South Carolina § 59-36-20 - Comprehensive system of special education and services; mandate of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; agencies and persons responsible; interagency cooperation; level of services; costs of services.

§ 59-36-20. Comprehensive system of special education and services; mandate of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; agencies and persons responsible; interagency cooperation; level of services; costs of services.

(A) The State Board of Education and the State Department of Education are responsible for establishing a comprehensive system of special education and related services and for ensuring that the requirements of the Federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are carried out. Other state agencies which provide services for children with disabilities are directed to cooperate in the establishment and support of the system. Agencies with responsibilities under this chapter include: the Office of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, the School for the Deaf and the Blind, the Commission for the Blind, the Department of Health and Environmental Control, the Office of Mental Health, the State Department of Social Services, Continuum of Care, and the State Department of Education.

(B) All public education programs for children with disabilities within the State, including all programs administered by any other state or local agency, are under the general supervision of the persons responsible for education programs for children with disabilities in the State Department of Education and must meet the standards of the State Board of Education.

(C) No provision of this section or of this chapter may be construed to limit the responsibilities of agencies other than the Department of Education from providing or paying for some or all of the cost of services to be provided the state's children with disabilities and the level of service must, at a minimum, be similar to that provided individuals with similar needs.

HISTORY: 1993 Act No. 86, SECTION 1; 2018 Act No. 160 (S.805), SECTION 11, eff July 1, 2019.

Code Commissioner's Note

At the direction of the Code Commissioner, "Article 11, Chapter 11, Title 63" was substituted for "Section 20-7-5210, et seq" at the end of the section.

2011 Act No. 47, SECTION 14(B), provided for the substitution of "intellectual disability" for "mental retardation" in the 1976 Code of Laws. At the Code Commissioner's discretion, the substitution was not made for the formal reference to the "Department of Mental Retardation" in this section.

At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.

Effect of Amendment

2018 Act No. 160, SECTION 11, added the paragraph designators, and, in (C), deleted the second sentence, which related to the Children's Case Resolution System deciding on responsibilities for a particular child if agencies disagreed.