H.B. 393 Early Intervention for Dyslexia Amendments: transcript

Alright, thank you. Uh, first of all, I wanna say thank you to Senator Plumb. She and I have worked collaboratively over the interim, um, with members of the dyslexia community, um, to address what I have been calling as a whole in our education system. I didn't realize that this whole existed, but we don't do a lot in, uh, education to help address, identify, and intervene with dyslexia. Um, so this started out as a bill, as you guys, it went into the Center of Plums Bill, but a bill, just making sure that teachers didn't get reprimand, reprimanded for recommending a screening, and it kind of ballooned into, um, a bigger literacy effort as we've been focusing on literacy. Um, and so what, what this bill does is it creates a screener. So when you're asking Representative Hall, you're asking Senator Plumb about screeners. The cost is exorbitant. Um, it's on average about $500 a child, but to do a deep neuropsych evaluation, and it's a couple of thousand dollars. Um, but just for schools to screen a child, um, at minimum it's a, it's about a couple hundred dollars. So if you're looking at, you know, identifying children who are not reading well and wanting to screen them, that cost adds up very quickly. Um, and what I learned is in other states, they have universal screeners. They screen children, they usually do it in like K through three H. Um, they screen every child for dyslexia. And I was like, how is that possible with screeners being so expensive? And what I learned is that other states have developed their own screener and they own it, and then each school can use that screener for free. Um, so what this bill proposes to do is to put $1.5 million if that were to get funded into, um, developing a screener. So I've worked with USBE and the University of Utah, um, the College of Education, and they have agreed that they would love to develop this screener for us that would be used as a pilot initially to work out the kinks. We would use it in, uh, kindergarten and first grade, and then that screener we would be used for children who are performing below and well below average to start off with. Um, so we can see how it's working, get feedback, and with the goal that eventually this would be owned by the state and every school would have access to this screener for free. Um, so I, I think it's a laudable goal. Um, I don't know how much Senator Plumb said, but I have been shocked at how many people have dyslexia or who have children who have dyslexia. The biggest thing that surprised me that I keep hearing is that I did not know that I had dyslexia until I was in junior high or high school. Um, or some people saying I didn't realize that until I was 20 years old. I just thought I had some sort of a learning disability. Um, the nice thing about dyslexia is that there, there are strengths, um, that these people with this diagnosis possess, and it's just learning how to teach to those strengths and alter learning a little bit with interventions that can help them to truly succeed. So we're really getting upstream and helping a pretty big population of kids, um, learn and have success. Um, so I'm, I'm really excited about it. This also has an intervention piece to it. It will require, um, the development of a website so that parents and educators have somewhere to go with a goal of also working with the University of Utah to have an intervention hub and help schools with professional de development and intervention as we move forward. And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I was just wondering, it's probably because I didn't listen carefully enough, but can you tell me the difference between your bill and Senator Plums bill? Yes. So Senator Plums bill is all the policies that we wanted to work on. Um, so Senator Plums bill addresses screening and diagnosis and giving the schools the tools that they need, um, to help parents with getting that, kind of getting through that hurdle. Mine is just the fiscal note part of this. So hers is the hers shores up, like if, if it passes, and we hope that it does, at least we unlock some of those tools for parents and for teachers. Um, and then mine, if mine passes, actually creates the screener. Thank You. Yep.

Thank you. Um, and I was just looking at the fiscal note. I think you said in your presentation it's like 1.5 million. Yes. Is it the fiscal note may not be updated. Um, there was an error with it. Does it say 400 ongoing or?

Yeah. Yeah. So that'll be updated to 1.51 time. Okay. So it would just be a one time, that was my question. If you're Creating this Yeah. 1.5 Yes, one time. And that's what's nice. Once we have this, we have it forever. Um, rather than having ongoing costs forever for trying to pay for screeners, we own it. Okay. So,

So is it, would it be like a program then, or would it be like a person, I guess that's, so are you, are you creating a screening tool that can be used by multiple professionals, or are you creating a person that knows how to screen?

It would be a, it would be a tool that would be used by multiple professionals. Okay. So if, you know, when, if you have a child who enters kindergarten, they have a screener to kind of see where they are. Um, it would be this and the teacher administers that. It would be similar to that where, you know, eventually I would like to see it get to universal screening so that every child can be screened. Um, but what, how it's written now is it would be any child that's performing below or well below Benchmark would get that screening from somebody at the school, um, who's trained in administering that screener. Right.

Um, thank you. Great idea. Can you just talk a little bit about how, um, the pilot or the screener would be, uh, validated or evaluated along the way? Is this an annual review? Are there, and who would be doing that validation?

Yes. Yes. So the data would be, um, collected from the University of Utah. They would report to USBE. Um, so this would go to USBE and then it would also go in the interim to the education committee to update. Um, and it's on the list of all the other, you know, pilot programs and programs that may have sunsets that have to report to USBE and, um, and to the legislature.

Uh, thank you. Just one question and then a comment. Um, was this, uh, did you submit an RFA to the Public Education Appropriations Committee for this?

I did not. We did not receive the bill and time, um, to get the RFA for it. So it was past the deadline by the time RFAs had been done. So I've, I've spoken with members of EAC, but it does not have an official RFA on it.

Okay. That's always a, a conundrum, but that's why EAC, one of the reasons EAC exists is to help prioritize things that are really important, which I think this is, um, I, I commend you for your work on this. Um, I was visiting with the director of special ed from my district recently, and just unprompted, she told me that dyslexia is one of the biggest issues they deal with and how few resources are available. So I think this is very timely. Also, we have a long history of, of doing screeners for issues that can go wrong above children's necks. Hearing vision. We started doing mental health screenings with parental opt-in, which have been robustly utilized, and many children have been identified. That early identification and then directing them to services is absolutely critical. So I, I commend you for this. Thank you. Thank You.

Name is Alyssa DeHart, and I'm with Utah Advocacy Coalition. And I am thrilled to see this issue that happens above the neck also be addressed. Um, I come from a family where dyslexia is an inherited trait, and a mother who many years ago was sat under the flagpole because she couldn't read like the other students. And, um, you know, that stereotype and stigma remained with her and is it definitely stems into a mental health and personal identity issue. Um, we were fortunate enough to be in one of the states where they do have a screener and they do have licensed dyslexia specialists in place. Um, my son, who was the fifth child in our family of, um, really great scholarly students found at about eight years old. He was unable to read after everything that we tried. And, um, we hired the special education tutor from our district to help him. And to her credit, after several sessions of tutoring, she said, there's something different going on here. I'm not sure what it is, but let's have further evaluation. After he was evaluated at public school, um, it was found that he is profoundly dyslexic, so very impacted, um, and it underscores the fact that this is not a special education issue, but a very specific education issue. So as his, um, curriculum was rerouted, he became a reader and was thrilled about it. And he even went on to win the, um, readathon, the school readathon that year as a second grader. And the principal who previously was concerned about investing in his screening and investing in the identification of his learning style said this really underscores the importance of meeting students where they are and providing them with the proper support. And we found that to be absolutely true when our family relocated back to Utah on the heels of Hurricane Harvey. So it was an unplanned move. Um, his education here in Utah was sometimes very challenging because of the lack of understanding of dyslexia currently in our state. So, um, although he had learned to be a very great advocate for himself as much as you can as a junior high and high school student, um, he still had moments where, uh, you know, teachers would pull his paper and put it on the board to say, this is what you don't want to do as a seismograph or whatnot. Um, and times when he requested further time on his math tests and the teacher simply said, if you'd studied, you wouldn't need extra time. So, um, being able to have things in place like a screener that is studied and vetted through the state, and having teachers be more aware of dyslexia and that it is a processing disorder, and that these students are highly investible, will be essential to shifting the stereotype and stigma and the mental health repercussions that certainly come. Um, as I've done this work and, um, been following this legislation this term, I've found that many of our community leaders who are innovative and creative and doing things that reshape Utah as a whole are dyslexic thinkers. Um, and that to me helps me understand that we must invest in these systems and these processes for these people so that our young innovators, technology science engineers, all of these will be able to unlock that potential and be able to avoid what my son felt as he really believed he was not made for school. And that learning just wasn't happening for him. Because we are able to learn, people with dyslexia are able to accomplish great things. There are strengths as representative to face said that as we work through, we will be able to have them lead out in many cases and, um, capture their full trajectory. For me, this, I'm sorry. One more thing is that also as I speak with our populations who are stabilizing people in behavioral health centers, in our homeless population, and for incarcerated individuals, the percentage of dyslexia goes up much higher. So in our prison systems, it's 70% zooming out and looking at this as a public health issue that impacts not only children, but adults who are struggling to read, can be the path to intervention that will help them regain trajectory. And, um, different organizations like the Road Home and the Other Side Academy, both are interested in screening their individuals and services for this, if there is someone in place who can help those individuals regain their capacity to read and learn. So thank

Yes, thank you. And I'm Nancy. Sorry, I glitched a little bit. I'm Nancy Sylvester and, um, I, so I'm calling on behalf of myself, but I am an attorney and I, I think one of the things that I wanted to point to that Alyssa was talking about is the fact that, um, there are some highly intelligent people who have this, um, disorder and, um, it really does take just that little bit of screening early. And I think this, this tool would've made all the difference for my daughter who was here earlier on, um, Senator Plums Bill. I think if we had actually been able to identify, identify her with within the school, a lot of this heartbreak and, you know, what have you, would've been, um, we wouldn't have had to go through that. Um, I'm happy to report actually. She, she is highly intelligent. She's now in, you know, the medical profession because this has made her an extremely empathetic person. And so she's gotten her CNA through Career Path High and Davis Tech and is going on to be a medical assistant and then hopefully a nurse. Um, but I do think that had she had this intervention in the school with, with this tool that, um, you know, can be used not just in the school setting, but in a variety of settings as Alyssa alluded to, um, that would've been huge. And I just think that this is just one of those things that, um, I know that things are tight in the state of Utah this year on the budget, but I would just urge the state that this is the sort of thing that if you invest in it, it will pay huge dividends to come, um, in the form of a population that is even better suited for, you know, the coming changes to the workplace. And I, and I note that because I'm an employment attorney, and so I follow closely what's going on with workplace trends and, um, we have to do something to do better to well position Utah citizenry for, or what's to come in the future of work. Thank you for allowing me to comment.

And I'm Carrie Atkinson. I'm here just representing myself. Um, just two really quick points. When I started to advocacy 14 years ago and started going to national conferences, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming refer were referred to as the black hole of dyslexia in the country. As a state that values our children and values families, that's unacceptable to me. So building capacity at our universities is really important that we have greater understanding and capacity within our state. The other point is how important it's for early intervention. The screening being done early is key. The closing a gap on a first and second grade reader is so much more achievable than a sixth grade reader. It would go from years of intervention, like multiple years, four to five years of intervention, maybe to a couple or 18 months of intervention. So I would like to add my voice to support of this bill.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to make a motion to pass first substitute house bill. We, We have to adopt, we have to adopt this sub there. Sub? Yep. Pass. First substitute. Yeah. Except adopt first sub HB 3 93.

No, I'll waive thanks. All right.

Sure. Thank you. I'd like to make a motion to pass favorably for substitute house bill 3 93 early early intervention and for dyslexia amendments.

Um, I wanna make sure we get this passed before we have a hard stop, so I'm gonna skip.

This has been a good discussion. I'd appreciate the support. Thank you. All right.

I do have a substitute. I'll be speaking to the sub. Um, so yes, thank you Mr. Chair, members of the committee. Um, this bill is part of our efforts to address early literacy. Um, this started when I was contacted by members of the dyslexia community, um, that had some needs. And we started working on a program to help address this. We actually have a hole in addressing dyslexia in our schools. Um, and other states are a lot further ahead, um, than we are. And it actually impacts quite a few students. We don't know exactly how many, because we don't, we haven't screened them. We don't know. But we, a common theme has emerged that a lot of people are like, you know what? I had dyslexia, but I didn't find out till I was in junior high or high school or an adult. And in fact, 70% of the prison population has dyslexia. So what this bill does, um, first of all, it is funded, um, in the budget. And, um, in working with, uh, Senator Millner, we have come up with a plan to address dyslexia. So what this does is, first of all, it, um, gives, uh, authority to the University of Utah under u under USBE to develop a screener. Screening for dyslexia is extremely expensive. It can cost anywhere from 500 to a couple thousand of dollars, which is why it's something that we haven't done in schools. Um, and it's, it's cost prohibitive. But other states that have universal screening have developed their own screener and they own it. So we're putting money up front to develop the screener, and then we will own it, and then we will be able to screen all the children eventually. So what this does is it, it creates the screener starts a pilot program to screen children who are testing in, in K through one testing below or well below reading level. And if they're missed, then we'll screen them in, uh, second and third. And that will help us kind of work out the, the kink, see where we can improve over the, with four years with the goal of, uh, having this available to all LEAs. Um, it'll be a program that any LEA may opt into. Um, the second piece of this, and this is what I'm speaking to, the sub, is an intervention piece. So what the this does is it, um, also allocates funds to the University of Utah through USBE, allowing the University of Utah to create a comprehensive intervention plan and how to scale and provide intervention for these students across the state. Um, I'm very excited about this. We've had a lot of support and we have lots of members from the community here today who are also excited. Um, but this is a, a big step forward for literacy, um, for our body and for our state. And happy to answer any questions at this time.

This has been funded, yeah. This is, uh, this is something we're working on as part of our literacy push.

Uh, so Moved. So the motion is to delete entitled and body, uh, first substitute HB 3 93 and replace it with second substitute HB 3 93. All in favor of the substitute. Aye. Aye. And, uh, chair rules. That is unanimous. Thank you. Thanks.

Do. Not a great bill.

Thank you. I'm Nancy Sylvester, and, um, I'm representing myself today. I'm a mother of a child who didn't read until sixth grade and we had to spend about $20,000 to get her back up to speed on being able to read. And even after that, she was already so far behind that she's experienced significant mental health and physical health challenges as a result. Um, and I'm pleased to report that she has gotten her, um, certified nursing assistant, uh, certificate from Davis Tech as a junior, which speaks to her intelligence and resilience. However, this is the sort of bill that would've helped her tremendously back in kindergarten. It wasn't until second grade that we realized something was wrong. And by that point she was already very far behind, um, trailing her pierce. And so I am asked that this committee and the legislature support and follow this bill, and particularly the fiscal note. Thank you.

Sherry Evans. Um, I'm speaking on behalf of myself, but also as a dyslexia, interventionist, and advocate for the past well over a decade. I work in the trenches with these kids and without fail. When I talk to parents about what would've made a difference for their students, it is we wish we would have known sooner. We wish we had, would've had this proper intervention sooner. When these kids come to me, there are two grade levels behind. I had one student that was five grade levels behind. They learned to read with appropriate intervention. But the trauma that occurs when children are delayed in their intervention and their identification can be lifelong. Um, we want to prevent the, the negative outcomes that come, the depression, the anxiety, the hopelessness, the self-worth that is damaged. And this bill will do this for our future children. Early screening, early identification, early intervention is critical for our children in the state. Please support this Bill. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Cindy Savage. I'm representing myself. Um, I am an adult with dyslexia, but found out later in life, probably a couple years ago. So this bill is very important in realizing the testing and the processes and the things that for our younger children. Um, knowing that I have dyslexia now, I can look back in my early childhood years, adult, teenager, even up to my career, um, in the past, you know, handful of years of superpowers and strengths or challenges or missed opportunities. But now I have, uh, words and an explanation of how I've lived and created a career. But I could have done a lot more and been maybe more successful than I am now knowing that I could have been, um, diagnosed sooner. So this bill's very important. Thank you very much. Make sure you sign in.

Alyssa DeHart and speaking on behalf of myself and from the Utah Advocacy Coalition, um, I am thrilled to see this bill come through and to understand that there will be a path if well urging support for this bill. But, um, that the early identification and intervention and also reshaping the understanding that it is a very real situation and a real neurology that requires specific instruction. It's not a dead end, it's just a reroute. And having educators in place who can intervene and help these students identify their learning styles will be very powerful. And just want to speak on behalf of supporting this bill. Thank you for the work you're doing.

Thank you Chair. Members of the committee, Marco Lopez, Western Legislative Director for X Excel that in action. Uh, once again, we're a national organization that advocates for bold education policy that strike the school, empower parents, and prepare students for life long success. We support House Built 3 99 and appreciate the thoughtful approach, uh, that it's taken to advance early literacy. This would make Utah the 39th state to tackle this very important piece of early literacy policy. Uh, we do want to flag one area for future consideration. Uh, we believe that univer, that it should be a universal screen for characteristic of dyslexia in early grades. The states that follow the gold standard, such as New Hampshire and a few others, uh, screen all students when they're first entering at the kindergarten grade level. And then again, multiple times in first and second grade. But overall, this is a very strong foundation. We welcome continued collaboration with the sponsor, and we really appreciate her taking the time to really work on this. So thank you so much, sponsor. Uh, and, and everyone, thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to just make a policy statement before we move on. Um, I have a dyslexia bill that was put on the agenda quite early, much earlier than this bill was. So it's frustrating that my bill did not get an opportunity to be heard in committee. My bill was put eight days before this bill was put on this agenda. So, um, just, you know, partisan frustrations with good bills coming forward. Uh, I think that this bill is great, but, uh, I just was reading a, uh, pamphlet about, or a peer review study that third grade is not just the end of when we should be screening. A lot of kids are actually identified in third grade. So I was going to change that in my bill, because that's what the current practice is just indicated through my research and my career as a teacher. So, I think this is a good bill, but I am frustrated that my bill that came out earlier, numbered later, um, sooner was not given a chance to be heard. So, um, that frustrates me when we deal with politics and bills. So, just wanted to go on record saying that. I think this is a great bill, but I wish my bill had gotten a chance to be heard as well. Thank you.

I'd love to. Two. Okay.

I recommend that we pass out with a favorable recommendation, house Bill. 3 93. 3 93. Second substitute. Second Substitute to the full body of the Senate with a favorable recommendation.

Thank you. I just appreciate the support. Um, the goal is that every child will, will succeed and every child will be screened someday. And we'll keep working toward that. And this is an excellent first step, and I appreciate the community for coming out here today and, and explaining to you how important this bill is.

Meeting clerk, Our substitute house bill 3 93 Early intervention for dyslexia amendments by Representative Defay. This bill was heard in Health and Human Services with the vote of 11 0 3.

Uh, yes, Mr. Speaker. Motion to circle.

Uh, yeah, we're just still working to get some things prepared.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. As many of you know, we're focusing on literacy this year. And, um, this is one, uh, piece of legislation that is part of that literacy package. So, as we talked about literacy, we noticed that there is a hole in our education when it comes to, um, screening and intervening for dyslexia. And other states who have done, uh, a good job in, in identifying dyslexia and intervening, um, have developed their own screener. The, the difficult piece of really helping teachers and parents, um, with the intervention piece is really first identifying and screening for, and it's very costly, can be anywhere from 500 to $2,000 for a screener. So what this bill does is it directs, um, the University of Utah College of Education to develop a screener that the, the state would then own. Um, and then all LEAs could use that screener in perpetuity forever, um, to help us to find those students and intervene, um, with proper interventions. And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. I think this is an important piece of the literacy package and I would appreciate your support.

Thank you very much Mr. President Ian. What this bill does is ask the University of Utah, um, researchers, um, to develop a free dyslexia screener that we can use in our schools. Um, all the dyslexia screening tools out there are fairly expensive and it's, it's very difficult for us to implement that into our schools. We had another example of this a long time ago about early learning. Um, we asked them to develop an early learning screener and now we use it across all of our schools because it's a free tool. So, um, that, that has been substantiated and now is evidence-based. We're asking 'em to do the same thing with dyslexia. Dyslexia, it's only a screener, not a diagnostic tool, but it will give information to parents and teachers about a student as we're trying to help more of them read, make it available across the state. In addition to this, um, we wanna make sure that uh, we are creating a pilot program and a pilot program would be created in some willing school districts, a couple of willing school districts under the supervision of the State Board of Education. Um, so we can try that out, make sure that it works before we widely distribute it. So that's the purpose of this bill, Thank you for the presentation.

Thank you Mr. President Pro Tem.

Motion to concur with the Senate amendments.

Yes. When we pass this bill, we uh, pass it with the intention of developing a statewide screening program and we have added a statewide, um, intervention program to this bill as well and would urge your support.