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Bill Summary · SB 167

SB 167 — Revise, Study, and Fund LEP Allotment

Status: Introduced January 23, 2025 — Withdrawn from committee (per provided status)
Subject areas: Appropriations; Education; Curriculum; State Board of Education; Students with Limited English Proficiency (LEP)

Main purpose / intent

SB 167 would (1) revise how state funds for students with limited English proficiency (LEP) are allocated, (2) require the State Board of Education to study the LEP allotment and report recommendations, and (3) appropriate recurring funding to increase the LEP allotment for the coming fiscal year.

Key provisions

  • Funding appropriation

    • Recurring appropriation of $16,200,000 (General Fund) to the Department of Public Instruction for FY 2025–2026 to increase the LEP allotment.

  • Revised allocation formula and eligibility

    • State Board to develop guidelines for identifying and serving LEP students for the 2025–2027 biennium.
    • Funds allocated to LEA (local school administrative units) and charter schools under a formula that accounts for the average percentage of LEP students in the last three years.
    • A unit/charter is eligible only if either:
    • Average daily membership (ADM) includes at least 20 LEP students, or
    • LEP students are at least 2.5% (2.5%) of ADM.
    • For the portion allocated by headcount, the State Board may not cap the number or percentage of identified LEP students used to calculate funding.

  • Permitted uses of funds

    • Classroom teachers, teacher assistants, tutors
    • Textbooks, instructional materials/supplies/equipment
    • Transportation costs
    • Staff development for teachers serving LEP students

  • Maintenance of effort / anti‑supplanting

    • Funds must supplement (add to) local current expense funds and may not supplant them.

  • Data collection and assessment

    • DPI to produce an annual head count of LEP-classified students by December 1.
    • LEP students must be assessed at least once every three years to determine English proficiency level.

  • State Board study and reporting requirement

    • State Board of Education to study the LEP allotment and report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee and Fiscal Research Division by December 31, 2025.
    • Study must address at least:
    • Alignment of funding with resources needed for English proficiency,
    • Whether to include a funding factor for number of languages spoken,
    • A plan to foster bilingual education programs,
    • Funding models (and costs) to eliminate LEP achievement gaps,
    • Analysis of eliminating concentration/minimum‑eligibility thresholds and suggested alternatives.

  • Effective date

    • July 1, 2025 (per bill text).

Who would be affected

  • Primary beneficiaries: students identified as LEP and the LEAs/charter schools that educate them.
  • Operational impacts: school districts (hiring teachers/assistants/tutors), DPI (data collection, administration), State Board (developing guidelines, conducting study), and potentially local budgets (requirement to not supplant).
  • Potential secondary impacts: teacher professional development providers, transportation services, instructional materials suppliers.

Procedural / timeline notes

  • Introduced Jan 23, 2025.
  • Bill requires a State Board study with report due Dec 31, 2025.
  • Appropriation is recurring, starting FY 2025–26 ($16.2M).
  • Provided status (Withdrawn From Com) indicates the bill is not presently moving through committee as of the supplied information.

Potential fiscal and programmatic impacts (summary)

  • Adds a recurring $16.2M to state LEP funding for 2025–26, intended to expand direct services (staff, materials, transportation, PD).
  • May increase LEAs’ need to scale bilingual/ESL staffing and programming; districts below the eligibility thresholds (fewer than 20 LEP students and <2.5% of ADM) may not receive allocations.
  • The mandated study could lead to future policy or funding changes (e.g., language‑count factor, bilingual program support), depending on recommendations and subsequent legislative action.

If you want, I can:
- Extract the bill text and produce a side‑by‑side comparison showing exactly how the LEP allotment formula would change; or
- Draft a short memo on implementation issues districts should consider if this bill becomes law (hiring, assessment cadence, compliance with anti‑supplant rules).

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

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