Text of MA H 1944 (2012)

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 02784 FILED ON: 01/21/2011 HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 01944 The Commonwealth of Massachusetts _______________ PRESENTED BY: Alice Hanlon Peisch _______________ To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General Court assembled: The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the passage of the accompanying bill: An Act relating to high school graduation requirements for students with learning disabilities ￿. _______________ PETITION OF: NAME: DISTRICT/ADDRESS: Alice Hanlon Peisch 14th Norfolk HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 01944 By Ms. Peisch of Wellesley, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1944) of Peisch relative to high school graduation requirements for students with learning disabilities Joint Committee on Education. [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION SEE ￿ HOUSE ￿ , NO. 4665 OF 2009-2010.] The Commonwealth of Massachusetts _______________ In the Year Two Thousand Eleven _______________ An Act relating to high school graduation requirements for students with learning disabilities ￿. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: 1 SECTION 1. Subsection (i) of section 1D of chapter 69 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “graduation” in line 59 the 3 following:- 4 , except as described in subsection (ia) below 5 SECTION 2. Said section 1D is hereby further amended by inserting after subection (i) the 6 following section:- 7 (ia) Any “School Age Child with a Disability,” as defined in section 1 of chapter 71B, who fails 8 to satisfy the requirements of the competency determination may nonetheless receive a high 9 school diploma if the following requirements are met:- 10 He has been measured by the assessment instruments described in section 1, has pursued the 11 appeals process, as described in section 16 of chapter 71B, and has failed to achieve the required 12 competency level in one or more subjects; 13 The superintendent of schools in the student’s district has certified to the commissioner that the 14 student’s “Specific Learning Impairment”, as defined in section 1 of chapter 71B, is the 15 proximate cause of his failure to achieve the required competency levels and that there is no 16 generally accepted remediation for such disability that would result in the student’s achieving the 17 required competency levels; 18 The student has participated in and satisfactorily completed an educational proficiency plan, as 19 defined by the department of elementary and secondary education, in all subjects in which he has 20 failed to achieve the required competency levels; 21 The student has met all other requirements for graduation, both district and state, and has 22 completed the goals of his Individualized Education Program (IEP) to the satisfaction of the IEP 23 team, the student, and his parent or guardian; and 24 The student has received preliminary or final acceptance into any accredited 2, 3, or 4 year-long 25 post-secondary educational program at a technical school, vocational school, college, or 26 university. 27 Any diploma awarded pursuant to this section shall be known as a “standard” diploma but shall 28 be considered evidence of high school graduation for all purposes, including but not limited to, 29 post-secondary school admission, eligibility for state and federal post-secondary financial aid, 30 and eligibility for employment.