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Department seeks to incorporate Special Education Manual by reference and remove conflicting rule language
Summary
The department told the House Education Committee it would use temporary rule to incorporate the Idaho Special Education Manual for continuity and strike conflicting language in administrative rule section 109, citing conflicts between the rule text and the updated manual.
Greg Wilson, chief of staff at the State Department of Education, told the House Education Committee that the department is proposing a temporary rule to incorporate the Idaho Special Education Manual by reference and to remove conflicting language in administrative rule section 109.
Wilson said the change was prompted by conflicts between section 109 and the updated special education manual and by the department’s need to ensure continuity of operations and compliance while the legislature considers the manual. He said many special education professionals rely on the manual rather than administrative rule and that having two different sources for the same guidance created confusion.
The department presented a temporary rule (docket numbers cited in the department materials) that would incorporate the updated manual for the current school year and immediately eliminate the special education language in section 109 (identified in the department’s materials as pages 12 through 16 of the pending rules). Wilson said the temporary rule was intended to ensure districts start the ongoing school year with a compliant manual while legislative review proceeds. He also referenced a letter the department received from the federal government that motivated ensuring compliance during the interim.
Committee members asked for clarity on what changed in the revised manual and requested a redline or a short summary. Representative Clow noted the manual’s length and asked the department to supply highlights of what differs from the prior manual; Wilson said the department would provide a high-level overview and follow-up materials.
No formal vote on the temporary rule occurred during the meeting; the department said it had already posted temporary rules to preserve continuity and will provide the committee with additional documentation and summaries before any final legislative action.
The committee reserved final action for a later meeting after members review the manual changes and the department’s summaries.
