The commission and the Texas Education Agency must work together on transition services for students with disabilities, keep the mechanism updated, and sign an MOU to coordinate their work.
Sec. 352.108. COORDINATION WITH TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY. (a) For purposes of this section, "transition services" means services provided to students with disabilities to assist the students in making the transition from secondary school to postsecondary education programs or competitive integrated employment. (b) The commission and the Texas Education Agency shall collaborate to develop a mechanism to identify the areas of the state with the greatest needs for transition services for students with disabilities. The mechanism must account for the commission's limited resources and a school district's needs, including: (1) the school district's resources for special education; (2) the number of students with disabilities in the school district; and (3) other factors that the commission and the Texas Education Agency consider important. (c) The commission and the Texas Education Agency shall update the mechanism developed under Subsection (b) on a periodic basis. (d) The commission shall develop uniform, statewide policies for transition services that include: (1) the goal that a transition counselor initiate contact with a student approximately three years before the student is expected to graduate from high school; (2) the minimum level of services to be provided to a student at the time that a transition counselor initiates contact with the student; (3) standards, based on the mechanism developed under Subsection (b), for assigning a transition counselor to a school that ensure consistency among regions but that are not too restrictive; (4) expectations for transition counselors to develop relationships with school personnel, including the employee designated to serve as the school district's designee on transition and employment services under Section 29.011(b), Education Code; and (5) expectations for regional commission staff to work with education service center representatives on a regular basis to identify areas of greatest need and to discuss local strategies for coordination between transition counselors and schools. (e) The commission and the Texas Education Agency shall enter into a memorandum of understanding to comply with the policies under this section and to improve coordination between the agencies. The memorandum of understanding must include: (1) strategies to better inform transition clients, clients' families, and school personnel regarding the commission's available services and contact information for commission transition counselors; and (2) a process to be used by the commission and the Texas Education Agency to develop and update the mechanism used to identify students who may need services. Added by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1138 (S.B. 208), Sec. 25, eff. September 1, 2015.