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| To enact section 3323.21 of the Revised Code to | 1 |
| require the Department of Education to solicit | 2 |
| from school districts and educational service | 3 |
| centers regular studies of the time spent by | 4 |
| occupational and physical therapists on certain | 5 |
| activities and to use the studies to determine | 6 |
| appropriate workloads. | 7 |
| Section 1. That section 3323.21 of the Revised Code be | 8 |
| enacted to read as follows: | 9 |
| Sec. 3323.21. (A) As used in this section, "related services | 10 |
| provider" means an occupational therapist or physical therapist. | 11 |
| (B)(1) Not later than June 30, 2013, and by the thirtieth day | 12 |
| of June every five years thereafter, the department of education | 13 |
| shall solicit from the boards of education of each city, exempted | 14 |
| village, and local school district and the governing board of each | 15 |
| educational service center a study of the average amount of time | 16 |
| each type of related services provider employed or contracted by | 17 |
| the board spent on each of the following activities over two | 18 |
| separate two-week periods, one of which shall have concluded prior | 19 |
| to the thirty-first day of January and the other of which shall | 20 |
| have concluded prior to the thirty-first day of May: | 21 |
| (a) Child evaluations, including screenings, observations, | 22 |
| diagnostic testing, and other assessments; | 23 |
| (b) IEP development; | 24 |
| (c) Development and review of plans of care; | 25 |
| (d) Provision of related services to children with | 26 |
| disabilities, including consultations and counseling regarding | 27 |
| appropriate intervention services and direct provision of those | 28 |
| services; | 29 |
| (e) Provision of transition services; | 30 |
| (f) Documentation of child evaluations and services, | 31 |
| including compliance with documentation requirements related to | 32 |
| receiving reimbursement for services from the medicaid program | 33 |
| authorized by Chapter 5111. of the Revised Code; | 34 |
| (g) IEP team meetings; | 35 |
| (h) Collaboration and coordination with IEP team members or | 36 |
| other district or service center staff; | 37 |
| (i) Advocacy to ensure that IEPs and legal requirements | 38 |
| regarding the education of children with disabilities are being | 39 |
| met; | 40 |
| (j) Conducting training sessions for parents or district or | 41 |
| service center staff; | 42 |
| (k) Planning and designing the provider's work; | 43 |
| (l) Travel between school buildings or other sites for the | 44 |
| purpose of carrying out the provider's job responsibilities; | 45 |
| (m) Planning and development of districtwide initiatives to | 46 |
| identify at-risk children; | 47 |
| (n) Management of employees under the provider's supervision, | 48 |
| including occupational therapy assistants and physical therapist | 49 |
| assistants; | 50 |
| (o) Professional development. | 51 |
| (2) Each study shall include the following additional | 52 |
| information: | 53 |
| (a) The number of school buildings or other sites served by | 54 |
| each related services provider employed or contracted by the | 55 |
| district or service center board and the travel time between those | 56 |
| buildings or sites; | 57 |
| (b) Whether the district or service center uses any | 58 |
| occupational therapy assistants, physical therapist assistants, or | 59 |
| similar licensed personnel to assist related services providers | 60 |
| and, if so, the average amount of time spent by those personnel on | 61 |
| each of the activities listed in division (B)(1) of this section | 62 |
| over the two separate two-week periods covered by the study; | 63 |
| (c) A description of other personnel and programs available | 64 |
| within the district or service center that could be used to assist | 65 |
| or otherwise support related services providers in their work; | 66 |
| (d) Any other information requested by the department. | 67 |
| (C) Upon receipt of the studies solicited on or before June | 68 |
| 30, 2013, the department shall do both of the following: | 69 |
| (1) Classify each of the activities listed in division (B)(1) | 70 |
| of this section into one of the following categories: | 71 |
| (a) Direct provision of services to children with | 72 |
| disabilities; | 73 |
| (b) Activities related to the development of educational | 74 |
| programming for children with disabilities; | 75 |
| (c) Activities related to supporting nondisabled children | 76 |
| receiving a general education curriculum; | 77 |
| (d) Activities necessary to comply with federal or state | 78 |
| legal requirements that are not otherwise classified in divisions | 79 |
| (C)(1)(a) to (c) of this section. | 80 |
| (2) Based on the data contained in the studies, develop a | 81 |
| formula to determine, for each type of related services provider, | 82 |
| an appropriate ratio of children with disabilities per provider | 83 |
| that enables the provider to fulfill the provider's job | 84 |
| responsibilities in each of the categories described in division | 85 |
| (C)(1) of this section and to meet the needs of the children with | 86 |
| disabilities in the provider's workload, without exceeding the | 87 |
| number of minutes comprising the provider's full-time work | 88 |
| schedule. | 89 |
| (D) Whenever subsequent studies are solicited under division | 90 |
| (B)(1) of this section, the department shall consider, based on | 91 |
| the data contained in the studies, whether the formula developed | 92 |
| under division (C)(2) of this section produces an appropriate | 93 |
| ratio of children with disabilities per related services provider. | 94 |
| If the department determines that the formula does not produce an | 95 |
| appropriate ratio of children with disabilities per provider, the | 96 |
| department shall adjust the formula as needed to attain a more | 97 |
| appropriate workload. | 98 |
| (E) The department shall review each study solicited under | 99 |
| division (B)(1) of this section. Following each review, the | 100 |
| department shall report to the district or service center board | 101 |
| that submitted a study the percentage of time spent by the related | 102 |
| services providers employed or contracted by the board on each of | 103 |
| the categories of activities described in division (C)(1) of this | 104 |
| section during the four weeks covered by the study. The department | 105 |
| also shall submit to the district or service center board | 106 |
| directions for aligning the current workload for each type of | 107 |
| related services provider employed or contracted by the board with | 108 |
| the workload size determined appropriate for that type of | 109 |
| provider. The department shall compile the information required by | 110 |
| this division into a report, which shall be submitted to the state | 111 |
| board of education within ninety days after the information has | 112 |
| been provided to school districts and educational service centers. | 113 |
| (F) Each district and service center board shall implement | 114 |
| the department's directions submitted to the board under division | 115 |
| (E) of this section. | 116 |