WeVote
Log In

Bill

Bill

SD 1083

An Act relative to the training, assessment, and assignment of qualified school interpreters in educational settings

194th Legislature (2025-2026) Introduced by Brendan Crighton and 2 co-sponsors

Creates a statewide, tiered interpreter system for schools, with Tier-3 for specialized meetings, training and registry, phased rollout to improve LEP families' access.

House concurred
0
WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · SD 1083

Summary: An Act relative to the training, assessment, and assignment of qualified school interpreters in educational settings (Senate Docket No. 1083)

Status: House concurred; Referred to the Committee on Education (introduced February 27, 2025)

Purpose and intent

  • Establish a statewide framework for the training, assessment, and certification of school interpreters to ensure qualified interpretation services for students, families, and school staff.
  • Align interpreter use with the needs of English Learner/LEP students and parents, with a clear tiered system to match interpreter qualifications to the complexity of meetings.

Key provisions

Definitions and framework

  • Introduces new Section 37 in Chapter 69 of the General Laws, detailing terms such as:
    • Department = Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)
    • LEP person: individual with limited English proficiency
    • Interpretation and Interpreter: defined competencies, ethics, and confidentiality
    • Meetings: distinguishes Specialized meetings (high-stakes, IEPs, safety plans, discipline, due process, etc.) from Standard meetings (parent conferences, community meetings, etc.)
    • Interpreter Tiers:
    • Tier 1: Proficiency recognized without formal assessment
    • Tier 2: Formal assessment, basic educational terminology, ongoing professional development
    • Tier 3: Formal assessment, specialized terminology, ongoing professional development, and higher competency
  • Emphasizes use of Tier 3 interpreters for all specialized meetings; Tier 2 or 3 for standard meetings; Tier 1 for spontaneous situations when Tier 3 or 2 is unavailable.

Training, assessment, and qualifications

  • The DESE shall:
    1) Develop and administer a system to train, assess, and determine interpreter qualifications, including tier-specific usage rules; grandfathering allowed for experienced interpreters already serving in schools.
    2) Provide an educational course of sufficient duration with coursework and field experience for all three tiers, aligned with DESE-developed courses under prior law (referencing related coursework from Chapter 102, Acts of 2021).
    3) Create a publicly accessible mechanism to identify Tier-3 interpreters for scheduled specialized meetings.

  • The DESE shall adopt regulations to implement the system, including:

    • A process to assess language proficiency for interpreters seeking school placements (with grandfathering for current school interpreters)
    • Required supervised field experience hours for Tier-3 interpreters
    • Procedures for using the publicly accessible Tier-3 interpreter mechanism for scheduled specialized meetings

Implementation timeline

  • Effective upon passage.
  • Phased implementation: DESE may roll out provisions (subsection (b)) across a diverse set of school districts, contingent on appropriation.
  • Full statewide implementation (including mandatory use of Tier-3 interpreters for all specialized meetings) contingent on certification by the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education in a report to the General Court.

Who is affected

  • LEP students and their families/guardians who rely on interpreter services in school settings.
  • School districts and educators, including special education teams, IEP teams, and other parties involved in specialized meetings.
  • School interpreters (current and prospective) who would be classified into Tier 1, 2, or 3 and must meet corresponding training and assessment requirements.
  • DESE as the regulatory and oversight body.

Significance

  • Sets a standardized, competency-based model for interpreter use in education.
  • Aims to improve access to information and participation for LEP parents in meetings affecting their children.
  • Introduces regulatory oversight, training standards, and a publicly searchable registry for Tier-3 interpreters.

For readers: This bill would notably elevate the expertise required for interpreters in high-stakes educational settings and formalize the assignment of interpreters by meeting type, with a phased, budget-dependent rollout.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

Sign in to ask a question.