[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 7CFR15b.22]

[Page 407-408]
 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
PART 15b_NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAP IN PROGRAMS OR 
ACTIVITIES RECEIVING FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE--Table of Contents
 
    Subpart D_Preschool, Elementary, Secondary, Adult, and Extension 
                                Education
 
Sec. 15b.22  Free appropriate public education.

    (a) General. A recipient that operates a public elementary or 
secondary education program or activity shall provide a free appropriate 
public education to each qualified handicapped person who is in the 
recipient's jurisdiction, regardless of the nature or severity of the 
person's handicap.
    (b) Appropriate education. (1) For the purpose of this subpart, the 
provision of an appropriate education is the provision of regular or 
special education and related aids and services that (i) are designed to 
meet individual educational needs of handicapped persons as adequately 
as the needs of nonhandicapped persons are met and (ii) are based upon 
adherence to procedures that satisfy the requirements of Sec. 15b.23, 
Sec. 15b.24, and Sec. 15b.25.
    (2) Implementation of an Individualized Education Program developed 
in accordance with the Education of the Handicapped Act is one means of 
meeting the standard established in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section.
    (3) A recipient may place a handicapped person or refer such person 
for aid, benefits, or services other than those that it operates or 
provides as its means of carrying out the requirements of this subpart. 
If so, the recipient remains responsible for ensuring that the 
requirements of this subpart

[[Page 408]]

are met with respect to any handicapped person so placed or referred.
    (c) Free education--(1) General. For the purpose of this section, 
the provision of a free education is the provision of educational and 
related services without cost to handicapped persons or their parents or 
guardians, except for those fees that are imposed on nonhandicapped 
persons or their parents or guardians. It may consist either of the 
provision of free services or, if a recipient places a handicapped 
person in or refers such person for aid, benefits, or services not 
operated or provided by the recipient as its means of carrying out the 
requirements of this subpart, payment for the costs of the aid, 
benefits, or services. Funds available from any public or private agency 
may be used to meet the requirements of this subpart. Nothing in this 
section shall be construed to relieve an insurer or similar third party 
from an otherwise valid obligation to provide or pay for services 
provided to a handicapped person.
    (2) Transportation. If a recipient places a handicapped person or 
refers such person for aid, benefits, or services not operated or 
provided by the recipient as its means of carrying out the requirements 
of this subpart, the recipient shall ensure that adequate transportation 
to and from aid, benefits, or services is provided at no greater cost 
than would be incurred by the person or his or her parents or guardian 
if the person were placed in the program operated by the recipient.
    (3) Residential placement. If a public or private residential 
placement is necessary to provide a free appropriate public education to 
a handicapped person because of their handicap, the placement, including 
nonmedical care and room and board, shall be provided at no cost to the 
person or his or her parents or guardian.
    (4) Placement of handicapped persons by parents. If a recipient has 
made available in conformance with the requirements of this section and 
Sec. 15b.23, a free appropriate public education to a handicapped 
person and the person's parents or guardian choose to place the person 
in a private school, the recipient is not required to pay for the 
person's education in the private school. Disagreements between a parent 
or guardian and a recipient regarding whether the recipient has made a 
free appropriate education available or otherwise regarding the question 
of financial responsibility are subject to the due process procedures of 
Sec. 15b.25.
    (d) Compliance. A recipient may not exclude any qualified 
handicapped person from a public elementary or secondary education after 
the effective date of this regulation. A recipient that is not, on the 
effective date of this regulation, in full compliance with the other 
requirements of the preceding paragraphs of this section shall meet such 
requirements at the earliest practicable time but in no event later than 
September 1, 1982.

[47 FR 25470, June 11, 1982, as amended at 68 FR 51343, Aug. 26, 2003]