§ 6-41-202 - Purposes and applicability. - Arkansas Statutes

6-41-202. Purposes and applicability.

(a) (1) It is the policy of this state to provide and to require school districts to provide, as an integral part of the public schools, a free appropriate public education for students with disabilities.

(2) The State Board of Education is expressly authorized to assign responsibility for providing free appropriate public education of any child with a disability to an appropriate school district.

(b) The provisions of this section shall apply to all political subdivisions of the state that are involved in the education of children with disabilities, including without limitation the state educational agency, local educational agencies, educational service agencies, public charter schools that are not otherwise included as local educational agencies or educational service agencies and are not a school of a local educational agency or educational service agency, other state agencies and schools, including without limitation the Department of Mental Health and Welfare and state schools for children with deafness or children with blindness, and state and local juvenile and adult correction facilities.

(c) The provisions of this section shall be binding on each public agency in the state that provides special education and related services to children with disabilities, regardless of whether that agency is receiving funds under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.

(d) Each public agency in the state is responsible for ensuring that the rights and protections under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq., are given to children with disabilities referred to or placed in private schools and facilities by that public agency or placed in private schools by their parents under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.

(e) The state educational agency is responsible for ensuring that the requirements of this section are carried out and that each educational program for children with disabilities administered within the state, including without limitation each program administered by any other state or local agency, is under the general supervision of the persons responsible for educational programs for children with disabilities in the state educational agency and meets the educational standards of the state educational agency, including without limitation the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.