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Subcommittee backs local advisory councils for students with disabilities, adds two special-education teachers
Summary
The Education Public Works K–12 Subcommittee voted unanimously to adopt an amendment requiring two special-education teachers on newly authorized local advisory councils and to report the bill favorably to the full committee. Sponsors said the councils will bring parents and educators’ experience into state policymaking.
The Education Public Works K–12 Subcommittee voted 10–0 to adopt an amendment and to report a bill that would create local advisory councils in each school district to advise on educating students with disabilities.
Representative Erickson, the bill sponsor, told the panel the measure "sets up those advisory committees in each district so that then the districts can have communication within their educators and their parents" and said the goal is to collect data and feedback that will flow to the state advisory body and the State Department of Education.
Proponents framed the councils as grassroots information channels. Patrick Kelly, director of governmental affairs for the Palmetto State Teachers Association, said the legislation should include classroom voices and recommended adding two special-education teachers per council — "1 from grades K through 8, 1 from 9 through 12" — a change the committee approved as part of the amendment. Kelly also urged a focus on student safety in emergency situations, citing recent high-profile incidents and urging discussion of emergency services at IEP meetings.
Megan Bridal of Family Connection of South Carolina, which fields parent calls under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act designation, described growing demand for parent support services: "We took about 6,000 calls last year from parents," she said, and credited pilot work in Lexington School District 1 with showing how parent advisory councils can recruit and train parents and host district events.
The adopted amendment requires two special-education teachers per district council (one serving K–8 and one serving 9–12). Committee members noted the bill requires local councils to be formed by school district and that membership must be majority parents: the sponsor said parents or legal guardians must comprise at least 51% of the council membership.
The subcommittee first adopted the amendment by roll call and then voted to report the bill favorably as amended to the full committee by the same 10–0 tally. No member voted against or abstained during either roll call.
What happens next: The bill, as amended, will go to the full Education Public Works Committee for further consideration. The subcommittee record shows the measure is intended to be volunteer-run at the local level; funding or staffing implications for districts were not specified in the subcommittee record.
