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Panel backs $500,000 emergency aid for schools with sudden spikes in English learners
Summary
The committee unanimously recommended a first substitute to HB 42, creating a $500,000 emergency fund to help schools with large, sudden increases in English learner enrollment and authorizing USBE to consider applications based on early-year counts and WIDA assessments.
The House Education Committee unanimously passed a first substitute for House Bill 42, a measure that would establish an emergency funding mechanism to help schools that experience a sharp, early-year increase in English learner (EL) students.
Sponsor Representative Perucci told the committee the bill gives schools a “shot in the arm” when large numbers of newcomers arrive between initial estimates and the October 1 count, noting that districts have reported sometimes severe enrollment shocks: “One school had almost 100 students show up on the first day of school who'd never been registered and didn't speak English,” she said.
Under the substitute, eligible schools that document severe increases would apply to the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) for short-term funding to cover immediate needs such as additional certified EL teachers, WIDA assessments and other first-year supports; the transcript and sponsor materials tie eligibility to percentage increases and a floor of 30 additional students to avoid distortions driven by very small baselines.
Sponsor testimony cited district and charter data showing double- and triple-digit percentage increases in EL enrollments in recent years (examples cited included Alpine School District at 139% and Jordan School District at 108%, while some charters reported increases in the hundreds of percent). The substitute narrows the appropriation in the bill to $500,000 on the sub, and sponsor testimony noted a currently available $300,000 “slush fund” in the at-risk account that could be tapped as funding is available.
Supporters from Voices for Utah Children, the Utah Superintendents Association, PTA representatives and local officials testified in favor. Liliana Bolanos, policy analyst with Voices for Utah Children, urged the committee to consider access for historically high-need schools that may not clear the percentage thresholds under the bill’s current criteria.
The committee adopted the first substitute and then voted to favorably recommend HB 42, first substitute, by voice vote. The committee record shows unanimous support; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.
