Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules  
611 W. Ottawa Street  
Lansing, MI 48909  
Phone: 517-335-8658 Fax: 517-335-9512  
AGENCY REPORT TO THE  
JOINT COMMITEE ON ADMNINISTRATIVE RULES (JCAR)  
1. Agency Information  
Agency name:  
Education  
Division/Bureau/Office:  
Superintendent of Public Instruction  
Name of person completing this form:  
Mary Fielding  
Phone number of person completing this form:  
517-241-6986  
E-mail of person completing this form:  
Name of Department Regulatory Affairs Officer reviewing this form:  
Mary Fielding  
2. Rule Set Information  
MOAHR assigned rule set number:  
2020-89 ED  
Title of proposed rule set:  
Special Education Programs and Services  
3. Purpose for the proposed rules and background:  
MCL 24.242 and 24.245  
Agency Report to JCAR-Page 2  
R 340.1708  
On May 22, 2017, the United States Department of Education Office of Special Education and  
Rehabilitative Services (USDOE/OSERS) issued a memorandum entitled “Eligibility Determination  
for Children Suspected of Having a Visual Impairment Including Blindness under the Individuals  
with Disabilities Education Act.” Subsequently, the USDOE/OSERS requested the Michigan  
Department of Education (MDE) to review its criteria for determining if a child has a visual  
impairment to ensure that the criteria are not narrower than allowed under the Individuals with  
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 USC 1400 et seq., and its implementing regulations. After  
review, the MDE determined that R 340.1708 is more restrictive than allowed by federal law,  
necessitating amendment of the rule. Beginning in the fall of 2019, MDE shared the proposed  
amendment with multiple stakeholders, including the Michigan Association of Administrators of  
Special Education, the Special Education Advisory Committee, and intermediate school district  
special education directors. These stakeholders were given information about why amendments were  
being proposed. Additionally, they were able to provide any insight they may have about the effects  
of the proposal. The stakeholders supported the amendment of this rule.  
Another purpose of the proposed rule is to broaden the circumstances under which a certified  
orientation and mobility specialist shall conduct an evaluation.  
R 340.1721e  
R 340.1721e(7) was amended effective February 13, 2020. The intent of the amendment was to  
remove the burden of inviting the resident district from the parent and to place the burden on the  
operating district. Instead, the February 13 amendment mistakenly placed an unnecessary burden on  
the resident district by requiring its attendance. The proposed amendment returns the language to  
what was intended.  
4. Summary of proposed rules:  
The proposed rules address eligibility for special education programs and services for students with  
visual impairments and procedures for developing individualized education programs for students  
who are placed in special education programs outside of their resident districts.  
5. List names of newspapers in which the notice of public hearing was published and  
publication dates:  
Notice of the public hearing was published in The Mining Journal and the Detroit Free Press on  
March 1, 2021, and The Grand Rapids Press on March 6, 2021.  
6. Date of publication of rules and notice of public hearing in Michigan Register:  
3/1/2021  
7. Date, time, and location of public hearing:  
8. Provide the link the agency used to post the regulatory impact statement and cost-benefit  
analysis on its website:  
9. List of the name and title of agency representative(s) attending public hearing:  
MCL 24.242 and 24.245  
Agency Report to JCAR-Page 3  
Michigan Department of Education: Roxanne Balfour, Mary Fielding, Rebecca McIntyre, Ashley  
Reed, Nancy Rotarius, Janis Weckstein, and Lori Schulze (contractor).  
Bromberg & Associates: Juliana Poletti, Justine Bryant, Kathryn Corr, and Laura Clark (American  
Sign Language interpreters), and Kari Box and Terry O’Connor (closed captioning transcribers).  
10. Persons submitting comments of support:  
R 340.1708 (entire): Special Education Advisory Committee, Michigan Association of Administrators  
of Special Education, Michigan Council for Exceptional Children,  
Vanessa Cheatham, Greg Morris, Jennifer Barley, Disability Rights Michigan, Anonymous (resident  
of Kalamazoo)  
R 340.1708 (title): Renee Thelen, Sarah Stargardt, Lori Morningstar (Flushing Community Schools),  
Victoria Haber, Sherry Rye  
R 340.1708(1): Sarah Stargardt, Lori Morningstar (Flushing Community Schools)  
R 340.1708(3): Renee Thelen, Victoria Haber  
R 340.1708(4): Sarah Stargardt, Lori Morningstar (Flushing Community Schools), Victoria Haber  
R 340.1721e (entire): Special Education Advisory Committee, Michigan Association of  
Administrators of Special Education, Michigan Council for Exceptional Children, Greg Morris,  
Renee Thelen, Sarah Stargardt, Jennifer Barley, Lori Morningstar (Flushing Community Schools),  
Victoria Haber, Anonymous (resident of Kalamazoo), Disability Rights Michigan, Laura Lamore  
(Grand Rapids Public Schools), Katie Flynn (Ottawa Area Intermediate School District)  
11. Persons submitting comments of opposition:  
R 340.1708 (entire) Anonymous, Katie Flynn, Julie Unatin, Anonymous (outside of Michigan)  
R 340.1708(1): Renee Thelen, Victoria Haber, Sherry Rye, Elizabeth Mulligan  
R 340.1708(2): Renee Thelen, Sarah Stargardt, Lori Morningstar (Flushing Community Schools),  
Victoria Haber, Sherry Rye  
R 340.1708(3): Lori Morningstar (Flushing Community Schools), Sarah Stargardt  
R 340.1708(4): Renee Thelen  
R 340.1721e: Anonymous(outside of Michigan)  
12. Identify any changes made to the proposed rules based on comments received during the  
public comment period:  
MCL 24.242 and 24.245  
Agency Report to JCAR-Page 4  
Name &  
Comments made at Written  
Agency Rationale Rule number  
Organization public hearing  
Comments  
for change  
& citation  
changed  
1
Victoria Haber  
Children with  
The Department of R 340.1708  
progressive eye Education  
(1)  
conditions should recognizes the  
be eligible for  
need to include a  
services. A child student with a  
may have 20/20 progressively  
vision but also  
deteriorating eye  
have a diagnosis condition as  
of retinitis  
eligible for special  
pigmentosa (RP). education under  
With RP, the  
vision may  
decrease  
the category of a  
student with a  
visual impairment.  
Language  
gradually or  
rapidly but it will addressing a  
eventually lead to progressively  
blindness.  
deteriorating eye  
condition was  
returned to this  
subrule.  
2
Sherry Rye  
At times, it is not The Department of R 340.1708  
possible to get an Education  
(2)(a)  
eye report with an recognizes the  
acuity or  
diagnosis for a  
child under 5  
need to allow for a  
medical evaluation  
by a physician  
years old without when a student is  
the child having not able to receive  
to undergo  
an eye report from  
anesthesia for an an optometrist or  
exam. Many of  
these severely  
impaired little  
ones are  
ophthalmologist.  
This subdivision  
was revised to  
address this issue.  
medically fragile;  
undergoing  
anesthesia is not  
an option for  
them.  
13.Date report completed:  
4/27/2021  
MCL 24.242 and 24.245  
;