Responsibilities of the Department of Education

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  • The Department of Education shall be responsible for insuring that:
    • (a) a free appropriate public education is available to all children with disabilities between the ages of three and twenty-one;

    • (b) all children residing in the Territory who are disabled, regardless of the severity or chronicity of their disability, and who are in need of special education and related services are identified, located and evaluated, and individualized education programs are developed for them;

    • (c) after the initial evaluation, development of an individualized education program, and appropriate placement, such individualized education program will be reviewed, and, if appropriate, revised periodically, but not less than annually;

    • (d) procedural safeguards are established as required by section 289 of this chapter;

    • (e) procedures are developed to assure that to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled, and that separate classes, special schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily;

    • (f) procedures are established to assure that testing and evaluation materials and procedures utilized for evaluation and placement of children with disabilities will be selected and administered so as not to be racially or culturally biased, and that adaptive behavior will be considered in evaluation and placement. Such materials or procedures shall be provided and administered in the child's dominant language or mode of communication, unless it is clearly not feasible to do so, and no single procedure shall be the sole criterion for determining an appropriate educational program for a child;

    • (g) the Department of Education shall be responsible for assuring that the requirements of this chapter are carried out and that all educational programs for children with disabilities within the Territory will be under the general supervision of the person responsible for educational programs for children with disabilities in the Department and shall meet education standards of the Department; and

    • (h) procedures are established for consultation with individuals involved in or connected with the education of children with disabilities, including disabled individuals and parents or guardians of children with disabilities; and that there are public hearings, adequate notice of such hearings, and an opportunity for comment available to the general public prior to adoption of the policies, programs, and procedures required pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.


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