Nevada 2025 Regular Session

Nevada Senate Bill SB115 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	S.B. 115
4	4
5	5	- SB115
6	6
7	7	SENATE BILL NO. 115–SENATORS CRUZ-CRAWFORD AND DOÑATE
8	8
9	9	PREFILED JANUARY 27, 2025
10	10	____________
11	11
12	12	JOINT SPONSOR: ASSEMBLYMEMBER MOORE
13	13	____________
14	14
15	15	Referred to Committee on Education
16	16
17	17	SUMMARY—Makes various changes relating to bilingual
18	18	education. (BDR 34-790)
19	19
20	20	FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact.
21	21	Effect on the State: Yes.
22	22
23	23	CONTAINS UNFUNDED MANDATE (§ 3)
24	24	(NOT REQUESTED BY AFFECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT)
25	25
26	26	~
27	27
28	28	EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
29	29
30	30
31	31	AN ACT relating to education; requiring the board of trustees of a
32	32	school district or governing body of a charter school to
33	33	provide a stipend to teachers who teach pupils enrolled in
34	34	a program of bilingual education; requiring information
35	35	concerning such stipends to be included in certain reports
36	36	prepared by the board of trustees of each school district
37	37	and the governing body of each charter school; requiring
38	38	the Commission on Professional Standards in Education
39	39	to adopt regulations requiring teachers to hold an
40	40	endorsement to teach pupils enrolled in a program of
41	41	bilingual education; and providing other matters properly
42	42	relating thereto.
43	43	Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
44	44	Existing law creates the Commission on Professional Standards in Education 1
45	45	and requires the Commission to adopt regulations prescribing the qualifications for 2
46	46	licensing teachers and other educational personnel. (NRS 391.011, 391.019) Under 3
47	47	existing law, such regulations must include a requirement that to be eligible to 4
48	48	teach in a field of specialization, a teacher is required to obtain from the 5
49	49	Department of Education an endorsement in that field of specialization, unless the 6
50	50	Superintendent of Public Instruction approves a request submitted by the board of 7
51	51	trustees of a school district to employ licensed teachers who do not hold an 8
52	52	endorsement to teach in a subject area for which there is a shortage of teachers at a 9
53	53	– 2 –
54	54
55	55
56	56	- SB115
57	57	public school within the district. (NRS 391.019, 391.125) Existing regulations: (1) 10
58	58	require that to teach pupils enrolled in a program of bilingual education, a person 11
59	59	must hold an endorsement issued by the Department to teach pupils in a program of 12
60	60	bilingual education and pass an examination or assessment to demonstrate language 13
61	61	proficiency; and (2) establish the requirements for a person to obtain such an 14
62	62	endorsement. (NAC 391.059, 391.242) Section 4 of this bill specifically requires 15
63	63	the regulations adopted by the Commission to include a requirement that to teach 16
64	64	pupils enrolled in a program of bilingual education, a person must hold an 17
65	65	endorsement issued by the Department to teach pupils in a program of bilingual 18
66	66	education. Section 3 of this bill requires the board of trustees of a school district or 19
67	67	the governing body of a charter school to provide a stipend of $2,500 each school 20
68	68	year to each teacher who is assigned to teach pupils enrolled in a program of 21
69	69	bilingual education and who holds an endorsement to teach pupils enrolled in a 22
70	70	program of bilingual education. For the purposes of sections 3 and 4, a “program 23
71	71	of bilingual education” is defined as a program of instruction for English learners in 24
72	72	which pupils are taught the English language and the content of other courses of 25
73	73	study is taught in the pupil’s primary language. 26
74	74	Existing law requires the board of trustees of each school district and the 27
75	75	governing body of each charter school to submit an annual report to certain entities 28
76	76	that includes certain information on budgets and expenditures. (NRS 387.303, 29
77	77	388A.345) Sections 1 and 2 of this bill require such a report to additionally include 30
78	78	information on the number of employees who received the stipend described in 31
79	79	section 3 in the preceding and then-current fiscal years. 32
80	80
81	81
82	82	THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
83	83	SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
84	84
85	85	Section 1. NRS 387.303 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1
86	86	387.303 1. Not later than November 1 of each year, the board 2
87	87	of trustees of each school district shall submit to the Superintendent 3
88	88	of Public Instruction and the Department of Taxation a report which 4
89	89	includes the following information: 5
90	90	(a) For each fund within the school district, including, without 6
91	91	limitation, the school district’s general fund and any special revenue 7
92	92	fund which receives state money, the total number and salaries of 8
93	93	licensed and nonlicensed persons whose salaries are paid from the 9
94	94	fund and who are employed by the school district in full-time 10
95	95	positions or in part-time positions added together to represent full-11
96	96	time positions. Information must be provided for the current school 12
97	97	year based upon the school district’s final budget, including any 13
98	98	amendments and augmentations thereto, and for the preceding 14
99	99	school year. An employee must be categorized as filling an 15
100	100	instructional, administrative, instructional support or other position. 16
101	101	(b) The school district’s actual expenditures in the fiscal year 17
102	102	immediately preceding the report. 18
103	103	(c) The school district’s proposed expenditures for the current 19
104	104	fiscal year. 20
105	105	– 3 –
106	106
107	107
108	108	- SB115
109	109	(d) The schedule of salaries for licensed employees in the 1
110	110	current school year and a statement of whether the negotiations 2
111	111	regarding salaries for the current school year have been completed. 3
112	112	If the negotiations have not been completed at the time the schedule 4
113	113	of salaries is submitted, the board of trustees shall submit a 5
114	114	supplemental report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction upon 6
115	115	completion of negotiations or the determination of an arbitrator 7
116	116	concerning the negotiations that includes the schedule of salaries 8
117	117	agreed to or required by the arbitrator. 9
118	118	(e) The number of employees who received an increase in salary 10
119	119	pursuant to NRS 391.161, 391.162 or 391.163 for the current and 11
120	120	preceding fiscal years. If the board of trustees is required to pay an 12
121	121	increase in salary retroactively pursuant to NRS 391.161, the board 13
122	122	of trustees shall submit a supplemental report to the Superintendent 14
123	123	of Public Instruction not later than February 15 of the year in which 15
124	124	the retroactive payment was made that includes the number of 16
125	125	teachers to whom an increase in salary was paid retroactively. 17
126	126	(f) The number of employees eligible for health insurance within 18
127	127	the school district for the current and preceding fiscal years and the 19
128	128	amount paid for health insurance for each such employee during 20
129	129	those years. 21
130	130	(g) The rates for fringe benefits, excluding health insurance, 22
131	131	paid by the school district for its licensed employees in the 23
132	132	preceding and current fiscal years. 24
133	133	(h) The amount paid for extra duties, supervision of 25
134	134	extracurricular activities and supplemental pay and the number of 26
135	135	employees receiving that pay in the preceding and current fiscal 27
136	136	years. 28
137	137	(i) The number of employees who received a stipend pursuant 29
138	138	to section 3 of this act in the preceding and current fiscal years. 30
139	139	2. On or before November 25 of each year, the Superintendent 31
140	140	of Public Instruction shall submit to the Office of Finance and the 32
141	141	Fiscal Analysis Division of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, in a 33
142	142	format approved by the Director of the Office of Finance, a 34
143	143	compilation of the reports made by each school district pursuant to 35
144	144	subsection 1. 36
145	145	3. In preparing the agency biennial budget request for the State 37
146	146	Education Fund for submission to the Office of Finance, the 38
147	147	Superintendent of Public Instruction: 39
148	148	(a) Shall compile the information from the most recent 40
149	149	compilation of reports submitted pursuant to subsection 2; and 41
150	150	(b) May consider the cost of enhancements to existing programs 42
151	151	or the projected cost of proposed new educational programs, 43
152	152	regardless of whether those enhancements or new programs are 44
153	153	– 4 –
154	154
155	155
156	156	- SB115
157	157	included in the adjusted base per pupil funding for inclusion in the 1
158	158	biennial budget request to the Office of Finance. 2
159	159	4. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall, in the 3
160	160	compilation required by subsection 2, reconcile the revenues of the 4
161	161	school districts with the apportionment received by those districts 5
162	162	from the State Education Fund for the preceding year. 6
163	163	5. The request prepared pursuant to subsection 3 must: 7
164	164	(a) Be presented by the Superintendent of Public Instruction to 8
165	165	such standing committees of the Legislature as requested by the 9
166	166	standing committees for the purposes of developing educational 10
167	167	programs and providing appropriations for those programs; and 11
168	168	(b) Provide for a direct comparison of appropriations to the 12
169	169	proposed budget of the Governor submitted pursuant to subsection 4 13
170	170	of NRS 353.230. 14
171	171	Sec. 2. NRS 388A.345 is hereby amended to read as follows: 15
172	172	388A.345 1. On or before November 1 of each year, the 16
173	173	governing body of each charter school shall submit to the sponsor of 17
174	174	the charter school, the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the 18
175	175	Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for transmission to the 19
176	176	Majority Leader of the Senate and the Speaker of the Assembly a 20
177	177	report that includes: 21
178	178	(a) A written description of the progress of the charter school in 22
179	179	achieving the mission and goals of the charter school set forth in its 23
180	180	application. 24
181	181	(b) For each fund maintained by the charter school, including, 25
182	182	without limitation, the general fund of the charter school and any 26
183	183	special revenue fund which receives state money, the total number 27
184	184	and salaries of licensed and nonlicensed persons whose salaries are 28
185	185	paid from the fund and who are employed by the governing body in 29
186	186	full-time positions or in part-time positions added together to 30
187	187	represent full-time positions. Information must be provided for the 31
188	188	current school year based upon the final budget of the charter 32
189	189	school, including any amendments and augmentations thereto, and 33
190	190	for the preceding school year. An employee must be categorized as 34
191	191	filling an instructional, administrative, instructional support or other 35
192	192	position. 36
193	193	(c) The actual expenditures of the charter school in the fiscal 37
194	194	year immediately preceding the report. 38
195	195	(d) The proposed expenditures of the charter school for the 39
196	196	current fiscal year. 40
197	197	(e) The salary schedule for licensed employees and nonlicensed 41
198	198	teachers in the current school year and a statement of whether salary 42
199	199	negotiations for the current school year have been completed. If 43
200	200	salary negotiations have not been completed at the time the salary 44
201	201	schedule is submitted, the governing body shall submit a 45
202	202	– 5 –
203	203
204	204
205	205	- SB115
206	206	supplemental report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction upon 1
207	207	completion of negotiations. 2
208	208	(f) The number of employees eligible for health insurance within 3
209	209	the charter school for the current and preceding fiscal years and the 4
210	210	amount paid for health insurance for each such employee during 5
211	211	those years. 6
212	212	(g) The rates for fringe benefits, excluding health insurance, 7
213	213	paid by the charter school for its licensed employees in the 8
214	214	preceding and current fiscal years. 9
215	215	(h) The amount paid for extra duties, supervision of 10
216	216	extracurricular activities and supplemental pay and the number of 11
217	217	employees receiving that pay in the preceding and current fiscal 12
218	218	years. 13
219	219	(i) The number of employees who received a stipend pursuant 14
220	220	to section 3 of this act in the preceding and current fiscal years. 15
221	221	2. On or before November 25 of each year, the Superintendent 16
222	222	of Public Instruction shall submit to the Office of Finance and the 17
223	223	Fiscal Analysis Division of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, in a 18
224	224	format approved by the Director of the Office of Finance, a 19
225	225	compilation of the reports made by each governing body pursuant to 20
226	226	subsection 1. 21
227	227	3. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall, in the 22
228	228	compilation required by subsection 2, reconcile the revenues and 23
229	229	expenditures of the charter schools with the apportionment received 24
230	230	by those schools from the State Education Fund for the preceding 25
231	231	year. 26
232	232	Sec. 3. Chapter 391 of NRS is hereby amended by adding 27
233	233	thereto a new section to read as follows: 28
234	234	1. Each school year, the board of trustees of a school district 29
235	235	or the governing body of a charter school shall provide a stipend 30
236	236	in the amount of $2,500 to each teacher who: 31
237	237	(a) Is assigned to teach pupils enrolled in a program of 32
238	238	bilingual education; and 33
239	239	(b) Holds an endorsement to teach pupils enrolled in a 34
240	240	program of bilingual education. 35
241	241	2. A teacher may not receive a stipend pursuant to this 36
242	242	section more than once per school year. 37
243	243	3. As used in this section, “program of bilingual education” 38
244	244	means a program of instruction for English learners in which 39
245	245	pupils are taught the English language and the content of other 40
246	246	courses of study is taught using the pupil’s primary language. 41
247	247	Sec. 4. NRS 391.019 is hereby amended to read as follows: 42
248	248	391.019 1. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 391.027, 43
249	249	the Commission shall adopt regulations: 44
250	250	– 6 –
251	251
252	252
253	253	- SB115
254	254	(a) Prescribing the qualifications for licensing teachers and other 1
255	255	educational personnel and the procedures for the issuance and 2
256	256	renewal of those licenses. The regulations: 3
257	257	(1) Must include, without limitation, the qualifications for 4
258	258	licensing teachers and administrators pursuant to an alternative route 5
259	259	to licensure which provides that the required education and training 6
260	260	may be provided by any qualified provider which has been approved 7
261	261	by the Commission, including, without limitation, institutions of 8
262	262	higher education and other providers that operate independently of 9
263	263	an institution of higher education. The regulations adopted pursuant 10
264	264	to this subparagraph must: 11
265	265	(I) Establish the requirements for approval as a qualified 12
266	266	provider; 13
267	267	(II) Require a qualified provider to be selective in its 14
268	268	acceptance of students; 15
269	269	(III) Require a qualified provider to provide in-person or 16
270	270	virtual supervised, school-based experiences and ongoing support 17
271	271	for its students, such as mentoring and coaching; 18
272	272	(IV) Significantly limit the amount of course work 19
273	273	required or provide for the waiver of required course work for 20
274	274	students who achieve certain scores on tests; 21
275	275	(V) Allow for the completion in 2 years or less of the 22
276	276	education and training required under the alternative route to 23
277	277	licensure; 24
278	278	(VI) Provide that a person who has completed the 25
279	279	education and training required under the alternative route to 26
280	280	licensure and who has satisfied all other requirements for licensure 27
281	281	may apply for a regular license pursuant to sub-subparagraph (VII) 28
282	282	regardless of whether the person has received an offer of 29
283	283	employment from a school district, charter school or private school; 30
284	284	and 31
285	285	(VII) Upon the completion by a person of the education 32
286	286	and training required under the alternative route to licensure and the 33
287	287	satisfaction of all other requirements for licensure, provide for the 34
288	288	issuance of a regular license to the person pursuant to the provisions 35
289	289	of this chapter and the regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter. 36
290	290	(2) Must require an applicant for a license to teach middle 37
291	291	school or junior high school education or secondary education to 38
292	292	demonstrate proficiency in a field of specialization or area of 39
293	293	concentration by successfully completing course work prescribed by 40
294	294	the Department or completing a subject matter competency 41
295	295	examination prescribed by the Department with a score deemed 42
296	296	satisfactory. 43
297	297	(3) Must not prescribe qualifications which are more 44
298	298	stringent than the qualifications set forth in NRS 391.0315 for a 45
299	299	– 7 –
300	300
301	301
302	302	- SB115
303	303	licensed teacher who applies for an additional license in accordance 1
304	304	with that section. 2
305	305	(b) Identifying fields of specialization in teaching which require 3
306	306	the specialized training of teachers. 4
307	307	(c) Except as otherwise provided in NRS 391.125, requiring 5
308	308	teachers to obtain from the Department an endorsement in a field of 6
309	309	specialization to be eligible to teach in that field of specialization. 7
310	310	(d) Setting forth the educational requirements a teacher must 8
311	311	satisfy to qualify for an endorsement in each field of specialization. 9
312	312	(e) Setting forth the qualifications and requirements for 10
313	313	obtaining a license or endorsement to teach American Sign 11
314	314	Language, including, without limitation, being registered with the 12
315	315	Aging and Disability Services Division of the Department of Health 13
316	316	and Human Services pursuant to NRS 656A.100 to engage in the 14
317	317	practice of sign language interpreting in a primary or secondary 15
318	318	educational setting. 16
319	319	(f) Requiring teachers and other educational personnel to be 17
320	320	registered with the Aging and Disability Services Division pursuant 18
321	321	to NRS 656A.100 to engage in the practice of sign language 19
322	322	interpreting in a primary or secondary educational setting if they: 20
323	323	(1) Provide instruction or other educational services; and 21
324	324	(2) Concurrently engage in the practice of sign language 22
325	325	interpreting, as defined in NRS 656A.060. 23
326	326	(g) Prescribing course work on parental involvement and family 24
327	327	engagement. The Commission shall: 25
328	328	(1) Work in cooperation with the Office of Parental 26
329	329	Involvement and Family Engagement created by NRS 385.630 in 27
330	330	developing the regulations required by this paragraph. 28
331	331	(2) Establish standards for professional development training 29
332	332	which may be used to satisfy any course work requirement 30
333	333	prescribed pursuant to this paragraph. 31
334	334	(h) Establishing the requirements for obtaining an endorsement 32
335	335	on the license of a teacher, administrator or other educational 33
336	336	personnel in cultural competency. 34
337	337	(i) Authorizing the Superintendent of Public Instruction to issue 35
338	338	a license by endorsement to an applicant who holds an equivalent 36
339	339	license or authorization issued by a governmental entity in another 37
340	340	country if the Superintendent determines that the qualifications for 38
341	341	the equivalent license or authorization are substantially similar to 39
342	342	those prescribed pursuant to paragraph (a). 40
343	343	(j) Establishing the requirements for obtaining an endorsement 41
344	344	on the license of a teacher, administrator or other educational 42
345	345	personnel in teaching courses relating to financial literacy. 43
346	346	(k) Authorizing a person who is employed as a paraprofessional 44
347	347	and enrolled in a program to become a teacher to complete an 45
348	348	– 8 –
349	349
350	350
351	351	- SB115
352	352	accelerated program of student teaching in the same or a 1
353	353	substantially similar area in which the person is employed as a 2
354	354	paraprofessional while remaining employed as a paraprofessional. 3
355	355	(l) Requiring the Department to accept a program of student 4
356	356	teaching or other teaching experience completed in another state or 5
357	357	foreign country by an applicant for a license if the Department 6
358	358	determines that the program or experience substantially fulfills the 7
359	359	standards of a program of student teaching in this State. 8
360	360	(m) Authorizing a person who is employed by a public school to 9
361	361	provide support or other services relating to school psychology, if 10
362	362	the person does not hold a license or endorsement as a school 11
363	363	psychologist but is enrolled in a program that would allow the 12
364	364	person to obtain such a license or endorsement, to complete a 13
365	365	program of internship in school psychology while remaining 14
366	366	employed in such a position. 15
367	367	(n) Requiring that, to teach pupils enrolled in a program of 16
368	368	bilingual education, a teacher obtain an endorsement to teach 17
369	369	pupils enrolled in a program of bilingual education. As used in 18
370	370	this paragraph, “program of bilingual education” has the 19
371	371	meaning ascribed to it in section 3 of this act. 20
372	372	(o) To carry out the provisions of NRS 391B.010. 21
373	373	2. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 391.027, the 22
374	374	Commission may adopt such other regulations as it deems necessary 23
375	375	for its own government or to carry out its duties. 24
376	376	3. Any regulation which increases the amount of education, 25
377	377	training or experience required for licensing: 26
378	378	(a) Must, in addition to the requirements for publication in 27
379	379	chapter 233B of NRS, be publicized before its adoption in a manner 28
380	380	reasonably calculated to inform those persons affected by the 29
381	381	change. 30
382	382	(b) Must not become effective until at least 1 year after the date 31
383	383	it is adopted by the Commission. 32
384	384	(c) Is not applicable to a license in effect on the date the 33
385	385	regulation becomes effective. 34
386	386	Sec. 5. The provisions of NRS 354.599 do not apply to any 35
387	387	additional expenses of a local government that are related to the 36
388	388	provisions of this act. 37
389	389	Sec. 6. This act becomes effective on July 1, 2025. 38
390	390
391	391	H