§302B-15  Responsibilities of department ofeducation; special education services.  (a)  The department shallcollaborate with the office to develop a system of technical assistance relatedto compliance with federal and state laws and access to federal and statefunds.  The department and the office shall collaborate to develop a list ofcentral services that the department may offer for purchase by a charter schoolat an annual cost to be negotiated between an individual charter school and thedepartment.  The department shall enter into a contract with a charter schoolto provide these services, which shall be renegotiated on an annual basis.

(b)  The department shall be responsible forthe provision of a free appropriate public education.  Any charter school thatenrolls special education students or identifies one of its students aseligible for special education shall be responsible for providing theeducational and related services required by a student's individualizededucation program.  The programs and services for the student shall bedetermined collaboratively by the student's individualized education programteam and the student's parents or legal guardians.

If the charter school is unable to provide allof the required services, then services to the student shall be provided by thedepartment according to services determined by the student's individualizededucational program team.  The department shall collaborate with the office todevelop guidelines related to the provision of special education services andresources to each charter school.  The department shall review all of thecurrent individualized education programs of special education studentsenrolled in a charter school and may offer staff, funding, or both, to thecharter school based upon a per-pupil weighted formula implemented by thedepartment and used to allocate resources for special education students in thepublic schools. [L 2006, c 298, pt of §2]