Special Education Services

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Education
  4. Elementary and Secondary Education
  5. Quality Basic Education
  6. Educational Programs
  7. Special Education Services

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  1. All children and youth who are eligible for a general and career education program under Code Section 20-2-151 and who have special educational needs shall also be eligible for special education services. Children from birth through four years of age, whose disabling condition is so severe as to necessitate early education intervention, may be eligible for special education services through programs operated by state schools for the handicapped, the psychoeducational program, or through programs financed with local or federal funds or with funds specifically appropriated by the General Assembly for this purpose.Eligible children and youth are defined as those who have emotional, physical, communicative, or intellectual deviations, or a combination thereof, to the degree that there is interference with school achievements or adjustments or prevention of full academic attainment and who require modifications or alterations in their educational programs.Special education shall include children who are classified as intellectually gifted, mentally disabled, behavior disordered, specific learning disabled, orthopedically disabled, other health impaired, hearing impaired, speech-language disordered, visually impaired, severely emotionally disturbed, and deaf-blind and who have any other areas of special needs which may be identified.The State Board of Education shall adopt classification criteria for each area of special education to be served on a state-wide basis.The state board shall adopt the criteria used to determine eligibility of students for state funded special education programs.The state board shall adopt maximum class sizes by classification of special education pursuant to subsection (i) of Code Section 20-2-182 which are equal to or greater than the class sizes used to develop the program weights as set forth in subsection (b) of Code Section 20-2-161.
    1. The criteria used on July 1, 1993, as amended by state board or state department regulation from time to time; and
    2. Multiple eligibility criteria which include:
      1. Evidence of student work product or performance;
      2. Data from teacher, parent, or peer observation; and
      3. Evidence of student performance on nationally normed standardized tests of mental ability, achievement, and creativity.

        A student's eligibility may be determined under either paragraph (1) or (2) of this subsection.The multiple eligibility criteria shall be implemented as appropriate staff development is completed, but not later than August 1, 1998. A student who has been determined before July 1, 1994, to be eligible for state funded special education programs for the intellectually gifted shall not be required to satisfy any additional eligibility criteria or information documentation as a result of this subsection.

  2. Local school systems shall, subject to any limitations specified in this Code section, provide special education programs for all eligible students with special needs who are residents of their local school systems, either by establishing and maintaining such educational facilities and employing such professional workers as are needed by these students or by contracting with other local school systems, regional educational service agencies, or other qualified public or private institutions for such services.
    1. The State Board of Education shall provide for the funding which has been approved by the General Assembly for this purpose for special education programs for students with disabling conditions which are either of such low incidence or of such severity that it is unfeasible or impractical to provide needed educational services through programs offered by local school systems. The state board may provide such educational services with funds specifically approved by the General Assembly for this purpose by:
      1. Providing grants directly to regional educational service agencies for provision of services;
      2. Either directly contracting with or making grants to or authorizing local units of administration to contract with or make grants to suitable private or public institutions, inside or outside this state, for the provision of such services; provided, however, that the educational and related services of the child must be provided by professionals, such as teachers, school psychologists, speech therapists, physical and occupational therapists, and audiologists who meet the certification or licensing standards of their profession in the state in which the institution is located;
      3. Authorizing local units of administration to contract with suitable public agencies and departments, including institutions in which eligible children are confined and out-patient centers serving eligible children, inside and outside this state, for the provision of such services;
      4. Entering into reciprocal agreements with other states or political subdivisions thereof for the provision of such services; or
      5. Operating the Georgia School for the Deaf, the Georgia Academy for the Blind, the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf, and other special schools as approved by the General Assembly.
    2. The state board may promulgate rules, regulations, and standards and establish the terms and conditions governing the provision of state aid provided for this purpose by the General Assembly under this subsection and perform any and all acts necessary or proper to carry out the provisions, intent, and purpose of this subsection.
  4. For purposes of funding under this article, the following special education categories are authorized for the local units of administration of this state:
    1. Category I: self-contained specific learning disabled and self-contained speech-language disordered;
    2. Category II: mildly mentally disabled;
    3. Category III: behavior disordered, moderately mentally disabled, severely mentally disabled, resourced specific learning disabled, resourced speech-language disordered, self-contained hearing impaired and deaf, self-contained orthopedically disabled, and self-contained other health impaired;
    4. Category IV: deaf-blind, profoundly mentally disabled, visually impaired and blind, resourced hearing impaired and deaf, resourced orthopedically disabled, and resourced other health impaired;
    5. Category V: those special education students classified as being in Categories I through IV, as defined in this subsection, whose Individualized Educational Programs specify specially designed instruction or supplementary aids or services in alternative placements, in the least restrictive environment, including the regular classroom and who receive such services from personnel such as paraprofessionals, interpreters, job coaches, and other assistive personnel; and
    6. Category VI: intellectually gifted.

(a.1)The criteria adopted by the state board to determine the eligibility of students for state funded special education programs for the intellectually gifted, Category VI pursuant to paragraph (6) of subsection (d) of this Code section, shall authorize local boards of education to use:

(Code 1981, §20-2-152, enacted by Ga. L. 1985, p. 1657, § 1; Ga. L. 1987, p. 1169, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 612, § 5; Ga. L. 1991, p. 1531, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 1106, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 1302, §§ 14, 17; Ga. L. 1996, p. 1422, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 143, § 20; Ga. L. 2012, p. 775, § 20/HB 942.)

Cross references.

- Establishment of special schools, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VIII, Sec. V, Para. VII.

Multiagency task force of Georgia Commission for the Deaf or Hard of Hearing addressing educational needs, § 30-1-5.

Declared policy of state to provide adequate mental health and mental retardation services through Department of Human Resources and county boards of health, § 37-2-1.

Habilitation of the developmentally disabled generally, T. 37, C. 4.

Law reviews.

- For article, "'Simplify You, Classify You': Stigma, Stereotypes and Civil Rights in Disability Classification Systems," see 25 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 607 (2009).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

"Residency" defined.

- School system is obligated to provide educational services only to students who reside within that particular school system's district. The term "residency," in the context of education, would require at least physical presence or perhaps even physical presence with intent to remain. Hall ex rel. Allread v. Freeman, 700 F. Supp. 1106 (N.D. Ga. 1987).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Application of eligibility standards.

- Eligibility standards for programs for gifted children may be applied in a flexible manner, and there is no requirement that the eligibility standards be applied uniformly throughout the state. 1986 Op. Att'y. Gen. No. U86-1.

Local systems not confined to geographic boundaries in providing program for substantially impaired hearing children.

- While local school systems in Georgia are legally obligated to provide a special education program for children whose hearing is substantially impaired, they are not necessarily confined to their own geographic boundaries in so doing, but may furnish such special education services through a contract with a cooperative educational service agency. 1977 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 77-35.

No statutory impediment to providing psychological services to "eligible" private school or nonschool children.

- There is no statutory impediment to the providing of psychological services to private school or nonschool children provided that the children are "eligible" by reason of age and residence to participate in a school system's general school or preschool program, but the degree to which such private school or nonschool children are to be permitted to receive psychological services is a matter of policy which addresses itself to the discretion of the state and local boards of education. 1976 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 76-118.

State board authorized to provide additional funds for additional services.

- State Board of Education has the authority to allot additional funds to local boards of education for the purpose of providing additional services, such as pupil transportation, to deaf and hard-of-hearing children in attendance at the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf. 1977 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 77-35.

Eligibility of Department of Children and Youth Services (now Department of Juvenile Justice) to receive tuition grant payments.

- Department of Children and Youth Services (now the Department of Juvenile Justice) is eligible to receive tuition grants for disabled students whose Individualized Education Programs place them in private residential programs for educational reasons. 1995 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 95-6.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Validity of, and sufficiency of compliance with, state standards for approval of private school to receive public placements of students or reimbursement for their educational costs, 48 A.L.R.4th 1231.

Special education requirements of gifted students, 115 A.L.R.5th 183.

What constitutes services that must be provided by federally assisted schools under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (20 USCA § 1400 et seq.), 161 A.L.R. Fed. 1

Availability of damages in action to remedy violations of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C.A. § 1400 et seq.), 165 A.L.R. Fed. 463.

What constitutes reasonable accommodation under federal statutes protecting rights of disabled individual, regarding educational program or school rules as applied to learning disabled student, 166 A.L.R. Fed. 503.


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