Title 13, EDUCATION

Any party aggrieved by a decision of the Department of Education under this chapter may bring a civil action with respect to a due process complaint notice requesting a due process hearing under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1415(i)(2) (January 1, 2…

The secretary of the Department of Education or any school district may expend any public funds under the provisions of this chapter for the education of children in need enrolled in any state - owned institution, including transportation as provided in § 13-37-8.9 . The provisio…

For taxes payable in 2027, and each year thereafter, the school board shall levy no more than one dollar and forty-four and nine-tenths cents per thousand dollars of taxable valuation, as a special levy in addition to all other levies authorized by law for the amount so determine…

If local effort increases on a statewide aggregate basis by a greater percentage than local need on a statewide aggregate basis from any one year to the next, for the following year, the levy specified in subdivision 13-37-35.1 (7) shall be reduced proportionally so that the perc…

Any adjustments in the levy specified in subdivision 13-37-35.1 (7) made pursuant to § 13-37-16.2 shall be based on maintaining the relationship between statewide local effort as a percentage of statewide local need in the fiscal year succeeding the fiscal year in which the adjus…

Special education costs and statistical information shall be included in the annual financial report as provided in § 13-13-37 . Source: SL 1976, ch 122 , § 4; SL 1977, ch 136 , § 1; SL 1980, ch 134 , § 3; SL 1995, ch 101 , § 15; SL 2013, ch 79 , § 10.

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, "special education" means educational services and auxiliary services provided children in need of special education or special education and related services pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and shall incl…

As used in this chapter, the term, surrogate parent, means any individual assigned by the district to act in place of the parent of a child in need of special education when the school district cannot identify or locate the parent or the child is a ward of the state. Source: SL 1…

Agencies or individuals providing a service directly to children in need of special education or special education and related services under the provisions of this chapter shall be authorized to recover authorized costs from the school district special education fund on a monthl…

The surrogate parent may act in place of the parent in all matters relating to the identification, evaluation, and educational placement of a child in need; and to the provision of a free appropriate public education to the child in need. The surrogate parent is immune from suit …

For the purposes of this chapter, the Department of Education shall use the definition of autism spectrum disorder contained in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, published by the American Psychiatric Association to define autism spectrum di…

For the purposes of this chapter, dyslexia is a learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the …

For the purposes of § 13-37-30 , a blind student is any individual who is eligible for special education services and who has a visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting lenses or has a limited field of vision such that the widest diameter subtends an angu…

In developing an individualized written education program for each blind student the presumption shall be that proficiency in braille reading and writing is essential for the student to achieve satisfactory educational progress. The assessment required for each such student shall…

The South Dakota Board of Education Standards shall promulgate rules pursuant to chapter 1-26 governing the determination of the competency of braille instructors according to their education or experience. Source: SL 1991, ch 152 , § 3; SL 2017, ch 81 , § 57.

Terms used in chapter 13-37 mean: (1) "Level one disability," a mild disability; (2) "Level two disability," cognitive disability or emotional disorder; (3) "Level three disability," hearing impairment, deafness, visual impairment, deaf-blindness, orthopedic impairment, or trauma…

The Department of Education shall recalculate the amounts of the allocations for the disability levels defined in § 13-37-35.1 . The recalculation shall be based on statewide average expenditures as reported to the Department of Education in school district annual reports by disa…

To establish the school district special education fund statutory carryover, deduct from the total ending fund balance the amount of Title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act funds receipted or transferred to the special education fund. Source: SL 1997, ch 89 , § 4…

For the purpose of calculating state aid pursuant to this chapter, a level five disability shall meet criteria for at least two disability categories in levels two to four, inclusive, excluding the disability of deaf-blindness. Source: SL 1999, ch 90 , § 10; SL 2000, ch 87 , § 1;…

The secretary of the Department of Education shall compute state aid for special education for each school district according to the following calculations: (1) Calculate the local need of a school district; (2) State aid for special education is: (a) Local need minus local effor…

Payment from funds provided for state aid for special education in any school fiscal year shall be made in twelve monthly installments on or about the thirtieth of each month. For the period July first through December thirty - first, the total of the six payments shall be one - …

13-37-40.1 Certification required for funding. 13-37-41 Establishing guidelines for expenditure of state aid for special education--Annual report. 13-37-42 Limitation on expenditure of funds set aside for extraordinary expenditures.

Subject to the limitations provided below and in § 13-37-42 , the secretary of the Department of Education shall, beginning July 1, 2026, set aside five million dollars of the state aid to districts for special education appropriation for extraordinary expenses incurred in provid…

A school district is not eligible for funding from the money set aside in § 13-37-40 unless the school district certifies to the secretary of education that its ending special education fund balance will not exceed ten percent of its special education expenditures for the current…

The secretary of the Department of Education shall establish guidelines for the application, approval, distribution, and expenditure of these funds and shall report annually to the Legislature on such expenditures. Source: SL 1995, ch 101 , § 7; SL 2003, ch 272 , § 63.

The amount set aside for extraordinary expenses may not be expended until the allocation of local need has been determined for each district and no more than one half of the amount set aside may be expended before January first of each year. Source: SL 1995, ch 101 , § 8. 13-37-4…

13-37-45 Allocation of undistributed appropriations. 13-37-46 Rules defining special education process--Appeal of local district's determinations--Hearing. 13-37-47 Promulgation of rules.

A school district's state aid for special education as calculated pursuant to § 13-37-36.1 shall be reduced by the amount that its ending special education fund balance exceeds twenty-five percent of its special education expenditures for the prior fiscal year or one hundred thou…

Any funds appropriated as state aid for special education that are not distributed according to § 13-37-36.3 shall be used to fund any shortfall of the appropriation provided for in § 13-13-73 . The remaining funds shall be allocated by the secretary of the Department of Educatio…

The secretary of the Department of Education shall promulgate and review rules which further define special education processes regarding student identification and the placement committee process. Any appeal of a local district's determination relating to special education or sp…

The secretary of the Department of Education may promulgate rules to implement the provisions of §§ 13-37-35.1 to 13-37-47 , inclusive. Source: SL 1995, ch 101 , § 24; SL 2003, ch 272 , § 63.

Any records related to the reporting of the child count of a public school district shall be subject to examination by the Department of Education at all times. Source: SL 1999, ch 90 , § 5; SL 2003, ch 272 , § 63.

If, in the department's examination of the child count, it is determined that the data was overreported, the department shall recover from the district's special education fund twice the amount of state aid overpaid as a result of the overreporting. Upon recovery of the overpayme…

The Department of Education may promulgate rules pursuant to chapter 1-26 to define the various disabilities in this chapter. Source: SL 1999, ch 90 , § 11; SL 2003, ch 272 , § 63.

The Department of Education may promulgate rules pursuant to chapter 1-26 to provide for the reallocation of state aid to special education as provided for in § 13-28-9.1 . Source: SL 2001, ch 84 , § 3; SL 2003, ch 272 (Ex. Ord. 03-1), § 63; SL 2013, ch 79 , § 19.

Up to fifteen percent of the local need as defined in subdivision 13-37-35.1 (18) may be used to develop and implement coordinated, early intervening services for students in kindergarten through grade twelve who are not currently identified as needing special education or specia…

A school district seeking to use funds pursuant to § 13-37-55 shall apply for approval for the use of such funds from the Department of Education on forms provided by the department. Source: SL 2013, ch 79 , § 2.

Any school district that uses funds pursuant to § 13-37-55 shall annually report to the Department of Education on: (1) The number of students who receive coordinated, early intervening services; and (2) The number of students who received early intervening services, and who subs…

The Board of Education Standards shall promulgate rules pursuant to chapter 1-26 establishing the application process, the application timelines, the criteria the department will use in approving a district's use of special education funds pursuant to § 13-37-55 , and the collect…

A school district that provides early intervening services pursuant to § 13-37-55 is not eligible for funding from the money set aside pursuant to § 13-37-40 within a period of three years following the expenditure of such funds. Source: SL 2013, ch 79 , § 5.

There is hereby established an Extraordinary Cost Oversight Board within the Department of Education. The board shall review all school district requests for extraordinary cost funds as provided in § 13-37-40 . The board shall meet at least once a year and recommend to the secret…

The oversight board established in § 13-37-60 shall consist of seven members. The membership shall include one member of the Legislature appointed by the Executive Board of the Legislative Research Council, and six members appointed by the secretary of education. The members appo…

Within thirty calendar days after the date on which the student is enrolled in a school district, the district must implement a new or revised plan under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794 (January 1, 2025), a new or revised individualized family service plan …

Payments from state and local sources received by a school district for special education, including any state aid to education funds based upon tuition paid for children in need as provided in chapter 13-37 , shall be credited to the special education fund of the school district…

The cost of special education shall be the responsibility of the school district wherein the child in need of special education or special education and related services has school residence through its source of revenue provided in § 13-37-16 . Source: SL 1968, ch 51 , § 5 (3); …

The costs for special education and related services, as defined in rules promulgated by the South Dakota Board of Education Standards pursuant to chapter 1-26 , may be covered and available from accident and health insurers, nonprofit medical and surgical plans, health maintenan…