Two bills benefitting schools are headed for the governor’s desk.

 

House Bill 1082, which changes the LEP term to English Learner and amends the EL adjustment for the 2021-22 school year, passed the Senate Education committee on a 6-0 vote and the full Senate on a 31-0 vote, after previously passing the House Education committee 15-0 and full House 65-0.

 

Department of Education Director of Learning & Instruction Shannon Malone told Senate Education committee members the bill would “ensure that schools have the funding necessary” for English Learners.

 

HB 1082, which also changes the term Limited English proficiency to English learner, will only for the 2021-22 English learner adjustment calculation multiply 0.25 times the number of kindergarten through twelfth grade students who scored below level four on the state-administered language proficiency assessment in school year 2019- 26 2020 or 2020-2021, whichever is greater.

 

ASBSD supports the bill.

 

House Bill 1083, which grants authority to Secretary of Education to waive accountability requirements when a national emergency is declared, passed Senate Education on a 6-0 vote, as well as the Senate on a 31-0 vote and previously passed the House Education committee on a 15-0 and the House 64-2.

 

Pogany testified in support of the bill during its Senate Education committee hearing, saying schools were “grateful to the Department (of Education) for taking on the waiver application.”

 

Malone told committee members the bill will “ease the burden on schools this year” and “allow them to focus on student learning.”

 

For updates on these bills and from the 2021 legislative session, check the ASBSD Blog and Bill Tracker page.