HB1153 Increasing Language Access in Public Schools

Building on previous legislative action, most notably 2014 HB1709 and 2019 HB1130, this bill directs the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and the Office of the Education Ombuds (OEO) to jointly reconvene a work group and report to the Legislature by December 1, 2021 with recommendations related to standards, training, testing, and credentialing for spoken and sign language interpreters for students' families. Read here a report detailing what LEP families have to say about the lack of language access services in Washington State schools.

Status: Died in policy committee but it is included in the budget as a proviso in SB5092 Sec.501(3)(g). The proviso extended the Language Access Workgroup until December 2021 to draft a Report to the Legislature with additional recommendations for:

• Standards, training, testing, and credentialing for spoken and sign language interpreters for students' families and
• For collecting information related to language access services in schools and school districts.