The following materials were distributed:

• Steve provided us with the latest edited version of Procedural Safeguards sections 300.500 to 300.517
• Jerry handed out a copy of the Utah Learning Resource Center (ULRC) Edu-Quiz page which has a question taken from our previous task force meeting
• Helen showed the IDEA ‘97 Training Package she purchased from the National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities

The minutes were approved without revisions.

Steve reported he was not able to have questions from our previous meeting answered. Mae and Steve were not able to talk, so Steve will fax questions to Mae for our next meeting.

A message was posted urging task force members to view the procedural safeguards question on the ULRC Edu-Quiz page. The URL is as follows: www.provo.k12.ut.us/ULRC/edu-quiz.html%20DEC

This page also links back to our task forces’ page.

A second message was from Donna Suter stating she had another task force meeting scheduled at the same time and would be late.

Dick Mecham has signed up for the Procedural Safeguards listserve.

No reports given.

We continued the discussion of suggested edits to draft federal regulations for Utah rules starting with page 6.

Helen explained how Community Centers work in Utah and felt, because of low funding, it would be difficult for them to explain mediation procedures to parents. We felt the mediation procedures could be explained to parents by the Parent Center. We also suggested mediation procedures should be established by LEA’s or possibly SEA for all districts.

We felt the Note 1 strike-out, under 300.505 Parental consent (b) could be used in the User’s Manual. Note 3 strike-out (c) "a State may require parental consent for other services and activities ..." should be a discussion item for the Planning Committee.

Under section 300.506 (d) we thought this section should be tagged for an explanation in the User’s Manual.

We had a discussion on section 300.507 (b) having to do with due process hearings resulting in the following question: Are due process hearings always conducted by the State or by LEA’s. Steve will ask Mae for clarification. We felt all of section (c) needs clarification in the User’s Manual.

We think a statement such as "If information is missing, attorney’s fee’s may be reduced" referring to information required in part (2) of section (c) should be added.

300.508. While discussing this section, with regard to who should choose a hearing officer, a difference between Utah’s previous regulations and the new federal regulations was pointed out. The old regulations allowed parents and LEA’s to discuss the selection of the hearing officer, and the final decision was left to the State Superintendent. We think this previous interpretation should be included in the new state regulations.

In section 300.509 (a)(4) the term "electronic" needs to be defined (e.g. tape recorder, email message, etc.)

A discussion and resulting question was found in section 300.510 (b)(1). When considering "If the hearing ... is conducted by a public agency other than the SEA...", who would be another public agency conducting a hearing? For example is the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind considered a state agency or is it considered a school district?

In part (b)(2) we think the words "The official" should be changed to "In" to be consistent with the previous sentence and help with clarification. This section does not state how long the parents have to file an appeal. We added "The appeal must be submitted in 30-days".

Referring to section 300.512 Civil action, we think it would be helpful to parents to specify which court has jurisdiction in Utah.

Question: Can we change citation #s to an abbreviation in order to make references in document more user friendly?

We want to flag the note in section 300.513 Attorneys’ fees. This would require the State to develop new legislation in order for this to work.

In section 300.514 Child’s status during proceedings, we discussed the "stay put" rule. This section allows parents to change placement through a hearing officer, yet districts are required to abide by the "stay put" rule. For clarification we added the word "educational" in the first sentence of the note before the word "agency".

We have two questions from section 300.515 Surrogate parents. We want to ask Randy Schelble which task force is dealing with the definition of surrogate and foster parents. We also want to ask Mae for clarification as to who qualifies as a surrogate parent.

We had a great deal of discussion on section 300.517 Transfer of parental rights at age of majority. Discussion centered on who and how one determines if a child is competent. We felt this section is not clear. It needs to be rewritten to clarify points such as which "child" are they referring to (i.e. child with a disability or child who turns 18). We recommend that someone with more expertise in this area review it to decide if it should be kept in the law.

We didn’t get to this item.

We felt the mediation procedures could be explained to parents by the Parent Center. We also suggested mediation procedures should be established by LEA’s or possibly SEA for all districts.

Under 300.505 Parental consent (c) "a State may require parental consent for other services and activities ..." should be a discussion item for the Planning Committee.

In section 300.507 we think a statement such as "If information is missing, attorney’s fee’s may be reduced" referring to information required in part (2) of section (c) should be added.

300.508. While discussing this section, with regard to who should choose a hearing officer, a difference between Utah’s previous regulations and the new federal regulations was pointed out. The old regulations allowed parents and LEA’s to discuss the selection of the hearing officer, and the final decision was left to the State Superintendent. We think this previous interpretation should be included in the new state regulations.

In section 300.510 (b)(2) we think the words "The official" should be changed to "In" to be consistent with the previous sentence and help with clarification. This section does not state how long the parents have to file an appeal. We added "The appeal must be submitted in 30-days".

Referring to section 300.512 Civil action, we think it would be helpful to parents to specify which court has jurisdiction in Utah.

In section 300.513 Attorneys’ fees. We recommend deleting the note found in this section.

300.517 Transfer of parental rights at age of majority. We felt this section is not clear. It needs to be rewritten to clarify points such as which "child" are they referring to (i.e. child with a disability or child who turns 18). We recommend that someone with more expertise in this area review it to decide if it should be kept in the law.

In section 300.509 (a)(4) the term "electronic" needs to be defined (e.g. tape recorder, email message, etc.)

• Are due process hearings always conducted by the State?
• In section 300.510 (b)(1). When considering "If the hearing ... is conducted by a public agency other than the SEA...", who would be another public agency conducting a hearing? For example is the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind considered a state agency or is it considered a school district?
• Can we change citation #s to an abbreviation in order to make references in document more user friendly?
• In section 300.515 Surrogate parents. Which task force is dealing with the definition of surrogate and foster parents. We also want to ask Mae for clarification as to who qualifies as a surrogate parent.

Steve will make changes to the draft and Jerry will sent them out to members.

All members are asked to review the old regulations to see if we are leaving out something important.