§302B-15 Responsibilities of department of education; special education services. (a) The department shall collaborate with the office to develop a system of technical assistance related to compliance with federal and state laws and access to federal and state funds. The department and the office shall collaborate to develop a list of central services that the department may offer for purchase by a charter school at an annual cost to be negotiated between an individual charter school and the department. The department shall enter into a contract with a charter school to provide these services, which shall be re-negotiated on an annual basis.

(b) The department shall be responsible for the provision of a free appropriate public education. Any charter school that enrolls special education students or identifies one of its students as eligible for special education shall be responsible for providing the educational and related services required by a student's individualized education program. The programs and services for the student shall be determined collaboratively by the student's individualized education program team and the student's parents or legal guardians.

If the charter school is unable to provide all of the required services, then services to the student shall be provided by the department according to services determined by the student's individualized educational program team. The department shall collaborate with the office to develop guidelines related to the provision of special education services and resources to each charter school. The department shall review all of the current individualized education programs of special education students enrolled in a charter school and may offer staff, funding, or both, to the charter school based upon a per-pupil weighted formula implemented by the department and used to allocate resources for special education students in the public schools.