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Senate committee gives due-pass recommendation to bill renaming special‑education categories
Summary
House Bill 1164 would change the label “emotional disturbance” to “emotional disability” and rename hearing impairment to “deaf or hard of hearing” to align state terminology with federal language and reduce stigma; the committee voted 5–0 to advance the bill.
Representative Cynthia Schreiberback told the Senate Education Committee that House Bill 1164 was requested by the North Dakota Association of School Psychologists and would change state special‑education labels to more current terminology.
"The requested change would eliminate the negative connotation attached to the word disturbance," Representative Cynthia Schreiberback said, explaining the bill’s intent to reduce stigma and to align state labels with federal terminology.
Schreiberback said stakeholders including parents, teachers, administrators and the Department of Public Instruction vetted the change. The bill would replace the emotional‑disturbance label with emotional disability and change the label for hearing impairment, including deafness, to “deaf or hard of hearing,” bringing North Dakota language in closer alignment with federal special‑education nomenclature.
After brief discussion, Senator Baucher moved a due‑pass recommendation; Senator Axman seconded the motion. The committee vote was 5 yeas, 0 nays, 1 not voting. House Bill 1164 passed the committee and the bill was assigned a carrier for floor action.
The hearing record contains no opposition testimony and committee members characterized the amendment as a modernization of terminology, not a substantive change to eligibility criteria or services.
