Purpose


Beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, a child who has a disability and enrolls with the early learning coalition under Section 1002.53(3)(d), Florida Statutes, is eligible for specialized instructional services if: (a) The child is eligible for the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program under Section 1002.53, Florida Statutes; and (b) A current individual educational plan has been developed for the child by the local school board in accordance with rules of the State Board of Education. The purpose of this rule is to adopt procedures for the Department to approve specialized instructional service providers whose services meet the standards in Section 1002.66(3), Florida Statutes, maintain a list of approved providers, and notify each school district and early learning coalition of the approved provider list. The effect of the rule will allow the parent of a child who is eligible for the prekindergarten program for children with disabilities to select one or more specialized instructional services that are consistent with the child’s individual educational plan. These specialized instructional services may include, but are not limited to: (a) Applied behavior analysis as defined in Sections 627.6686 and 641.31098, Florida Statutes, (b) Speech-language pathology as defined in Section 468.1125, Florida Statutes, (c) Occupational therapy as defined in Section 468.203, Florida Statutes, (d) Physical therapy as defined in Section 486.021, Florida Statutes, and (e) Listening and spoken language specialists and an appropriate acoustical environment for a child who is deaf or hard of hearing who has received an implant or assistive hearing device.