Special education and related services; definitions, utilization of Virginia IEP.

Special education and related services; definitions; records retention; duties of Department of Education; parent engagement specialists; professional development; education preparation program coursework. Makes several changes relating to special education and related services for children with disabilities in public elementary and secondary schools in the Commonwealth, including (i) establishing a definition for "individualized education program" or "IEP"; (ii) requiring, after a child with a disability graduates from, ages out of, or otherwise leaves any public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth, such school to retain the special education records of such child for at least 75 years; (iii) requiring each local school board to (a) provide high-quality professional development in instructional practices to support specially designed instruction in inclusive settings, as that term is defined in the bill, for certain teachers and administrators employed in the local school division and (b) employ at least one full-time equivalent special education parent engagement specialist to serve as a resource to parents to understand and engage in the referral, evaluation, and eligibility process if they suspect that their child has a disability and to understand and engage in the IEP process; (iv) requiring the Department of Education, among other things, to (a) establish eight regional special education parent support centers that are each staffed by a regional special education parent ombudsman and coordinate with such division special education parent engagement specialists employed by each local school board; (b) elevate the position of State Parent Ombudsman for Special Education to perform certain functions, including systematically tracking and reporting questions and concerns raised by parents to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and coordinating the activities of such regional special education parent support centers; and (c) develop, establish, review and update as necessary at least once every five years, make available to each local school board an IEP writing, facilitation, tracking, and transfer system to be referred to as the Virginia IEP; and (v) requiring each education preparation program offered by a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education or alternative certification program that provides training for any student seeking initial licensure by the Board of Education with certain endorsements to include a program of coursework and require all such students to demonstrate mastery in instructional practices to support specially designed instruction in inclusive settings.