HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3319        FILED ON: 1/14/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 468

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act relating to high school graduation requirements for students with learning disabilities..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Subsection (i) of Section 1D of Chapter 69 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after “high school graduation” the following:

, except as described in subsection (ia) below

SECTION 2. Said section 1D is hereby further amended by inserting after subection (i) the following:

 (ia) Any “School Age Child with a Disability,” as defined by G. L. c.  71B   s. 1, who fails to satisfy the requirements of the competency determination may nonetheless receive a  high school diploma if the following requirements are met:

 S/he has been measured by the assessment instruments described in section one I a minimum of two times and has failed to achieve the required competency level in one or more subjects;

The Superintendent of Schools in the student’s district has certified that the student’s “Specific Learning Impairment”, as defined by G.L. c. 71B s.1, is the proximate cause of his/her failure to achieve the required competency level(s) and that there is no generally accepted remediation for such disability that would result in the student’s achieving the required competency level(s);

The student has participated in and satisfactorily completed an Educational Proficiency Plan, as defined by the Department of Education, in all subjects in which s/he has failed to achieve the required competency level;

The student has met all other requirements for graduation, both district and state, and has completed the goals of the his/her Individual Education Plan to his/her and his/her parent(s) satisfaction.

Any diploma awarded pursuant to this section shall be known as a “standard” diploma but shall be considered evidence of high school graduation for purposes of post-secondary school admission, eligibility for state and federal post-secondary financial aid, and eligibility for employment.  Any diploma awarded pursuant to this section shall not, in and of itself, terminate a student’s eligibility for special education service before the student reaches the age of twenty-two.