§ 4355. Admission. All deaf or blind and deaf children between the age
of three years and twenty-one years and of suitable capacity for
instruction who are legal residents of the state shall be eligible for
appointment to the New York state school for the deaf without charge for
such period of time in each individual case as may be set by the
commissioner, either: (i) upon the recommendation of the committee on
special education or committee on preschool special education of the
child's school district of residence, as applicable; or (ii) where the
parents of a school age child make application directly to the
commissioner or the school, upon recommendation of the school's
multidisciplinary team in accordance with the joint placement procedures
established in this section.

2. a. Upon receipt of an application for admission of a child who has
not been recommended for placement by the committee on special education
or committee on preschool special education of the child's school
district of residence, the school shall immediately notify such school
district of such application. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision
of law, the school shall make available to such school district of
residence, upon request, all records in its possession relating the
evaluation, placement and educational performance of each child who has
applied for admission or is attending the school, including the results
of any current evaluations of such child.

b. Prior to any meeting of its multidisciplinary team to develop an
individualized education program for a school age child, either upon
initial admission to the school or in an annual review, the school shall
notify the school district of residence of such meeting and shall offer
the district the opportunity to identify and present to the
multidisciplinary team, an alternative placement recommendation for
services in the least restrictive environment. In addition, such notice
shall advise the school district of its right to appoint additional
members to the multidisciplinary team pursuant to paragraph c of this
subdivision. The multidisciplinary team shall consider such alternative
and, if it rejects the alternative, shall include in its recommendation
a statement of its reasons for doing so.

c. In addition to the members required for a committee on special
education pursuant to subdivision one of section forty-four hundred two
of this chapter, the school's multidisciplinary team may include
additional members appointed by the board of education of the school
district of residence pursuant to this paragraph, and shall include such
members if appointed by such board of education. For each member
appointed by the school, the school district may appoint a corresponding
member, including a representative of the committee on special education
who is qualified to teach or supervise special education, a school
psychologist, the child's teacher, a parent member, a physician where
the parent requests attendance of the physician member, and, for a child
who has been evaluated for the first time, a person who is knowledgeable
about the evaluation procedures used with the child and familiar with
the results of the evaluation. The commissioner shall determine the
location at which the multidisciplinary team meeting will be held. In
the event of a tie vote on the multidisciplinary team, the parents shall
cast the deciding vote.

d. The majority of the multidisciplinary team shall state the reasons
for its recommendation, and submit such recommendation to the
commissioner for consideration in determining whether to appoint the
child. If the representatives appointed by the school district of
residence disagree with the recommendation of the multidisciplinary
team, they shall be entitled to prepare a dissenting opinion on the
placement recommendation and to submit such opinion to the commissioner
for consideration in determining whether to appoint the child to the
school.

e. The commissioner, or his or her designee, in determining whether to
appoint a school age child to the school, shall consider whether the
placement at the state school is an appropriate placement in the least
restrictive environment, taking into account the school district's
recommended alternative placement. If the commissioner or his or her
designee determines that placement in the state school is not in the
least restrictive environment or otherwise disagrees with such
recommendation, the commissioner shall state his or her reasons in
writing and shall send the recommendation back to the multidisciplinary
team for reconsideration, with notice to the parents. If the
commissioner refers the recommendation back to the multidisciplinary
team for reconsideration, the commissioner shall also notify the parents
and the multidisciplinary team in writing of the need to schedule a
meeting to ensure timely placement.

* f. Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the
contrary, a member of the multidisciplinary team, other than the parents
or persons in parental relation to the student is not required to attend
a meeting of the team, in whole or in part, if the parent or person in
parental relation to the student and the department agree, in writing,
that the attendance of the member is not necessary because the member's
area of the curriculum or related services is not being modified or
discussed at the meeting.

* NB Repealed June 30, 2027

* g. Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the
contrary, a member of the multidisciplinary team, other than the parents
or persons in parental relation to the student, may be excused from
attending a meeting of the team, in whole or in part, when the meeting
involves a modification to or discussion of the member's area of the
curriculum or related services if the parent or person in parental
relation to the student and the department consent, in writing, to the
excusal and the excused member submits to the parent or person in
parental relation to the student and the multidisciplinary team, written
input into the development of the individualized education program, and
in particular written input with respect to their area of curriculum or
related services prior to the meeting.

* NB Repealed June 30, 2027

* h. Requests for excusal of a member of the multidisciplinary team as
provided for in paragraphs f and g of this subdivision, and the written
input as provided for in paragraph g of this subdivision, shall be
provided not less than five calendar days prior to the meeting date, in
order to afford the parent or person in parental relation a reasonable
time to review and consider the request. Provided however, that a parent
or person in parental relation shall retain the right to request and/or
agree with the department to excuse a multidisciplinary team member at
any time including where the member is unable to attend the meeting
because of an emergency or unavoidable scheduling conflict and the
department submits the written input for review and consideration by the
parent or person in parental relation within a reasonable time prior to
the meeting and prior to obtaining written consent of the parent or
person in parental relation to such excusal.

* NB Repealed June 30, 2027

* i. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation to
the contrary, in making changes to a student's individualized education
program after the annual review has been conducted, the parent or person
in parental relation to the student and the department may agree not to
convene a multidisciplinary team meeting for the purpose of making those
changes, and instead may develop a written document to amend or modify
the student's current individualized education program under the
following circumstances:

(i) The parent or person in parental relation makes a request to the
department for an amendment to the individualized education program and
the department and such parent or person in parental relation agree in
writing; or

(ii) The department provides the parent or person in parental relation
with a written proposal to amend a provision or provisions of the
individualized education program that is conveyed in language
understandable to the parent or person in parental relation in such
parent's or such person's native language or other dominant mode of
communication, informs and allows the parent or person in parental
relation the opportunity to consult with the appropriate personnel or
related service providers concerning the proposed changes and the parent
or person in parental relation agrees in writing to such amendments.

(iii) If the parent or person in parental relation agrees to amend the
individualized education program without a meeting, the parent or person
in parental relation shall be provided prior written notice of the
changes to the individualized education program resulting from such
written document and the multidisciplinary team shall be notified of
such changes. If the department makes such changes by rewriting the
entire individualized education program, it shall provide the parent or
person in parental relation with a copy of the rewritten individualized
education program. If the department amends the individualized education
program without rewriting the entire document, the department shall
provide the parent or person in parental relation with a copy of the
document that amends or modifies the individualized education program
or, upon request of the parent or person in parental relation, a revised
copy of the individualized education program with the amendments
incorporated.

Amendments to an individualized education program pursuant to this
paragraph shall not affect the requirement that the multidisciplinary
team review the individualized education program at the annual meeting,
or more often if necessary.

* NB Repealed June 30, 2027

3. The commissioner shall adopt regulations to prescribe the
procedures for evaluation, placement and admission of children in
accordance with this section, which shall include but not be limited to
procedures to ensure that the due process rights of parents are
protected and that placement recommendations are made in a timely
manner.