Special Education Regulations Revision Process

Office of Dispute Resolution and Administrative Services

Virginia Department of Education

P.O. Box 2120

Richmond, Virginia 23218-2120

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to submit my comments regarding your office’s proposed revisions to the Regulations Governing Special Education Programs for Children with Disabilities in Virginia.

In particular, I object to your proposal to change 8 VAC 20-81-230 (“Local educational agency administration and governance”) so as to allow local school division personnel to serve as members of local advisory committees for special education. Under the current regulations, employees of local school divisions are barred for serving as members of these advisory committees, and the prohibition should be maintained.

In my view, allowing employees of local school divisions to serve as members of such advisory committees poses inherent conflicts of interest and diminishes the voices and rights of parents of children with disabilities. Furthermore, if the proposed revision were to be implemented, nothing would prevent a local school division from forming an advisory committee composed entirely of its own employees.  This clearly would defeat the purpose of having such advisory committees in the first place.

For these and many other reasons, VDOE's proposed revision of 8 VAC 20-81-203 is ill-conceived, runs counter to the public interest, and should be abandoned.

The language that appears in the current Virginia regulations (“Local school division personnel shall serve only as consultants to the committee”) should be maintained.

Sincerely,

Bill Hogan