Section 4355. Admission

All deaf or blind and deaf children between the age
  of  three  years  and  twenty-one  years  and  of  suitable capacity for
  instruction who are legal residents of the state shall be  eligible  for
  appointment to the New York state school for the deaf without charge for
  such  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  or  committee  on preschool special education of the
  child's school district of residence, as applicable; or (ii)  where  the
  parents  of  a  school  age  child  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 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
  or committee on  preschool  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 school age 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  a  school  age  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 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  or  person in parental relation 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.