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S 2214Special Education

Education - Children with Disabilities

Updates disability terminology, adjusts transition council membership, and expands transition planning eligibility to include students with Section 504 plans.

Held for study
Population
Affected
8
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Introduced Jan 23, 2026Committee Senate Education

Plain-English Summary

This bill updates the state laws regarding the transition of students with disabilities from school to adulthood. It modernizes the language used in the law, replacing outdated terms like "mental retardation" with "intellectual disabilities." It updates the membership of the "interagency transition council" to reflect current state department names and adds a representative from regional educational collaboratives. Most significantly, it expands the definition of students eligible for transition services to explicitly include those with a Section 504 plan, ensuring these students receive transition planning starting at age 14.

For younger readers

This bill helps students who have disabilities get ready for life after they finish high school. It changes some old words in the law to be more respectful, like using "intellectual disabilities" instead of hurtful words. It also updates the group of adults in charge of helping these students. Importantly, it makes sure that students with "504 plans" (which are special plans to help kids learn) get help planning for jobs or college starting when they are 14 years old, just like other students with disabilities do.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Students with disabilitiesStudents with Section 504 plansSchool administratorsSpecial education personnelParents of children with disabilities
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Removes offensive and outdated terminology (e.g., "mental retardation") from state law, promoting dignity and respect for individuals with intellectual disabilities.
  • Expands the social safety net by ensuring students with Section 504 plans are guaranteed transition services, preventing vulnerable youth from falling through the cracks after high school.
  • Promotes systemic reform by mandating better coordination between state agencies, schools, and community providers to support the welfare of the community's youth.
  • Does not appear to appropriate additional funding to support the expanded pool of students (Section 504) requiring services, potentially straining existing public school resources.
  • Relies heavily on a bureaucratic council for oversight rather than establishing direct, enforceable rights or penalties for schools that fail to provide these services.
  • While it expands eligibility, it does not mandate specific outcomes or job placements, which may leave some disadvantaged students without tangible results despite the planning.
For Conservatives
  • Encourages self-sufficiency by focusing on transitioning students into the workforce and independent living, potentially reducing long-term reliance on government assistance.
  • Updates the law to reflect the correct names of current government agencies, eliminating confusion and cleaning up the legal code.
  • Maintains a structure where transition planning is initiated by local school districts rather than being dictated entirely by a central state authority.
  • Expands the scope of government mandates by requiring schools to provide transition planning to a larger group of students (Section 504), likely increasing costs for taxpayers.
  • Increases the size of the administrative state by adding more members to the interagency transition council, creating more bureaucracy.
  • Imposes further state-level regulations on local education systems, reducing the autonomy of local school boards to manage their own resources and priorities.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 15 additions · 10 deletions

SECTION 1. Section 16-24-18 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-24 entitled "Children With Disabilities [See Title 16 Chapter 97 — The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is hereby amended to read as follows: 16-24-18. Transition from school to self-sufficient adulthood for students with disabilities.

(a) There is established within the department of elementary and secondary education an interagency transition council (the “transition council”) composed of:

(1) The administrators or their designees of the following:

(i) Department of human services — office of rehabilitation services;

(ii) Department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals — division of developmental disabilities;

(iii) Department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals — division of behavioral healthcare;

(iv) Department of children, youth, and families;

(v) Department of elementary and secondary education — office of student, community and academic supports;

(vi) Department of elementary and secondary education — office of adult and career and technical education;

(vii) Department of labor and training — human resource investment council governor’s workforce board;

(viii) Department of health — division of community, family health, and equity; and

(2) Commissioner of higher education Postsecondary commissioner or his or her designee; and

(3) Two (2) young persons with disabilities, two (2) parents of young persons with disabilities, and two (2) representatives of local school districts and one transition coordinator from one of the regional educational collaboratives, appointed by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education.

(4) One representative of community-based providers of services to adults with developmental disabilities and one representative of community-based providers of adult behavioral healthcare services, appointed by the director of the department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals.

(b) The goal of the transition council is to ensure the preparedness of students with disabilities, upon leaving school, to live and work in the community.

(c) The transition council shall draft and propose periodic revisions to the cooperative agreement among the state departments and offices for the provisions of services in the transition of young persons with disabilities from school to self-sufficient adult life. The directors of the state departments and agencies shall sign the cooperative agreement and any revisions, prior to their implementation. The transition council shall oversee the implementation of the cooperative agreement. The council shall issue guidelines or instructions and recommend to the state departments and agencies appropriate directives necessary to effectuate the implementation of the cooperative agreement. The transition council shall develop joint plans for state departments and agencies and local school districts for providing transition services to assist young persons with disabilities. The transition council shall, after hearing from the public, issue an annual report to the governor, children’s cabinet, and general assembly on the status of transition services and recommendations for improving opportunities for young persons with disabilities to make a successful transition from school to self-sufficient adult life.

(d) Individualized transition planning will be initiated by the school district to include the young person with a disability, guardian, general education and special education personnel as appropriate, career and technical education, and representatives of any party to the delivery and implementation of the individual plan. Transition planning will begin by age fourteen (14) or younger if determined appropriate in the individualized education program, for each eligible young person with a disability and shall be reviewed and updated annually.

(e) As used in this section:

(1) “Transition services” means a coordinated set of activities for a young person with a disability, designed within an outcome oriented process, that promotes movement from school to post-school activities including postsecondary education, vocational training, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation. The activities shall be based on the needs of the individual young person with a disability, taking into account the young person with a disability’s preferences and interests; and shall include needed activities in the areas of:

(i) Instruction:

(ii) Community experiences;

(iii) The development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives; and

(iv) If appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational evaluation.

(2) “Young person(s) with a disability” means those students:

(i) Evaluated in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq., as having mental retardation, hearing impairments including deafness, speech or language impairments, visual impairments including blindness, serious emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, specific learning disabilities, deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities intellectual disabilities, hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), serious emotional disturbance (referred to in this chapter as “emotional disturbance”), orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities; or

(ii) Who, by reason of the evaluation, needs special education and related services, or because of those impairments needs special education and related services, and or

(iii) Age fourteen (14) or younger if determined appropriate in the individualized education program Who have a Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended Section 504 plan, "29 U.S. Code § 794 - Nondiscrimination under federal grants and programs"; or

(iv) Age fourteen (14) or younger if determined appropriate.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.