In accordance with Education Code Section 17047.5, for school districts constructing classrooms for special education purposes, those classrooms shall be no more physically separated from classrooms constructed for their nonhandicapped peers than those classrooms are from each other; preferably the classrooms are under the same roof and adjacent to the classrooms of their nonhandicapped peers, specifically.
(a) A new school facility is considered integrated if it meets the following criteria:
(1) Classrooms for special education are located in proximity to regular education classrooms in such a way as to encourage age-appropriate interaction among all students.
(2) Whenever possible, if relocatable classrooms are used for special education classes, the ratio of special education relocatable classrooms to permanent special education classrooms is the same as the classroom ratio between relocatable classrooms and permanent classrooms for regular education students.
(3) Side-by-side school sites are not considered integrated.
(b) A waiver to acquire or newly construct a non-integrated facility is recommended by the Advisory Commission on Special Education for approval only if it includes a plan to transition the individuals with exceptional needs to a regular campus setting. The waiver includes a capacity study of the existing special education classrooms in the special education local plan area (SELPA) to verify that no classrooms are available to house the population targeted in the waiver.
(c) The waiver includes justification as to why the non-integrated facility is the only option available on a long-term basis and discusses the feasibility of a short-term lease as an option to new construction or acquisition.
Authority cited:
Education Code 17251(c)
Education Code 33031
Reference:
Education Code 17047
Education Code 17047.5
Education Code 17251(c)
Education Code 56000 et. seq.
(Amended by Register 2000, No. 44.)