Extended School Year (ESY)

The rule changes prompted revisions in a related area of ESY services—a process which is still underway yet has brought about a new State Board of Education policy titled Standards for Extended School Year Services, which was adopted on August 12, 2008. Although the federal regulations state only that ESY may be discussed at IEP meetings for all special education students, the pending Michigan rules will require consideration of ESY at each IEP meeting for every special education student. This will help ensure that students get the continuity they need to master new skills at critical stages in their learning and development.

Complaint Rules

The proposed ESY rule (R340.1721e) is grouped together in a ruleset which includes proposed changes to the complaint rules. Currently, state complaints within special education are being resolved primarily through a two-tier formal state investigation process. In rules R340.1851, 1852, 1853, 1854, and 1855, OSE is proposing the use of alternative dispute resolution methods and a one-tier system for settling complaints. According to the RIS, “the proposed rules enhance the likelihood that the complaint process will be completed in a more efficient and timely manner,” thus complying with the federally-mandated 60-day timeline while maintaining all due process rights afforded through the IDEA.

Public hearings for this ruleset (2008-ED-022) were scheduled for late October and early November 2008, with the public comment period extending through the end of November. As in all its public hearings, OSE makes every effort to be accessible by offering both morning and evening sessions at each site to accommodate different schedules. And for the first time, three video-conference hearings enabled citizens in distant locations—Marquette, Traverse City, and Hancock—to talk directly to OSE in Lansing from sites in those towns.

Although public hearings are the official venue for airing comments and making suggestions, OSE welcomes input at any time. The policy unit keeps a file on emails, letters, and other communications and tries to incorporate those ideas into the rules.

“People should realize that they don’t have to wait until public comment time,” says a policy unit staff member. “They can communicate with any agency or through their legislators. The Education Committees in both the House and the Senate are a great place to get started. Our laws are not old and dusty volumes on a shelf somewhere. They’re dynamic—we need to keep up with the times.”

What’s Next

The newest compilation of MARSE will be published in the spring of 2009. It will be arranged to show the Michigan rules alongside their federal counterparts, demonstrating Michigan’s compliance with—and occasional surpassing of—the standards set forth in the IDEA. To view the federal regulations, visit the OSE Web site and click on Laws and Policies.

The State Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules (SOAHR)

The State Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules (SOAHR) was created by Executive Order in 2005 as a “central panel” for managing the rule promulgation process. In an effort to make this lengthy and potentially confusing process more “citizen friendly” and accessible, SOAHR created a Web site that allows access to the rulemaking process and provides updated information on the status of current and proposed administrative rules.

The SOAHR Web site gives a step-by-step synopsis of the rulemaking process, along with a flow chart (Figure 1) for easy reference. Users looking for a recent or pending rule change can search by the year or by the department or agency proposing the rule change. If the rule has gone into effect or has been withdrawn, it can be viewed in the archives. A button bar above each rule allows the user to access the rule’s history, its Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS), the revision text (the most recent proposed text of the rule), and the Admincode (the current Michigan Administrative Code that the proposed rule will amend).

The SOAHR Web site also contains the complete text of the State’s three administrative rule periodicals—the Michigan Administrative Code, which is the compilation of all adopted rules and regulations effective in the State of Michigan; the Michigan Register; and the Annual Administrative Code Supplement. Each rule has been assigned a number which appears at the beginning of that rule’s text in the Code.

For more information, visit the SOAHR Web site and click on Hearing, Appeals, then Mediation & Rules.

Michigan’s Administrative Rules for Special Education (MARSE)

Michigan’s Administrative Rules for Special Education (MARSE) are organized into nine parts:

1. General Provisions—Includes definitions of special education terms and determinations of the various impairments served by special education programs.
2. Evaluation, Eligibility, Student Assignment, and Due Process Procedures—Includes rules for individualized education programs (IEPs) and least restrictive environment (LRE)
3. Administration of Programs and Services—Describes student-teacher ratios and the minimum clock hours for various programs and services.
4. Qualifications of Directors and Supervisors.
5. Qualifications of Teachers and Other Personnel.
6. Financing—Guides the use of funds from millages, taxes, and federal appropriations.
7. Development and Submission of Intermediate School Districts’ (ISDs’) Plans and Monitoring—Includes procedures for objections to planapproval and appointment of a parent advisory committee (PAC).
8. Complaints—Delineates responsibilities and procedures for processing and investigating complaints.
9. Records and Confidentiality—Governs access rights to student records.