S.B. 115
- *SB115*
SENATE BILL NO. 115–SENATORS CRUZ-CRAWFORD AND DOÑATE
PREFILED JANUARY 27, 2025
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JOINT SPONSOR: ASSEMBLYMEMBER MOORE
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Referred to Committee on Education
SUMMARY—Makes various changes relating to bilingual
education. (BDR 34-790)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact.
Effect on the State: Yes.
CONTAINS UNFUNDED MANDATE (§ 3)
(NOT REQUESTED BY AFFECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT)
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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to education; requiring the board of trustees of a
school district or governing body of a charter school to
provide a stipend to teachers who teach pupils enrolled in
a program of bilingual education; requiring information
concerning such stipends to be included in certain reports
prepared by the board of trustees of each school district
and the governing body of each charter school; requiring
the Commission on Professional Standards in Education
to adopt regulations requiring teachers to hold an
endorsement to teach pupils enrolled in a program of
bilingual education; and providing other matters properly
relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Existing law creates the Commission on Professional Standards in Education 1
and requires the Commission to adopt regulations prescribing the qualifications for 2
licensing teachers and other educational personnel. (NRS 391.011, 391.019) Under 3
existing law, such regulations must include a requirement that to be eligible to 4
teach in a field of specialization, a teacher is required to obtain from the 5
Department of Education an endorsement in that field of specialization, unless the 6
Superintendent of Public Instruction approves a request submitted by the board of 7
trustees of a school district to employ licensed teachers who do not hold an 8
endorsement to teach in a subject area for which there is a shortage of teachers at a 9
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public school within the district. (NRS 391.019, 391.125) Existing regulations: (1) 10
require that to teach pupils enrolled in a program of bilingual education, a person 11
must hold an endorsement issued by the Department to teach pupils in a program of 12
bilingual education and pass an examination or assessment to demonstrate language 13
proficiency; and (2) establish the requirements for a person to obtain such an 14
endorsement. (NAC 391.059, 391.242) Section 4 of this bill specifically requires 15
the regulations adopted by the Commission to include a requirement that to teach 16
pupils enrolled in a program of bilingual education, a person must hold an 17
endorsement issued by the Department to teach pupils in a program of bilingual 18
education. Section 3 of this bill requires the board of trustees of a school district or 19
the governing body of a charter school to provide a stipend of $2,500 each school 20
year to each teacher who is assigned to teach pupils enrolled in a program of 21
bilingual education and who holds an endorsement to teach pupils enrolled in a 22
program of bilingual education. For the purposes of sections 3 and 4, a “program 23
of bilingual education” is defined as a program of instruction for English learners in 24
which pupils are taught the English language and the content of other courses of 25
study is taught in the pupil’s primary language. 26
Existing law requires the board of trustees of each school district and the 27
governing body of each charter school to submit an annual report to certain entities 28
that includes certain information on budgets and expenditures. (NRS 387.303, 29
388A.345) Sections 1 and 2 of this bill require such a report to additionally include 30
information on the number of employees who received the stipend described in 31
section 3 in the preceding and then-current fiscal years. 32
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. NRS 387.303 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1
387.303 1. Not later than November 1 of each year, the board 2
of trustees of each school district shall submit to the Superintendent 3
of Public Instruction and the Department of Taxation a report which 4
includes the following information: 5
(a) For each fund within the school district, including, without 6
limitation, the school district’s general fund and any special revenue 7
fund which receives state money, the total number and salaries of 8
licensed and nonlicensed persons whose salaries are paid from the 9
fund and who are employed by the school district in full-time 10
positions or in part-time positions added together to represent full-11
time positions. Information must be provided for the current school 12
year based upon the school district’s final budget, including any 13
amendments and augmentations thereto, and for the preceding 14
school year. An employee must be categorized as filling an 15
instructional, administrative, instructional support or other position. 16
(b) The school district’s actual expenditures in the fiscal year 17
immediately preceding the report. 18
(c) The school district’s proposed expenditures for the current 19
fiscal year. 20
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(d) The schedule of salaries for licensed employees in the 1
current school year and a statement of whether the negotiations 2
regarding salaries for the current school year have been completed. 3
If the negotiations have not been completed at the time the schedule 4
of salaries is submitted, the board of trustees shall submit a 5
supplemental report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction upon 6
completion of negotiations or the determination of an arbitrator 7
concerning the negotiations that includes the schedule of salaries 8
agreed to or required by the arbitrator. 9
(e) The number of employees who received an increase in salary 10
pursuant to NRS 391.161, 391.162 or 391.163 for the current and 11
preceding fiscal years. If the board of trustees is required to pay an 12
increase in salary retroactively pursuant to NRS 391.161, the board 13
of trustees shall submit a supplemental report to the Superintendent 14
of Public Instruction not later than February 15 of the year in which 15
the retroactive payment was made that includes the number of 16
teachers to whom an increase in salary was paid retroactively. 17
(f) The number of employees eligible for health insurance within 18
the school district for the current and preceding fiscal years and the 19
amount paid for health insurance for each such employee during 20
those years. 21
(g) The rates for fringe benefits, excluding health insurance, 22
paid by the school district for its licensed employees in the 23
preceding and current fiscal years. 24
(h) The amount paid for extra duties, supervision of 25
extracurricular activities and supplemental pay and the number of 26
employees receiving that pay in the preceding and current fiscal 27
years. 28
(i) The number of employees who received a stipend pursuant 29
to section 3 of this act in the preceding and current fiscal years. 30
2. On or before November 25 of each year, the Superintendent 31
of Public Instruction shall submit to the Office of Finance and the 32
Fiscal Analysis Division of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, in a 33
format approved by the Director of the Office of Finance, a 34
compilation of the reports made by each school district pursuant to 35
subsection 1. 36
3. In preparing the agency biennial budget request for the State 37
Education Fund for submission to the Office of Finance, the 38
Superintendent of Public Instruction: 39
(a) Shall compile the information from the most recent 40
compilation of reports submitted pursuant to subsection 2; and 41
(b) May consider the cost of enhancements to existing programs 42
or the projected cost of proposed new educational programs, 43
regardless of whether those enhancements or new programs are 44
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included in the adjusted base per pupil funding for inclusion in the 1
biennial budget request to the Office of Finance. 2
4. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall, in the 3
compilation required by subsection 2, reconcile the revenues of the 4
school districts with the apportionment received by those districts 5
from the State Education Fund for the preceding year. 6
5. The request prepared pursuant to subsection 3 must: 7
(a) Be presented by the Superintendent of Public Instruction to 8
such standing committees of the Legislature as requested by the 9
standing committees for the purposes of developing educational 10
programs and providing appropriations for those programs; and 11
(b) Provide for a direct comparison of appropriations to the 12
proposed budget of the Governor submitted pursuant to subsection 4 13
of NRS 353.230. 14
Sec. 2. NRS 388A.345 is hereby amended to read as follows: 15
388A.345 1. On or before November 1 of each year, the 16
governing body of each charter school shall submit to the sponsor of 17
the charter school, the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the 18
Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for transmission to the 19
Majority Leader of the Senate and the Speaker of the Assembly a 20
report that includes: 21
(a) A written description of the progress of the charter school in 22
achieving the mission and goals of the charter school set forth in its 23
application. 24
(b) For each fund maintained by the charter school, including, 25
without limitation, the general fund of the charter school and any 26
special revenue fund which receives state money, the total number 27
and salaries of licensed and nonlicensed persons whose salaries are 28
paid from the fund and who are employed by the governing body in 29
full-time positions or in part-time positions added together to 30
represent full-time positions. Information must be provided for the 31
current school year based upon the final budget of the charter 32
school, including any amendments and augmentations thereto, and 33
for the preceding school year. An employee must be categorized as 34
filling an instructional, administrative, instructional support or other 35
position. 36
(c) The actual expenditures of the charter school in the fiscal 37
year immediately preceding the report. 38
(d) The proposed expenditures of the charter school for the 39
current fiscal year. 40
(e) The salary schedule for licensed employees and nonlicensed 41
teachers in the current school year and a statement of whether salary 42
negotiations for the current school year have been completed. If 43
salary negotiations have not been completed at the time the salary 44
schedule is submitted, the governing body shall submit a 45
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supplemental report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction upon 1
completion of negotiations. 2
(f) The number of employees eligible for health insurance within 3
the charter school for the current and preceding fiscal years and the 4
amount paid for health insurance for each such employee during 5
those years. 6
(g) The rates for fringe benefits, excluding health insurance, 7
paid by the charter school for its licensed employees in the 8
preceding and current fiscal years. 9
(h) The amount paid for extra duties, supervision of 10
extracurricular activities and supplemental pay and the number of 11
employees receiving that pay in the preceding and current fiscal 12
years. 13
(i) The number of employees who received a stipend pursuant 14
to section 3 of this act in the preceding and current fiscal years. 15
2. On or before November 25 of each year, the Superintendent 16
of Public Instruction shall submit to the Office of Finance and the 17
Fiscal Analysis Division of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, in a 18
format approved by the Director of the Office of Finance, a 19
compilation of the reports made by each governing body pursuant to 20
subsection 1. 21
3. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall, in the 22
compilation required by subsection 2, reconcile the revenues and 23
expenditures of the charter schools with the apportionment received 24
by those schools from the State Education Fund for the preceding 25
year. 26
Sec. 3. Chapter 391 of NRS is hereby amended by adding 27
thereto a new section to read as follows: 28
1. Each school year, the board of trustees of a school district 29
or the governing body of a charter school shall provide a stipend 30
in the amount of $2,500 to each teacher who: 31
(a) Is assigned to teach pupils enrolled in a program of 32
bilingual education; and 33
(b) Holds an endorsement to teach pupils enrolled in a 34
program of bilingual education. 35
2. A teacher may not receive a stipend pursuant to this 36
section more than once per school year. 37
3. As used in this section, “program of bilingual education” 38
means a program of instruction for English learners in which 39
pupils are taught the English language and the content of other 40
courses of study is taught using the pupil’s primary language. 41
Sec. 4. NRS 391.019 is hereby amended to read as follows: 42
391.019 1. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 391.027, 43
the Commission shall adopt regulations: 44
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(a) Prescribing the qualifications for licensing teachers and other 1
educational personnel and the procedures for the issuance and 2
renewal of those licenses. The regulations: 3
(1) Must include, without limitation, the qualifications for 4
licensing teachers and administrators pursuant to an alternative route 5
to licensure which provides that the required education and training 6
may be provided by any qualified provider which has been approved 7
by the Commission, including, without limitation, institutions of 8
higher education and other providers that operate independently of 9
an institution of higher education. The regulations adopted pursuant 10
to this subparagraph must: 11
(I) Establish the requirements for approval as a qualified 12
provider; 13
(II) Require a qualified provider to be selective in its 14
acceptance of students; 15
(III) Require a qualified provider to provide in-person or 16
virtual supervised, school-based experiences and ongoing support 17
for its students, such as mentoring and coaching; 18
(IV) Significantly limit the amount of course work 19
required or provide for the waiver of required course work for 20
students who achieve certain scores on tests; 21
(V) Allow for the completion in 2 years or less of the 22
education and training required under the alternative route to 23
licensure; 24
(VI) Provide that a person who has completed the 25
education and training required under the alternative route to 26
licensure and who has satisfied all other requirements for licensure 27
may apply for a regular license pursuant to sub-subparagraph (VII) 28
regardless of whether the person has received an offer of 29
employment from a school district, charter school or private school; 30
and 31
(VII) Upon the completion by a person of the education 32
and training required under the alternative route to licensure and the 33
satisfaction of all other requirements for licensure, provide for the 34
issuance of a regular license to the person pursuant to the provisions 35
of this chapter and the regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter. 36
(2) Must require an applicant for a license to teach middle 37
school or junior high school education or secondary education to 38
demonstrate proficiency in a field of specialization or area of 39
concentration by successfully completing course work prescribed by 40
the Department or completing a subject matter competency 41
examination prescribed by the Department with a score deemed 42
satisfactory. 43
(3) Must not prescribe qualifications which are more 44
stringent than the qualifications set forth in NRS 391.0315 for a 45
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licensed teacher who applies for an additional license in accordance 1
with that section. 2
(b) Identifying fields of specialization in teaching which require 3
the specialized training of teachers. 4
(c) Except as otherwise provided in NRS 391.125, requiring 5
teachers to obtain from the Department an endorsement in a field of 6
specialization to be eligible to teach in that field of specialization. 7
(d) Setting forth the educational requirements a teacher must 8
satisfy to qualify for an endorsement in each field of specialization. 9
(e) Setting forth the qualifications and requirements for 10
obtaining a license or endorsement to teach American Sign 11
Language, including, without limitation, being registered with the 12
Aging and Disability Services Division of the Department of Health 13
and Human Services pursuant to NRS 656A.100 to engage in the 14
practice of sign language interpreting in a primary or secondary 15
educational setting. 16
(f) Requiring teachers and other educational personnel to be 17
registered with the Aging and Disability Services Division pursuant 18
to NRS 656A.100 to engage in the practice of sign language 19
interpreting in a primary or secondary educational setting if they: 20
(1) Provide instruction or other educational services; and 21
(2) Concurrently engage in the practice of sign language 22
interpreting, as defined in NRS 656A.060. 23
(g) Prescribing course work on parental involvement and family 24
engagement. The Commission shall: 25
(1) Work in cooperation with the Office of Parental 26
Involvement and Family Engagement created by NRS 385.630 in 27
developing the regulations required by this paragraph. 28
(2) Establish standards for professional development training 29
which may be used to satisfy any course work requirement 30
prescribed pursuant to this paragraph. 31
(h) Establishing the requirements for obtaining an endorsement 32
on the license of a teacher, administrator or other educational 33
personnel in cultural competency. 34
(i) Authorizing the Superintendent of Public Instruction to issue 35
a license by endorsement to an applicant who holds an equivalent 36
license or authorization issued by a governmental entity in another 37
country if the Superintendent determines that the qualifications for 38
the equivalent license or authorization are substantially similar to 39
those prescribed pursuant to paragraph (a). 40
(j) Establishing the requirements for obtaining an endorsement 41
on the license of a teacher, administrator or other educational 42
personnel in teaching courses relating to financial literacy. 43
(k) Authorizing a person who is employed as a paraprofessional 44
and enrolled in a program to become a teacher to complete an 45
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accelerated program of student teaching in the same or a 1
substantially similar area in which the person is employed as a 2
paraprofessional while remaining employed as a paraprofessional. 3
(l) Requiring the Department to accept a program of student 4
teaching or other teaching experience completed in another state or 5
foreign country by an applicant for a license if the Department 6
determines that the program or experience substantially fulfills the 7
standards of a program of student teaching in this State. 8
(m) Authorizing a person who is employed by a public school to 9
provide support or other services relating to school psychology, if 10
the person does not hold a license or endorsement as a school 11
psychologist but is enrolled in a program that would allow the 12
person to obtain such a license or endorsement, to complete a 13
program of internship in school psychology while remaining 14
employed in such a position. 15
(n) Requiring that, to teach pupils enrolled in a program of 16
bilingual education, a teacher obtain an endorsement to teach 17
pupils enrolled in a program of bilingual education. As used in 18
this paragraph, “program of bilingual education” has the 19
meaning ascribed to it in section 3 of this act. 20
(o) To carry out the provisions of NRS 391B.010. 21
2. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 391.027, the 22
Commission may adopt such other regulations as it deems necessary 23
for its own government or to carry out its duties. 24
3. Any regulation which increases the amount of education, 25
training or experience required for licensing: 26
(a) Must, in addition to the requirements for publication in 27
chapter 233B of NRS, be publicized before its adoption in a manner 28
reasonably calculated to inform those persons affected by the 29
change. 30
(b) Must not become effective until at least 1 year after the date 31
it is adopted by the Commission. 32
(c) Is not applicable to a license in effect on the date the 33
regulation becomes effective. 34
Sec. 5. The provisions of NRS 354.599 do not apply to any 35
additional expenses of a local government that are related to the 36
provisions of this act. 37
Sec. 6. This act becomes effective on July 1, 2025. 38
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