HB 2062 Deaf Children’s Bill of Rights Act

About HB-2062

The purpose of this bill is to enact into law the “Deaf Children’s Bill of Rights Act” in order to require public schools and other publicly funded entities who come into contact with deaf children to perform certain duties and responsibilities intended to better the lot of deaf children. Toward that goal, the bill includes the following provisions:

• (1) Directing the public schools of this state to take certain initiatives in support of superior educational prospects and opportunities for deaf children;
• (2) requiring appropriate screening and assessment of deaf children;
• (3) requiring early intervention in detecting and addressing deaf children’s needs;
• (4) requiring schools to inform parents and guardians of policies related to placement considerations and providing them with opportunities to participate in programs designed to assist their children’s needs;
• (5) requiring schools to strive to provide adult role models for deaf children;
• (6) requiring schools to provide deaf children with opportunities to meet and associate with their school peers;
• (7) requiring schools to enlist qualified individuals to assist deaf children develop communication skills;
• (8) requiring schools to include individualized plans to assist each deaf child;
• (9) requiring schools to provide the best suited placement for deaf children; (10) requiring schools to provide free and appropriate education across a full spectrum of educational programs; (11) requiring the State Board of Education to work with county boards of education to ensure appropriate technical assistance is provided to deaf students; (12) providing schools, where possible, have deaf adults directly involved in determining appropriate program content designed to educate deaf children; (13) requiring all governing school authorities to comply with the requirements of the new section as well as with all applicable state and federal laws; and (14) providing this section does not create any new causes of action.