BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 2091 (Lopez) - Special education: individualized education
programs: translation services
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|Version: June 21, 2016 |Policy Vote: ED. 8 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: This bill requires local educational agencies (LEAs)
to provide parents with a translated copy of an individualized
education program (IEP) and other specified documents, upon
request, and requires that the IEP and related documents be
translated by a qualified translator.
Fiscal
Impact:
Mandate: Unknown reimbursable state mandate costs, but
potentially in the millions to translate special-education
documents within 60 days of a request. Federal special
education law does not require that all IEP related documents
AB 2091 (Lopez) Page 1 of
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to be translated but there are existing provisions requiring
informed consent and parental notification in a parent's
native language related to providing special education
services. The Commission on State Mandates may determine
additional translation requirements to be a reimbursable state
mandate. Costs would vary depending upon a number of factors
including the availability and cost of a qualified translator,
how common the language is, how many pages each document is
that is requested to be translated, and the frequency of these
requests. See staff comments. (Proposition 98)
California Department of Education (CDE): Minor costs to CDE
to revise its notice of procedural safeguards in multiple
languages to notify parents of their right to request the
translation of documents as provided in this bill.
Background: Existing law requires LEAs proposing to conduct an initial
assessment to determine if the child qualifies as an individual
with exceptional needs to make reasonable efforts to obtain
informed consent from the parent before conducting the
assessment. LEAs are required to provide proposed special
education assessment plans to parents in the native language of
the parent or other mode of communication used by the parent,
unless it is clearly not feasible to do so. The assessment may
begin upon receipt of the consent. An LEA must also obtain
informed consent from the parent of the child before the initial
provision of special education and related services to the
child. (Code of Federal Regulations, Title 34, § 300.300 and
Education Code § 56321)
Existing state law, consistent with federal regulations, defines
"consent" in special education proceedings as the parent or
guardian having been fully informed of all information relevant
to the activity for which consent is sought, in his or her
native language, or other mode of communication. (EC § 56021.1
and Code of Federal Regulations, Title 34, § 300.9)
An IEP required as a result of an assessment is then required to
be developed within 60 days from the date of receipt of the
parent's or guardian's written consent for assessment. An IEP
team meeting is also required to occur within 60 days of
receiving consent for the assessment. (Education Code 56321 and
Title 20, United States Code, Section 1414(a)(1)(D))
AB 2091 (Lopez) Page 2 of
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Existing law requires an LEA to take any action necessary to
ensure that a parent or guardian of an individual with
exceptional needs understands the proceedings at an IEP meeting,
including arranging for an interpreter for parents or guardians
with deafness or whose native language is a language other than
English. (Education Code § 56341.5)
State regulations require LEAs to give a parent or guardian a
copy of a student's IEP in his or her primary language upon
request. (California Code of Regulations, Title 5, § 3040)
Written notice is required to be given to parents of a child
with a disability in a reasonable time before the LEA proposes
or refuses to initiate or change the identification, evaluation,
or educational placement of the child. The notice is required
to be written in language understandable to the general public
and provided in the native language of the parent or other mode
of communication by the parent, unless it is not feasible to do
so. If the native language or other mode of communication of
the parent is not a written language, the LEA must take steps to
ensure that the notice is translated orally or by other means.
(Code of Federal Regulations, Title 34, § 300.503)
Existing law also requires schools and school districts, if 15
percent or more of the students enrolled in a public school
speak a single primary language other than English, to send all
notices, reports, statements, or records to the parent or
guardian in the primary language, in addition to English.
Existing law authorizes the response from the parent or guardian
to be in English or the primary language. (Education Code §
48985)
Proposed Law:
This bill provides a timeline for the production of translated
copies of special education-related documents. This bill
requires an LEA to take any action necessary to ensure that a
parent or guardian of an individual with exceptional needs
understands the proceedings at an IEP meeting, including
providing translation services, as specified.
This bill requires that an LEA provide translation services for
a parent, guardian, or educational rights holder of the
student's IEP and any revisions to the IEP within 60 days of the
IEP team meeting, upon request. Translation services must also
AB 2091 (Lopez) Page 3 of
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be provided upon request within 60 days for any of the following
documents discussed at an IEP team meeting:
Documents relating to the student's present levels of
academic achievement and functional performance;
Documents relating to the student's right to a free and
appropriate public education;
Notes on items discussed at the IEP team meeting;
Documents relating to the goals of the student; and
Progress reports pursuant to the student's IEP.
The documents must be translated by a qualified translator, who
among other things, has met the testing or certification
standards for outside or contract translators, as proficient in
the ability to communicate commonly used terms between the
English language and the non-English language to be used and has
knowledge of basic translator practices, including,
confidentiality, neutrality, accuracy, completeness, and
transparency.
Finally, the CDE is required to revise its notice of procedural
safeguards in English and in other languages for which the CDE
has developed versions, to inform parents of their right to
request the translation of documents.
Staff
Comments: This bill expands the requirements upon LEAs to
translate special education documents. This bill codifies
existing state regulations requiring LEAs to give a parent or
guardian a translated IEP upon request, and additionally
AB 2091 (Lopez) Page 4 of
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requires that the translation happen within 60 days of the IEP
team meeting. This bill also requires LEAs to provide a copy of
various documents discussed at an IEP team meeting upon request,
within 60 days. These documents must be translated by a
"qualified translator," as specified.
According to federal guidance, there is no requirement in the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or in its
accompanying regulations that all IEP documents must be
translated. Specifically, the guidance reads, "while providing
written translations of IEP documents is not required under
IDEA, we believe that in some circumstances it may help to show
that a parent has been fully informed of the services his or her
child will be receiving." Therefore, it is possible that some
of the documents required to be translated in this bill could
result in a reimbursable state mandate. Assuming a simple IEP,
or another IEP related document, of 10 pages at a cost of $30 to
$80 per page and 10 percent of the special education and English
learner population requests translation, statewide costs could
be between $6 and $16 million.
According to the author's office, this bill seeks to address the
problem of when the LEA does not provide the IEP in a timely
manner and when the translated IEP is provided, in some cases,
the document has not been translated accurately.
Staff notes that with the funding enacted in the 2016-17 Budget
Act to pay down owed mandate claims the estimated outstanding
debt is estimated to be $1.6 billion by the end of the current
budget year.
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