Florida HB 615: Individual Education Plans

Bill Text

CS/CS/HB 615 2026

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hb615-02-c2
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A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to individual education plans; 2
amending s. 1003.57, F.S.; requiring a school district 3
to complete an initial evaluation to determine if a 4
student is eligible for an individualized education 5
plan (IEP) within a specified timeframe; requiring an 6
IEP team meeting to be convened within a specified 7
timeframe; requiring specified information to be 8
included in a student's educational records; requiring 9
certain school personnel to take specified actions if 10
a related service identified in a student's IEP is not 11
provided; providing that a parent has the right to 12
access, upon request, service logs within a specified 13
timeframe; requiring the IEP team to inform parents of 14
such right; requiring each school district to provide 15
an individualized orientation to the parent of a 16
student newly identified to be eligible for 17
exceptional student education services; requiring the 18
school district to obtain a signed acknowledgement 19
from each parent; providing requirements for the 20
orientation and acknowledgement; requiring school 21
districts to notify parents of available refresher 22
orientations each year; requiring that certain 23
information be retained in a student's education 24
records; amending s. 1003.576, F.S.; requiring school 25

CS/CS/HB 615 2026

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hb615-02-c2
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districts to develop standardized services logs for 26
the provisions of specified services for use by 27
specified persons; providing an effective date. 28
29
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 30
31
Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 32
1003.57, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 33
1003.57 Exceptional students instruction.— 34
(1) 35
(c)1. A student may not be given special instruction or 36
services as an exceptional student until after he or she has 37
been properly evaluated and found eligible as an exceptional 38
student in the manner prescribed by rules of the State Board of 39
Education. 40
2. In accordance with rules of the State Board of 41
Education, a school district must complete an initial evaluation 42
to determine whether a student is eligible for an individual 43
education plan (IEP) within 60 calendar days after receiving 44
parental consent to perform such evaluation. The school district 45
must convene an IEP team meeting within 30 calendar days after 46
eligibility is determined. The notification and written plan 47
must be retained in the student's educational record. 48
3. The parent of an exceptional student evaluated and 49
found eligible or ineligible shall be notified of each such 50

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evaluation and determination. Such notice shall contain a 51
statement informing the parent that he or she is entitled to a 52
due process hearing on the identification, evaluation, and 53
eligibility determination, or lack thereof. Such hearings are 54
exempt from ss. 120.569, 120.57, and 286.011, except to the 55
extent that the State Board of Education adopts rules 56
establishing other procedures. Any records created as a result 57
of such hearings are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1). 58
The hearing must be conducted by an administrative law judge 59
from the Division of Administrative Hearings pursuant to a 60
contract between the Department of Education and the Division of 61
Administrative Hearings. The decision of the administrative law 62
judge is final, except that any party aggrieved by the finding 63
and decision rendered by the administrative law judge has the 64
right to bring a civil action in the state circuit court. In 65
such an action, the court shall receive the records of the 66
administrative hearing and shall hear additional evidence at the 67
request of either party. In the alternative, in hearings 68
conducted on behalf of a student who is identified as gifted, 69
any party aggrieved by the finding and decision rendered by the 70
administrative law judge has the right to request a review of 71
the administrative law judge's order by the district court of 72
appeal as provided in s. 120.68. 73
4. If a school or service provider is unable to provide a 74
related service identified in a student's IEP as scheduled, the 75

CS/CS/HB 615 2026

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school administrator or staffing specialist must notify the 76
parent in writing within 5 school days, explain the reason the 77
s