application by the governing
body of a school corporation, together with proof of need, authorize
the school corporation to purchase, convert, remodel, or construct
rooms or buildings for special schools for children with disabilities
in an effort to have the schools located near the homes of the children
with disabilities the schools will serve.
(b) The school corporation:
(1) shall pay the cost of purchase, conversion, remodeling, and
construction and the cost of building equipment of any such
school; and
(2) may finance such conversion, remodeling, and construction
as other school buildings are financed.
(c) The school corporation establishing any such school may send
all its children with disabilities to the school and shall admit, if
facilities permit, any other children with disabilities in Indiana who:
(1) are eligible under this chapter; and
(2) are not provided with an opportunity to attend an adequate
school in their own school corporation.
As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.19.
IC 20-35-4-3
Medical responsibility for children with disabilities; special
education eligibility; qualifications for nurses and special
therapists; responsibility of department of health
Sec. 3. (a) The medical care of a child with a disability is the
responsibility of the physician chosen by the parent to attend the
child. However, a child with a disability is not excused from
attending school unless the local health officer, upon a statement of
the attending physician, certifies that attendance would be injurious
to the child. The educational and recreational program may not alter
in any way the medical care prescribed by the proper medical
authority. Eligibility for all special education classes and programs
must be determined by appropriate specialists.
(b) All nurses and special therapists in physical therapy,
occupational therapy, and related medical fields must be:
(1) graduates of fully accredited training schools; and
(2) registered by their respective examining boards or by their
respective professional associations.
(c) The medical care of needy children with disabilities is the
responsibility of the state department of health and its program for
children with special health care needs, to the extent provided by law.
(d) The personnel and facilities under the program for children
with special health care needs shall be used at all times for the
following:
(1) The determination of policies related to the medical care of
children with disabilities.
(2) The professional supervision of all special therapists.
(3) Individual casework as available.
As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.19.
IC 20-35-4-4
Special education fund; appropriation
Sec. 4. (a) For the administration and field service of the division,
there is appropriated annually out of the excise funds of the alcohol
and tobacco commission an amount to administer this chapter as
determined by the general assembly.
(b) Money appropriated under this section shall be deposited into
a special fund in the state treasury to be known as the special
education fund. The special education fund shall be:
(1) administered by the state superintendent; and
(2) used only for the administration of IC 20-35-2 through
IC 20-35-6 and IC 20-35-8.
As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.19.
IC 20-35-4-5
Effect on other statutes
Sec. 5. This chapter does not amend, alter, or repeal any other
statute but is supplemental to other statutes.
As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.19.
IC 20-35-4-6
Religious objection to medical examination
Sec. 6. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), this chapter does
not require a student to:
(1) undergo physical or medical examination or treatment; or
(2) be compelled to receive medical instruction;
if the parent of the student, in writing, notifies the teacher or principal
or other person in charge of the student that the parent objects to the
medical examination, treatment, or instruction because the parent
relies in good faith on prayer or spiritual means for the treatment of
sickness or affliction.
(b) An objection may not be made to a physical or medical
examination of a child with a physical disability to determine whether
the child shall be admitted to any class or school for children with
disabilities.
As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.19.
IC 20-35-4-7
Authority of school corporation to accept and invest gifts; special
fund
Sec. 7. (a) The governing body of a school corporation may do the
following:
(1) Accept, receive, and administer any gift, devise, legacy, or
bequest of real or personal property, including the income from
real estate:
(A) to or for the benefit of any school, dormitory, or facility
for the education of children with disabilities; and
(B) for any of the purposes contemplated under this chapter
and not inconsistent with this chapter or Indiana law.
(2) Invest or reinvest any of the funds received under this
section in the same kind of securities in which life insurance
companies are authorized by law to invest their funds.
(b) All money received by a school corporation under this section
and all money, proceeds, or income realized from any real estate or
other investments or property:
(1) shall be kept in a special fund;
(2) may not be commingled with any other fund or funds
received from taxation; and
(3) may be expended by the governing body of the school
corporation in any manner consistent with the:
(A) purposes of IC 20-35-2 through IC 20-35-6 and
IC 20-35-8; and
(B) intention of the donor or donors.
As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.19.
IC 20-35-4-8
Duty to provide special education program; facilities
Sec. 8. (a) The school corporation in which a child with a
disability resides is primarily responsible for providing the child with
an appropriate special education program. The governing body of
each school corporation shall establish and maintain the special
educational facilities that are needed for:
(1) children with disabilities residing in the school corporation;
and
(2) other children as authorized by this chapter.
However, under rules adopted by the state board, a child with a
disability may be placed in a special education program that is not
established or maintained by the school corporation.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), a school corporation may
establish special educational facilities for children with disabilities
who are:
(1) at least nineteen (19) years of age; or
(2) less than six (6) years of age.
As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.19.
IC 20-35-4-9
Preschool special education
Sec. 9. (a) The budget agency and the division shall develop a
funding mechanism to provide preschool special education. Each
school corporation shall provide each preschool child with a
disability with an appropriate special education. However, this
subsection is applicable only if the general assembly appropriates
state funds for preschool special education.
(b) A school corporation may act:
(1) individually;
(2) in a joint school services program with other school
corporations as described in section 1 of this chapter; or
(3) upon approval by the division, through contractual
agreements entered into between a school corporation and a
qualified public or private agency that serves preschool children
with disabilities.
(c) The state board shall adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 governing
the following:
(1) The extent to which a school corporation may contract with
another service provider as permitted under subsection (b).
(2) The nature of the contracts.
(3) The approval procedure required of the school corporation
under subsection (b).
(4) Other pertinent matters concerning these agreements.
As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.19.
IC 20-35-4-10
Comprehensive plan for educating children with disabilities; rules;
age limits
Sec. 10. (a) For purposes of this section, "comprehensive plan"
means a plan for educating the following:
(1) All children with disabilities that a school corporation is
required to educate under sections 8 through 9 of this chapter.
(2) The additional children with disabilities that the school
corporation elects to educate.
(b) For purposes of this section, "school corporation" includes the
following:
(1) The Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
board.
(2) The Indiana School for the Deaf board.
(c) The state board shall adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 detailing the
contents of the comprehensive plan. Each school corporation shall
complete and submit to the state superintendent a comprehensive
plan. School corporations operating cooperative or joint special
education services may submit a single comprehensive plan. In
addition, if a school corporation enters into a contractual agreement
as permitted under section 9 of this chapter, the school corporation
shall collaborate with the service provider in formulating the
comprehensive plan.
(d) Notwithstanding the age limits set out in IC 20-35-1-2, the
state board may:
(1) conduct a program for the early identification of children
with disabilities, between the ages of birth and less than
twenty-two (22) years of age not served by the public schools
or through a contractual agreement under section 9 of this
chapter; and
(2) use agencies that serve children with disabilities other than
the public schools.
(e) The state board shall adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 requiring the:
(1) department of correction;
(2) state department of health;
(3) division of disability and rehabilitative services;
(4) Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired board;
(5) Indiana School for the Deaf board; and
(6) division of mental health and addiction;
to submit to the state superintendent a plan for the provision of
special education for children in programs administered by each
respective agency who are entitled to a special education.
(f) The state superintendent shall furnish professional consultant
services to school corporations and the entities listed in subsection (e)
to aid them in fulfilling the requirements of this section.
As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.19. Amended by P.L.231-2005,
SEC.46; P.L.218-2005, SEC.81; P.L.1-2006, SEC.335;
P.L.141-2006, SEC.98.
IC 20-35-4-11
Governing bodies powers and duties; diplomas or certificates of
graduation to children with disabilities
Sec. 11. (a) The governing bodies of one (1) or more school
corporations establishing and maintaining educational facilities and
services for students with disabilities, as described in this chapter,
shall, in connection with establishing and maintaining the facilities
and services, exercise similar powers and duties as are prescribed by
law for the establishment, maintenance, and management of other
recognized educational facilities and services.
(b) The governing bodies shall:
(1) include only eligible children in the program; and
(2) comply with all the requirements of:
(A) this chapter; and
(B) all rules established by the state superintendent and the
state board.
(c) A school corporation may issue diplomas or certificates of
graduation to pupils with disabilities completing special educational
programs approved by the state superintendent and the state board.
As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.19.
IC 20-35-4-12
Experimental special education programs for deaf and hard of
hearing children
Sec. 12. Public schools may operate special education programs
for deaf and hard of hearing children at least six (6) months of age on
an experimental basis upon the approval of the state superintendent
and the state board.
As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.19. Amended by P.L.109-2012,
SEC.15.
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