Section 4308. Admission

1.  All  blind  or  blind  and deaf or blind and
  cerebral palsied children of suitable age and capacity for  instruction,
  who  are legal residents of the state, shall be eligible for appointment
  to the New York State School for the Blind, without charge, and for such
  a period of  time  in  each  individual  case  as  may  be  set  by  the
  commissioner,  either:  (i)  upon the recommendation of the committee on
  special education of the child's school district of residence;  or  (ii)
  where  the  child  is  placed  by a state agency in an intermediate care
  facility in such school pursuant to paragraph d of subdivision  five  of
  section  thirty-two  hundred two of this chapter, upon recommendation of
  the committee on special education of the school district in  which  the
  intermediate  care  facility is located; or (iii) where the parents make
  application  directly  to  the  commissioner   or   the   school,   upon
  recommendation of the school's multidisciplinary team in accordance with
  the  joint  placement  procedures established in subdivision two of this
  section.
    2. a. Upon receipt of an application for admission of a child who  has
  not been recommended for placement by the committee on special education
  of   the   child's  school  district  of  residence,  the  school  shall
  immediately  notify  such   school   district   of   such   application.
  Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the school shall make
  available  to  such  school  district  of  residence,  upon request, all
  records  in  its  possession  relating  the  evaluation,  placement  and
  educational  performance  of each child who has applied for admission or
  is  attending  the  school,  including  the  results  of   any   current
  evaluations of such child.
    b.  Prior  to  any meeting of its multidisciplinary team to develop an
  individualized education  program  for  a  child,  either  upon  initial
  admission  to the school or in an annual review, the school shall notify
  the school district of residence of such meeting  and  shall  offer  the
  district    the   opportunity   to   identify   and   present   to   the
  multidisciplinary team,  an  alternative  placement  recommendation  for
  services  in the least restrictive environment. In addition, such notice
  shall advise the school district of  its  right  to  appoint  additional
  members  to  the  multidisciplinary team pursuant to paragraph c of this
  subdivision. The multidisciplinary team shall consider such  alternative
  and,  if it rejects the alternative, shall include in its recommendation
  a statement of its reasons for doing so.
    c. In addition to the members required  for  a  committee  on  special
  education  pursuant to subdivision one of section forty-four hundred two
  of  this  chapter,  the  school's  multidisciplinary  team  may  include
  additional  members  appointed  by  the board of education of the school
  district of residence pursuant to this paragraph, and shall include such
  members if appointed  by  such  board  of  education.  For  each  member
  appointed by the school, the school district may appoint a corresponding
  member, including a representative of the committee on special education
  who  is  qualified  to  teach  or  supervise special education, a school
  psychologist, the child's teacher, a parent member,  a  physician  where
  the parent requests attendance of the physician member, and, for a child
  who has been evaluated for the first time, a person who is knowledgeable
  about  the  evaluation  procedures used with the child and familiar with
  the results of the evaluation.  The  commissioner  shall  determine  the
  location  at  which  the multidisciplinary team meeting will be held. In
  the event of a tie vote on the multidisciplinary team, the parents shall
  cast the deciding vote.
    d. The majority of the multidisciplinary team shall state the  reasons
  for   its   recommendation,   and  submit  such  recommendation  to  the
  commissioner for consideration in determining  whether  to  appoint  the

  child.  If  the  representatives  appointed  by  the  school district of
  residence disagree with  the  recommendation  of  the  multidisciplinary
  team,  they  shall  be  entitled  to prepare a dissenting opinion on the
  placement  recommendation and to submit such opinion to the commissioner
  for consideration in determining whether to appoint  the  child  to  the
  school.
    e. The commissioner, or his or her designee, in determining whether to
  appoint the child to the school, shall consider whether the placement at
  the  state  school  is an appropriate placement in the least restrictive
  environment, taking  into  account  the  school  district's  recommended
  alternative  placement.  If  the  commissioner  or  his  or her designee
  determines that placement in the  state  school  is  not  in  the  least
  restrictive environment or otherwise disagrees with such recommendation,
  the  commissioner  shall  state  his or her reasons in writing and shall
  send  the  recommendation  back  to  the  multidisciplinary   team   for
  reconsideration,  with notice to the parents. If the commissioner refers
  the   recommendation   back   to   the   multidisciplinary   team    for
  reconsideration,  the commissioner shall also notify the parents and the
  multidisciplinary team in writing of the need to schedule a  meeting  to
  ensure timely placement.
    * f.  Notwithstanding  any provision of law, rule or regulation to the
  contrary, a member of the multidisciplinary team, other than the parents
  or persons in parental relation to the student is not required to attend
  a meeting of the team, in whole or in part, if the parent or  person  in
  parental  relation  to the student and the department agree, in writing,
  that the attendance of the member is not necessary because the  member's
  area  of  the  curriculum  or  related services is not being modified or
  discussed at the meeting.
    * NB Repealed June 30, 2012
    * g. Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation  to  the
  contrary, a member of the multidisciplinary team, other than the parents
  or  persons  in  parental  relation  to the student, may be excused from
  attending a meeting of the team, in whole or in part, when  the  meeting
  involves  a  modification  to  or discussion of the member's area of the
  curriculum or related services if  the  parent  or  person  in  parental
  relation  to  the student and the department consent, in writing, to the
  excusal and the excused member  submits  to  the  parent  or  person  in
  parental relation to the student and the multidisciplinary team, written
  input  into the development of the individualized education program, and
  in particular written input with respect to their area of the curriculum
  or related services, prior to the meeting.
    * NB Repealed June 30, 2012
    * h. Requests for excusal of a member of the multidisciplinary team as
  provided for in paragraphs f and g of this subdivision, and the  written
  input  as  provided  for  in  paragraph  g of this subdivision, shall be
  provided not less than five calendar days prior to the meeting date,  in
  order  to  afford the parent or person in parental relation a reasonable
  time to review and consider the request. Provided however, that a parent
  or person in parental relation shall retain the right to request  and/or
  agree  with  the department to excuse a multidisciplinary team member at
  any time including where the member is  unable  to  attend  the  meeting
  because  of  an  emergency  or  unavoidable  scheduling conflict and the
  department submits the written input for review and consideration by the
  parent or person in parental relation within a reasonable time prior  to
  the  meeting  and  prior  to  obtaining written consent of the parent or
  person in parental relation to such excusal.
    * NB Repealed June 30, 2012

    * i. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation to
  the contrary, in making changes to a student's individualized  education
  program after the annual review has been conducted, the parent or person
  in  parental relation to the student and the department may agree not to
  convene a multidisciplinary team meeting for the purpose of making those
  changes,  and  instead may develop a written document to amend or modify
  the  student's  current  individualized  education  program  under   the
  following circumstances:
    (i)  The  parent or person in parental relation makes a request to the
  department for an amendment to the individualized education program  and
  the  department  and such parent or person in parental relation agree in
  writing; or
    (ii) The department provides the parent or person in parental relation
  with a written proposal to  amend  a  provision  or  provisions  of  the
  individualized   education   program   that   is  conveyed  in  language
  understandable to the parent or person  in  parental  relation  in  such
  parent's  or  such  person's  native  language or other dominant mode of
  communication, informs and allows  the  parent  or  person  in  parental
  relation  the  opportunity  to consult with the appropriate personnel or
  related service providers concerning the proposed changes and the parent
  or person in parental relation agrees in writing to such amendments.
    (iii) If the parent or person in parental relation agrees to amend the
  individualized education program without a meeting, the parent or person
  in parental relation shall be  provided  prior  written  notice  of  the
  changes  to  the  individualized  education  program resulting from such
  written document and the multidisciplinary team  shall  be  notified  of
  such  changes.  If  the  department  makes such changes by rewriting the
  entire individualized education program, it shall provide the parent  or
  person  in parental relation with a copy of the rewritten individualized
  education program. If the department amends the individualized education
  program without rewriting the  entire  document,  the  department  shall
  provide  the  parent with a copy of the document that amends or modifies
  the individualized education program or, upon request of the  parent  or
  person  in  parental  relation,  a  revised  copy  of the individualized
  education program with the amendments incorporated.
    Amendments to an individualized education  program  pursuant  to  this
  paragraph  shall  not  affect the requirement that the multidisciplinary
  team review the individualized education program at the annual  meeting,
  or more often if necessary.
    * NB Repealed June 30, 2012
    3.   The   commissioner  shall  adopt  regulations  to  prescribe  the
  procedures for  evaluation,  placement  and  admission  of  children  in
  accordance  with this section, which shall include but not be limited to
  procedures to  ensure  that  the  due  process  rights  of  parents  are
  protected  and  that  placement  recommendations  are  made  in a timely
  manner.