Bill Text: NJ A5749 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires individualized education program teams, if appropriate, to disseminate information on availability of certain public transportation services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-08-23 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A5749 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A5749-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman DANIEL R. BENSON
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires individualized education program teams, if appropriate, to disseminate information on availability of certain public transportation services.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning availability of public transportation services for special education students and supplementing chapter 46 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. When an individualized education program (IEP) team is considering and coordinating transportation services for a special education student, the IEP team shall, if appropriate, disseminate information regarding the availability of public transportation services and accommodations for individuals with disabilities to the special education student and the parents or legal guardians of the special education student. If appropriate, information shall be shared regarding public transportation services including, but not limited to: the availability of accommodations, such as lifts, ramps, and elevators, that make public transportation vehicles and facilities more accessible to individuals with disabilities; potential reduced fare prices for individuals with disabilities; the potential availability of no fare or reduced fare prices for a personal assistant who is using certain public transportation services while travelling with the individual with a disability to whom the assistant provides services; and State and county paratransit services and programs.
b. The Offices of Special Education within the Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Transportation and the New Jersey Transit Corporation, shall develop and disseminate to school districts materials regarding the availability of public transportation services and accommodations for individuals with disabilities, which may be shared with a special education student and the parents or legal guardians of the student pursuant to subsection a. of this section.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires an individualized education program (IEP) team, when considering and coordinating transportation services for a special education student, to share with the student and the student's parents or legal guardians, if appropriate, information regarding the availability of public transportation services and accommodations for individuals with disabilities. An IEP team develops an IEP that guides the delivery of special education and related services and supports for a special education student.
Currently, public transportation services provide a variety of different services and accommodations to assist individuals with disabilities as they use such services. For example, certain public transportation systems, including the New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit), operate reduced fare programs for individuals with disabilities and allow personal assistants to ride for free when the assistant is travelling with the individual to whom that person provides services. NJ Transit also operates the Statewide paratransit program called Access Link, which was established to provide public transportation to people with disabilities who are unable to use local bus service. Counties operate their own separate paratransit programs for passengers with disabilities. Often times, lifts, ramps, and elevators make public transportation vehicles and facilities more accessible to individuals with disabilities.
The purpose of providing this information during the IEP process is to make students and parents aware of such services so that, outside of school and perhaps after graduation, they can appropriately take advantage of public transportation services and accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
Under the bill, the Offices of Special Education within the Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Transportation and the New Jersey Transit Corporation, are required to develop and disseminate to school districts materials regarding the availability of public transportation services and accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
