Kan. Admin. Regs. § 91-40-1

Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 24, June 13, 2024

Section 91-40-1 - Definitions

Additional definitions of terms concerning student discipline are provided in K.A.R. 91-40-33.

(a) "Adapted physical education" means physical education that is modified to accommodate the particular needs of children with disabilities.

(b) "Agency" means any board or state agency.

(c) "Assistive technology device" means any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability. The term shall not include any medical device that is surgically implanted or the replacement of the device.

(d) "Assistive technology service" means any service that directly assists a child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device. This term shall include the following:

(1) Evaluating the needs of a child with a disability, including a functional evaluation of the child in the child's customary environment;

(2) purchasing, leasing, or otherwise providing for the acquisition of assistive technology devices by children with disabilities;

(3) selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing, or replacing assistive technology devices;

(4) coordinating and using other therapies, interventions, or services with assistive technology devices, including those associated with existing education and rehabilitation plans and programs;

(5) providing training or technical assistance for a child with a disability or, if appropriate, that child's family; and

(6) providing training or technical assistance for professionals including individuals providing education and rehabilitation services, employers, or other individuals who provide services to, employ, or are otherwise substantially involved in the major life functions of a child.

(e) "Audiology" means the following:

(1) Identification of children with hearing loss;

(2) determination of the range, nature, and degree of hearing loss, including referral for medical or other professional attention for the habilitation of hearing;

(3) provision of habilitative activities, including language habilitation, auditory training, lip-reading, hearing evaluation, and speech conservation;

(4) creation and administration of programs for prevention of hearing loss;

(5) counseling and guidance of children, parents, and teachers regarding hearing loss; and

(6) determination of children's needs for group and individual amplification, selecting and fitting an appropriate aid, and evaluating the effectiveness of amplification.

(f) "Autism" means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three but not necessarily so, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. The term shall not apply if a child's educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance.

(g) "Blindness" means a visual impairment that requires dependence on tactile and auditory media for learning.

(h) "Board" means the board of education of any school district.

(i) "Business day" means Monday through Friday, except for federal and state holidays unless holidays are specifically included in the designation of business day in a specific regulation.

(j) "Child find activities" means policies and procedures to ensure that all exceptional children, including exceptional children who are enrolled in private schools and exceptional children who are homeless, regardless of the severity of any disability, are identified, located, and evaluated.

(k) "Child with a disability" means the following:

(1) A child evaluated as having mental retardation, a hearing impairment including deafness, a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment including blindness, emotional disturbance, an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, any other health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services; and

(2) for children ages three through nine, a child who is experiencing developmental delays and, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.

(l) "Consent" means that all of the following conditions are met:

(1) A parent has been fully informed of all information relevant to the activity for which consent is sought, in the parent's native language or other mode of communication.

(2) A parent understands and agrees in writing to the carrying out of the activity for which consent is sought, and the consent describes that activity and lists the records, if any, that will be released and to whom.

(3) A parent understands the following:

(A) The granting of consent is voluntary on the part of the parent and may be revoked at any time.

(B) If the parent revokes consent, the revocation is not retroactive and does not negate an action that has occurred after the consent was given and before the consent was revoked.

(C) The parent may revoke consent in writing for the continued provision of a particular service or placement only if the child's IEP team certifies in writing that the child does not need the particular service or placement for which consent is being revoked in order to receive a free appropriate public education.

(m) "Counseling services" means services provided by qualified social workers, psychologists, guidance counselors, or other qualified personnel.

(n) "Day" means a calendar day unless otherwise indicated as business day or school day.

(o) "Deaf-blindness" means the combination of hearing and visual impairments that causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that the needs cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for the hearing impaired or the visually impaired.

(p) "Deafness" means a hearing impairment that is so severe that it impairs a child's ability to process linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, and adversely affects the child's educational performance.

(q) "Developmental delay" means such a deviation from average development in one or more of the following developmental areas that special education and related services are required:

(1) Physical;

(2) cognitive;

(3) adaptive behavior;

(4) communication; or

(5) social or emotional development.

The deviation from average development shall be documented and measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures.

(r) "Department" means the state department of education.

(s) "Early identification and assessment of disabilities" means the implementation of a formal plan for identifying a disability as early as possible in a child's life.

(t) "Educational placement" and "placement" mean the instructional environment in which special education services are provided.

(u) "Emotional disturbance" means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child's educational performance:

(1) An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors;

(2) an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers;

(3) inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances;

(4) a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or

(5) a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. The term shall include schizophrenia but shall not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance.

(v) "Evaluation" means a multisourced and multidis-ciplinary examination, conducted in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, to determine whether a child is an exceptional child and the nature and extent of the special education and related services that the child needs.

(w) "Exceptional children" means children with disabilities and gifted children.

(x) "Extended school year services" means special education and related services that are provided to a child with a disability under the following conditions:

(1) Beyond the school term provided to nondisabled children;

(2) in accordance with the child's IEP; and

(3) at no cost to the parent or parents of the child.

(y) "Federal law" means the individuals with disabilities education act, as amended, and its implementing regulations.

(z) "Free appropriate public education" and "FAPE" mean special education and related services that meet the following criteria:

(1) Are provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without charge;

(2) meet the standards of the state board;

(3) include an appropriate preschool, elementary, or secondary school education; and

(4) are provided in conformity with an individualized education program.

(aa) "General education curriculum" means the curriculum offered to the nondisabled students of a school district.

(bb) "Gifted" means performing or demonstrating the potential for performing at significantly higher levels of accomplishment in one or more academic fields due to intellectual ability, when compared to others of similar age, experience, and environment.

(cc) "Hearing impairment" means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance but that does not constitute deafness as defined in this regulation.

(dd) "Homebound instruction" means the delivery of special education and related services in the home of a child with a disability.

(ee) "Hospital instruction" means the delivery of special education and related services to a child with a disability who is confined to a hospital for psychiatric or medical treatment.

(ff) "Independent educational evaluation" means an examination that is obtained by the parent of an exceptional child and is performed by an individual or individuals who are not employed by the agency responsible for the education of the child but who meet state and local standards to conduct the examination.

(gg) "Individualized education program" and "IEP" mean a written statement for each exceptional child that meets the requirements of K.S.A. 72-987, and amendments thereto, and the following criteria:

(1) Describes the unique educational needs of the child and the manner in which those needs are to be met; and

(2) is developed, reviewed, and revised in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

(hh) "Individualized education program team" and "IEP team" mean a group of individuals composed of the following:

(1) The parent or parents of a child;

(2) at least one regular education teacher of the child, if the child is, or may be, participating in the regular education environment;

(3) at least one special education teacher or, if appropriate, at least one special education provider of the child;

(4) a representative of the agency directly involved in providing educational services for the child who meets the following criteria:

(A) Is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of, specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of exceptional children;

(B) is knowledgeable about the general curriculum; and

(C) is knowledgeable about the availability of resources of the agency;

(5) an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results;

(6) at the discretion of the child's parent or the agency, other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the child, including related services personnel as appropriate; and

(7) whenever appropriate, the exceptional child.

(ii) "Individualized family service plan" and "IFSP" mean a written plan, in accordance with section 1436 of the federal law, for providing early intervention services to an infant or toddler with a disability and the infant's or toddler's family.

(jj) "Infants and toddlers with disabilities" means children from birth through two years of age who have been determined to be eligible for early intervention services under the federal law.

(kk) "Interpreting services" means the following:

(1) For children who are deaf or hard of hearing, oral transliteration services, cued language transliteration services, sign language transliteration and interpreting services, and transcription services, including communication access real-time translation (CART), C-Print, and TypeWell; and

(2) special interpreting services for children who are deaf-blind.

(ll) "Least restrictive environment" and "LRE" mean the educational placement in which, to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled, with this placement meeting the requirements of K.S.A. 72-976, and amendments thereto, and the following criteria:

(1) Determined at least annually;

(2) based upon the student's individualized education program; and

(3) provided as close as possible to the child's home.

(mm) "Material change in service" means an increase or decrease of 25 percent or more of the duration or frequency of a special education service, related service, or supplementary aid or service specified on the IEP of an exceptional child.

(nn) "Medical services" means services provided by a licensed physician to determine a child's medically related disability that results in the child's need for special education and related services.

(oo) "Mental retardation" means significantly subav-erage general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.

(pp) "Multiple disabilities" means coexisting impairments, the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that those needs cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments. The term shall not include deaf-blindness.

(qq) "Native language" means the following:

(1) If used with reference to an individual of limited English proficiency, either of the following:

(A) The language normally used by that individual, or, in the case of a child, the language normally used by the parent or parents of the child, except as provided in paragraph (1) (B) of this subsection; or

(B) in all direct contact with a child, including evaluation of the child, the language normally used by the child in the home or learning environment.

(2) For an individual with deafness or blindness or for an individual with no written language, the mode of communication is that normally used by the individual, including sign language, braille, or oral communication.

(rr) "Occupational therapy" means the services provided by a qualified occupational therapist and shall include services for the following:

(1) Improving, developing, or restoring functions impaired or lost through illness, injury, or deprivation;

(2) improving the ability to perform tasks for independent functioning if functions are impaired or lost; and

(3) preventing, through early intervention, initial or further impairment or loss of function.

(ss) "Orientation and mobility services" means the services provided to blind or visually impaired students by qualified personnel to enable those students to attain systematic orientation to, and safe movement within, their environments at school, at home, and in the community. This term shall include teaching students the following, as appropriate:

(1) Spatial and environmental concepts and use of information received by the senses, including sound, temperature, and vibrations to establish, maintain, or regain orientation and line of travel;

(2) use of the long cane or a service animal to supplement visual travel skills or to function as a tool for safely negotiating the environment for students with no available travel vision;

(3) the understanding and use of remaining vision and distance low vision aids; and

(4) other concepts, techniques, and tools.

(tt) "Orthopedic impairment" means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child's educational performance and includes impairments caused by any of the following:

(1) Congenital anomaly, including clubfoot or the absence of a limb;

(2) disease, including poliomyelitis or bone tuberculosis; or

(3) other causes, including cerebral palsy, amputation, and fractures or burns that cause contractures.

(uu) "Other health impairment" means having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment and that meets the following criteria:

(1) Is due to chronic or acute health problems, including asthma, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, sickle cell anemia, and Tourette syndrome; and

(2) adversely affects a child's educational performance.

(vv) "Parent" means any person described in K.S.A. 72-962(m) and amendments thereto.

(ww) "Parent counseling and training" means the following:

(1) Assisting parents in understanding the special needs of their child;

(2) providing parents with information about child development; and

(3) helping parents to acquire the necessary skills that will allow them to support the implementation of their child's IEP or IFSP.

(xx) "Physical education" means the development of the following:

(1) Physical and motor fitness;

(2) fundamental motor skills and patterns; and

(3) skills in aquatics, dance, and individual and group games and sports, including intramural and lifetime sports. The term shall include special physical education, adapted physical education, movement education, and motor development.

(yy) "Physical therapy" means therapy services provided by a qualified physical therapist.

(zz) "Private school children" means children with disabilities who are enrolled by their parents in private elementary or secondary schools.

(aaa) "Recreation" means leisure education and recreation programs offered in schools and by community agencies. The term shall include assessment of leisure function and therapeutic recreation services.

(bbb) "Rehabilitation counseling services" means services provided by qualified personnel in individual or group sessions that focus specifically on career development, employment preparation, achieving independence, and integration in the workplace and community of a student with a disability. The term shall also include any vocational rehabilitation services provided to a student with a disability under any vocational rehabilitation program funded under the rehabilitation act of 1973, as amended.

(ccc) "Related services" means developmental, corrective, and supportive services that are required to assist an exceptional child to benefit from special education.

(1) Related services shall include the following:

(A) Art therapy;

(B) assistive technology devices and services;

(C) audiology;

(D) counseling services;

(E) dance movement therapy;

(F) early identification and assessment of disabilities;

(G) interpreting services;

(H) medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes;

(I) music therapy;

(J) occupational therapy;

(K) orientation and mobility services;

(L) parent counseling and training;

(M) physical therapy;

(N) recreation, including therapeutic recreation;

(O) rehabilitation counseling services;

(P) school health services;

(Q) school nurse services;

(R) school psychological services;

(S) school social work services;

(T) special education administration and supervision;

(U) special music education;

(V) speech and language services;

(W) transportation; and

(X) other developmental, corrective, or supportive services.

(2) Related services shall not include the provision of any medical device that is surgically implanted, including a cochlear implant, the optimization of the device's functioning, including mapping and maintenance of the device, and replacement of the device.

(ddd) "School age" means the following:

(1) For children identified as gifted, having attained the age at which the local board of education provides educational services to children without disabilities, through the school year in which the child graduates from high school; and

(2) for children with disabilities, having attained age three, through the school year in which the child graduates with a regular high school diploma or reaches age 21, whichever occurs first.

(eee) "School day" means any day, including a partial day, that all children, including children with and without disabilities, are in attendance at school for instructional purposes.

(fff) "School health services" means health services that are specified in the IEP of a child with a disability and that are provided by a school nurse or other qualified person.

(ggg) "School nurse services" means nursing services that are provided by a qualified nurse in accordance with the child's IEP.

(hhh) "School psychological services" means the provision of any of the following services:

(1) Administering psychological and educational tests, and other assessment procedures;

(2) interpreting assessment results;

(3) obtaining, integrating, and interpreting information about child behavior and conditions relating to learning;

(4) consulting with other staff members in planning school programs to meet the special needs of children as indicated by psychological tests;

(5) planning and managing a program of psychological services, including psychological counseling for children and parents; and

(6) assisting in developing positive behavioral intervention strategies.

(iii) "School social work services" means services provided by a qualified social worker and shall include the provision of any of the following services:

(1) Preparing a social or developmental history on a child with a disability;

(2) group and individual counseling with the child and family;

(3) working in partnership with the parent or parents and others on those problems in a child's living situation, at home, at school, and in the community that affect the child's adjustment in school;

(4) mobilizing school and community resources to enable the child to learn as effectively as possible in the child's educational program; and

(5) assisting in developing positive behavioral intervention strategies.

(jjj) "Services plan" means a written statement for each child with a disability enrolled in a private school that describes the special education and related services that the child will receive.

(kkk) "Special education" means the following:

(1) Specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of an exceptional child, including the following:

(A) Instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings; and

(B) instruction in physical education;

(2) paraeducator services, speech-language pathology services, and any other related service, if the service consists of specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability;

(3) occupational or physical therapy and interpreter services for deaf children if, without any of these services, a child would have to be educated in a more restrictive environment;

(4) travel training; and

(5) vocational education.

(lll) "Specially designed instruction" means adapting, as appropriate to the needs of each exceptional child, the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction for the following purposes:

(1) To address the unique needs of the child that result from the child's exceptionality; and

(2) to ensure access of any child with a disability to the general education curriculum, so that the child can meet the educational standards within the jurisdiction of the agency that apply to all children.

(mmm) "Specific learning disability" means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term shall not include learning problems that are primarily the result of any of the following:

(1) Visual, hearing, or motor disabilities;

(2) mental retardation;

(3) emotional disturbance; or

(4) environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

(nnn) "Speech-language pathology services" means the provision of any of the following services:

(1) Identification of children with speech or language impairments;

(2) diagnosis and appraisal of specific speech or language impairments;

(3) referral for medical or other professional attention necessary for the habilitation of speech or language impairments;

(4) provision of speech and language services for the habilitation or prevention of communicative impairments; and

(5) counseling and guidance of parents, children, and teachers regarding speech and language impairments.

(ooo) "Speech or language impairment" means a communication disorder, including stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.

(ppp) "State agency" means the secretary of social and rehabilitation services, the secretary of corrections, and the commissioner of juvenile justice.

(qqq) "State board" means the state board of education.

(rrr) "State institution" means any institution under the jurisdiction of a state agency.

(sss) "Substantial change in placement" means the movement of an exceptional child, for more than 25 percent of the child's school day, from a less restrictive environment to a more restrictive environment or from a more restrictive environment to a less restrictive environment.

(ttt) "Supplementary aids and services" means aids, services, and other supports that are provided in regular education classes, other education-related settings, and extracurricular and nonacademic settings to enable children with disabilities to be educated with nondisabled children to the maximum extent appropriate.

(uuu) "Transition services" means a coordinated set of activities for a student with disabilities, designed within a results-oriented process, that is focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the child with a disability to facilitate the child's movement from school to postschool activities, including postsecondary education, vocational education, integrated employment including supported employment, continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, and community participation. The coordinated set of activities shall be based on the individual student's needs, taking into account the student's preferences and interests, and shall include the following:

(1) Instruction;

(2) related services;

(3) community experiences;

(4) the development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives; and

(5) if appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and a functional vocational evaluation.

(vvv) "Transportation" means the following:

(1) Travel to and from school and between schools;

(2) travel in and around school buildings; and

(3) specialized equipment, including special or adapted buses, lifts, and ramps, if required to provide special transportation for a child with a disability.

(www) "Traumatic brain injury" means an acquired injury to the brain that is caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects educational performance. The term shall apply to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, including the following:

(1) Cognition;

(2) language;

(3) memory;

(4) attention;

(5) reasoning;

(6) abstract thinking;

(7) judgment;

(8) problem solving;

(9) sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities;

(10) psychosocial behavior;

(11) physical functions;

(12) information processing; and

(13) speech.

The term shall not include brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative or that are induced by birth trauma.

(xxx) "Travel training" means providing instruction, as appropriate, to children with significant cognitive disabilities, and any other children with disabilities who require this instruction, to enable them to perform the following:

(1) Develop an awareness of the environment in which they live; and

(2) learn the skills necessary to move effectively and safely from place to place within various environments, including at school, home, and work, and in the community.

(yyy) "Visual impairment" means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term shall include both partial sight and blindness.

(zzz) "Vocational education" means any organized educational program that is directly related to the preparation of individuals for paid or unpaid employment, or for additional preparation for a career requiring other than a baccalaureate or advanced degree.

Kan. Admin. Regs. § 91-40-1

Authorized by and implementing K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 72-963; effective May 19, 2000; amended March 21, 2008; amended July 23, 2010.