Education Committee - Room 1525

I'm Senator dave murman from glenvil, Nebraska. I represent the 38th legislative district and I serve as chair of this Committee. This public hearing is your opportunity to be part of the legislative process and to express your position on the proposed legislation before us. The Committee will take up agenda items in the order posted. If you wish to testify on the mic today, please fill out a green testifier sheet. The forms can be found at the entrances to the hearing room. Be sure to print clearly and provide all requested information. If you will testify on more than one agenda item, you will need a new green testifier sheet each time you come forward to speak on the mic. When is your turn to come forward? Please give the testifier sheet and any handouts you might have to the page as you are seated, and I'll ask it that anyone needing. With aid in testifying to move up to the second row or as close to the front as possible so that they can testify first, because the interpreter will only be here for, I think, about 90 minutes. So those that need the interpreter, please move up toward the front. If you have handouts, we request that you provide 12 copies for distribution. If you do not have 12 copies, please alert the page when you come forward at the microphone. Please begin by stating your name and spelling both your first and last names. To ensure we get an accurate record. Observers. If you do not wish to testify but would like to indicate your position on an agenda item, there are yellow sign in sheets in notebooks at the entrances. The sign in sheets will be included in the official hearing record. We will begin with the introducer giving an opening statement at the mic, followed by proponents, opponents and those wanting to speak in a neutral capacity. The introducer will then have an opportunity to give a closing statement if they wish. We will be using a three minute light system for all testifiers. When you begin your testimony, the light on the table will be green. When the yellow light comes on, you'll have one minute to wrap up your thoughts, and the red light indicates that you have reached the end of your time limit. Questions from the Committee may follow. Off the clock. A few final items to facilitate today's hearing. Please mute your cell phones or any other electronic devices. Verbal outbursts or applause are not permitted. Such behavior may be cause for you to be asked to leave the hearing room. Know that Committee members may need to come and go during the afternoon. The morning for other hearings. I will now ask Committee members with us today to introduce themselves, starting at my far right. Good morning. I'm rita sanders, representing district 45, which is the bellevue ofit community. And I am a mother of a hearing impaired child, now a young adult. Good morning.

I'm Senator jana hughes from district 24, and that's seward york polk and a little bit of butler county. Glen meyer district 17, dakota thurston wayne in the southern part of dixon county. Hi everyone. I'm megan hunt and I represent district eight in midtown omaha. Good morning. I'm dan lonowski. I'm from hastings. I represent adams county, kearney county and rural phelps county is all part of district 33. Staff with us today are. To my immediate right is Committee. Committee's legal counsel, don jarrell, and to my far right is the Committee clerk, connie thomas. The pages who serve our Committee are elias raymond from lincoln, a junior at unl studying psychology. With that, we'll begin today's hearing on l 389. Senator conrad. Good morning. My name is danielle conrad. It's danielle conrad conrad, and I proudly represent north lincoln's 46th legislative district. Fellow Committee members, I'm pleased to present legislative resolution 389, and I would like to thank chairman murman for designating this important issue for a public hearing this morning. I'm. I know this will be hard for many of you who know me to believe, but I'm purposefully going to keep my comments very, very brief so that we can center the expertise and experiences of impacted nebraskans on this very important topic. First, I'd like to thank adam wilber hauser. And recognize the power of a citizen and a dad to make a difference. Adam emailed this Committee last year, sharing his frustrations in trying to seek appropriate educational access for his son. That's what prompted this interim study hearing. Since that time, our office has had a chance to conduct research and meet with stakeholders. And our hope for our hearing today is that we identify what's happening in Nebraska schools in regards to ensuring equal access to education for students that are deaf and hard of hearing. We hope to help identify and establish what best practices are in this regard. And then I'm excited to work with you and the community to solve, from where we are to where we need to be with potential legislation next session. Some of our discussions and research this summer help to elevate potential solutions that you're already very familiar with. For example, Senator hunt had a measure last year that this Committee advanced to the floor that was thwarted by. School districts before the full Legislature to breathe life into existing rules, regulations and obligations regarding transportation for students with special needs. So that will need to be revisited. You may remember Senator roundtree's measure that was heard by our Committee and advanced by this Committee to provide better power for parents in the iep process when they're battling to get their children appropriate accommodations at schools that will need to be revisited. We also need to be watchful, thoughtful and careful about funding for our e. S use, about funding for the Nebraska commission on the deaf and hard of hearing.

My name is jonathan ortega. I am here as the president for the Nebraska association for the deaf. I am here for advocacy for the deaf community and the hard of hearing community. I want to become the voice that you all need. The issue that is imperative is that children are our future and they deserve equal access. Communication, education, services, everything they need to be successful and they need to know what success looks like. I want to thank everybody for passing the study and for approaching the next development on the bill. And it has to be focused on deaf and hard of hearing children, not receiving support, not receiving advocacy, and not having enough education, communication. You know, everybody is saying, oh, we can't afford it. We can't afford it. We have to provide these services. I know that the hot topic right now is education and politics and budget and money and all of that, and that has to change. We have to fix that now. We need to have the good life in Nebraska. That's our statement. And we need to have that. I want to thank the Senator conrad for taking action on this very, very imperative topic and with working with all the people within the school districts as well. We can find a solution to this problem. I have a lot of respect for law and for bills, and I know that we can fix this. I recognize that we are going to be breaking down barriers, and we are going to become successful in our endeavors. And I know that the children are the future and we will provide equal access. We have to make these changes successfully. And I want to thank everybody for your time and for your commitment to this. Thank you. Thank you very much. Could you please spell out your name? I don't think sure. When could you please spell out your name? I don't think sure. When you come up to testify. Go ahead. Eaga okay. Thank you. And I probably forgot to mention, when you come up, testify, state your name and spell it out, please. Thank you very much. Any questions from the Committee? If not, thank you very much. And second testifier, please. My name. Is vicky. Last name is campbell. Pickikcampeell. Okay. So Senator. Conrad and other members of the education Committee. I am a deaf parent. I'm active in. The deaf community and I had a deaf child. I have many perspectives in many different outlets. And I today am representing myself as a deaf child. I have a ton of experience in the public school setting. When I went to Nebraska school for the deaf during my senior year, that changed a lot and I felt that many educational professionals were experts in recognizing my individual needs there. And I actually saw that year at that school. It was only one year. It was very short.

My experience as a deaf student and as a parent of a deaf student is we need to have professionals that truly understand the education for the needs of each child. And we have to make sure that the deaf students family has a voice in iep meetings. The deaf children deserve better in Nebraska, and I look forward to Senator conrad and the educational Committee to have a comprehensive bill that will cover all of the facts and all of the barriers that are presented in the deaf and hard of hearing children's educational system. The children deserve the commitment from Nebraska to get the education that they have earned. Thank you for your time. Are there any other questions? Senator meyer? Thank you, chairman murman. Senator conrad had mentioned this. And once again, perhaps you can you can answer this. According to state law, one size does not fit all. What what's the pushback on the schools to provide proper education and proper services to our deaf and hard of hearing communities? What are the school excuses that they're not providing that. If you could answer that, please. There are tons. Let me think so. As far as I know, when my daughter wanted to go to become homeschooling, they said that she had to go to a deaf program which was very far from her home, but they didn't really honor what her needs were. So there. I can envision, like the deaf student in the same grade, and more effective for the interpreter to use one interpreter for the whole group of deaf in that grade because they're so short interpreters. That was their belief that, oh, a deaf child needs an interpreter and is in this grade. I am satisfying that service. And when they offered that, oh, you know, my daughter needed three different teachers of the deaf and it's five minutes and that's good enough. And that will accommodate all the deaf students. And I'm like, I'm not here to hear what you think is best. I know my daughter. I know what she can do. And you're holding her back to keep her in a regular classroom and then taking her out just to meet with the teacher of the deaf. I just I really think that the school is teaching is treating all deaf children as the same. They're grouping them together and they are never, ever respecting the individual needs, the individual talents of each deaf child. I think that's the biggest thing they're doing. Any other questions? If not, thank you very much. Thank you. Other proponents. But also real quick, before I officially begin, I want to ask that we all have a little bit of grace with the hearing or the testimony itself. So as long as it doesn't go to overtime, because we are working with two different languages and an interpreter, so we can't rush this and it would be more accessible that way.

This should not be happening, especially when automatic captions are typically available. And now they are so easy, easy to edit and correct. Which brings me to this point. Always manually check over those automatic captions and make sure they're correct and never, ever rely solely on automatic captions. I could go on and on and on, but I'd be here forever if so. And I invite everyone to continue this conversation with the deaf community because it won't be finished today. Thank you everyone for taking the time to sit down and have this conversation with us. Thank you. Any questions? Hey, I made it. Yeah. Just right. Okay. Thank you for your attention. Fortunately, I ran out of printer ink, but I will email this to you all. After you. Other proponents. Hello? Hello. My name is daniel kauth. Daniel. Paffpfaff. The second f the first f is silent. Good morning, good morning senators. I am happy to be here. Before I get going, I want to introduce also my wife. We have a new eight week old baby, so she's got her hands full. We are both deaf. He is also deaf. Fifth, fifth generation deaf. And we are here to represent the deaf community. And where are we going to send our school, our child to school? There is no deaf school in Nebraska and my. And I'm a deaf family, so I'm used to rich access all day conversations with my family, full understanding with all members of my family because I have a deaf family and both of us went to deaf schools. My wife graduated from the iowa school for the deaf. I graduated from indiana school for the deaf. It doesn't matter. It's a deaf school and it's a rich environment for deaf child. We we did not want to move to Nebraska. We didn't have an option. And here we are in Nebraska and we do not know where to send our child. The mainstream education. Deaf school education isn't an option, so we are stuck. We do not have any options for that rich language environment. There is no rich language environment. He has two older brothers that are both hearing. They do sign because their parents sign. So they have access at school to at home to sign. But at school, what access do they have? A lot of the interpreters are not qualified and they have one interpreter for all day, and they want to sit and watch one source of language all day. They need that connection. They need that variety. They need that rich environment. He's only eight weeks old right now, but the planning has already started. We are looking where do we move? Where do we go? We've been here for three years, but what's next? Where can we provide a rich environment for our child's education? It is important to provide an education for all our children, and we are.

And for both of you, did you happen to live close enough that it could be just you go in for the day and come home at night? I stayed in the dorm. I used to live in omaha, and my mom, my mom said. So sorry. So my mother was 16 when she had me and the. They realized that I was deaf. They didn't know what to do for school, and they found out that iowa had a deaf school. And so she placed me there. She used one of my family members in iowa's address and got me into the deaf school. Even though we were living in iowa, in omaha. But they knew that they wanted me at a deaf school. So we were lucky enough to have a family member that had an address in iowa. So we were able to do that. But I have many, many friends that have students in ops that are fighting for that education, fighting for those needs, because ops continuously fights parents to send their children to isd in iowa. And it's just we have a lot of learning to do for that whole situation. So then that leads me to my last question is, I know we closed Nebraska, closed the school of deaf in Nebraska, but I thought we were in a partnership with the school in iowa, which I believe is in council bluffs. So I would when you speak, I would have assumed that's an option for your new child. Lindsey is shaking his head adamantly. No. So I can jump over. So I work at isd. I'm happy I'm here. I live in Nebraska, but I do work at isd and that ops is nothing but barriers, lists and lists and lists of barriers. Honestly, it's ridiculous and I will happily sit down and have a conversation with you on what the parents are are doing to try to get their children to isd, and it is without question, nothing but barriers and obstacles. And it. We actually live in bellevue. Their public school is a little bit more accommodating, but if we were in ops, there would be no option. Okay. Thank you. So that. That helps. Any other questions? If not, thank you very much. Thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. My name is lindsey. Last name is darnell. Junior. I would like to thank everybody for giving us the opportunity to sit and share our stories with you all this morning, as I'm sure as you are, seeing as you watch with your eyes, the deaf testimonies and you hear through the interpreter the stories you can see, the experiences you can see the frustrations and kind of realize what's happening in Nebraska. But I would like to remind you of a quote that is on this building, quite large outside, and it says Nebraska. Security of the state.

So where do the children go? I think that is causing a lot of concern for parents. I know daniel. So that's what he was mentioning about the barriers. So here in Nebraska, we have the Nebraska regional program. I don't know if you're familiar with that. That's supposed to be a replacement, if you will, for the Nebraska school for the deaf, what they used to have. And that was it was promised when they closed Nebraska school for the deaf. When they closed that school, they promised that all of the programs, all of the services would be held through the regional program. And I could say that is partially happening. So the Nebraska regional program is hosting events for the deaf and hard of hearing children to get together and to socialize maybe six times a year. The deaf community looks at that and says, six times a year that is not enough. There is so much impact for services, for education and and then if you have the idea of possibly having asl specialists invited into Nebraska, which we do not have, there's none. There is none in Nebraska. There's just so many cuts that are going to be impacted. And my biggest fear is that if we start these cuts on the children's education now, that is going to delay their language access, that is going to delay their learning abilities, that is going to delay their cognitive abilities, that is impacting all of these very, very young children. And what is the financial impact for later for graduation, for not being able to be gainfully employed later? It is going to cost Nebraska more money because are they going to depend on welfare or are they going to be 100% governmental services? It doesn't make sense to me to cut the funding to the children when it's going to cost Nebraska more later. We need to encourage the deaf children to be involved, to be citizens of Nebraska, but without language, without cutting, with cutting all of the services, they will not be able to be successful. And also talking about attitude, the attitude. I know that we can't. We can't legalize attitudes, right? There's there's no bill for an attitude, but we are shocked. It's just shocking to me. For example, I have been sitting in this chair looking at the educational Committee since 1987. I have been coming to these meetings since I was an 18 year old. I have been testifying to the educational department. I argue to not close the school. And now here I am, full circle encouraging the educational Committee to once again make sure that deaf children are getting appropriate education and the attitude of the people that they think they know what's best for deaf and hard of children is nothing but a thumbs up. That is very, very frustrating. Great. Thank you. Any other questions, Senator hughes? Thank you, chairman. Thank you for coming in.

And then is that kind of a parent choice that parents may with littles. Perhaps they want to keep them home so they would maybe keep them home, but then have them dorm later? I mean, is that kind of the discussion and the individual plan for each child potentially. So what I am familiar with, the funny thing is I am also involved with one iep case in iowa right now that has a child. So it's kind of funny. So I'm seeing both perspectives. From what I understand. Apparently they have a rule. Now isd has a rule now that they will ask questions. Regarding that child, what the child needs for the dorm environment to see if they qualify for the dorm environment, and they have to put in like a special considerations. It's it's very it's a lot. For example, there's one father that is deaf and he has a deaf son. They just moved here to Nebraska. The son is in high school and the father wants the son to go to isd. They've been fighting, fighting, fighting, fighting, fighting. Finally, they have gotten to go to isd. They want the child to be in the dorm and ops will not allow it. They will not. They just say no. So the son transports himself back and forth. He does not get to stay in the dorm. But then ops is paying for the day school for this child to be at the isd. The state of Nebraska pays. Okay. They cover. The cost of. The tutoring. And I'm the this situation. They live in omaha, so it's probably a ten mile ish commute. Is that. 1020 tops? Yeah. Okay. Thank you. The transportation. Yeah. They just go back and forth. Senator meyer. Thank you. Chairman hardin. I'm probably the only one in the room that doesn't know the answer to this question. And I just very briefly, post-secondary, someone gets through our k through 12, goes to university of Nebraska, wayne state college. What are the accommodations for the deaf and hard of hearing in in those environments? Great question. College seems to be more friendlier, if you will, than public school. From what I am aware of, if a deaf student goes to college, apparently so far they have zero issues getting an interpreter. And the history. We do have a deaf student at unl unl. The university of kearney and that's as far as I know. Kearney and no problems getting interpreters. They have no issues. Thank you. Any other questions, Senator conrad? Thank you. I just have a quick follow up. Based on my friend Senator hughes's question, because this is something that we learned a lot about in our preparation for this hearing, is that on paper, it seems like there's partnerships. It seems like there's accommodations, it seems like there's modifications.

So we are standing outside the building looking through the windows saying, hey, help, help. We're trying to help you. But the parents are lined up. The parents are talking about their their experiences and Nebraska hands and voices that advocacy group, their journey is to provide training for parents that have already gone to a training got certification through that training. I've done that myself. But what is very, very unfortunate is that training for the hands and voices advises this is for parents. It's a parent organization. They advise other parents to be nice, to be polite. We have to be careful. We have to work with the school district and hopefully they'll make everything better. So we have deaf education meeting in kearney, I don't know, three months ago maybe, and they had a workshop and it was for many, many different areas. It was for educational, for teachers. There was one for parents. And so I had gone to that workshop and. It was, you know, just to kind of sharpen my knowledge of what the parents or parents are experiencing. And they had a parent panel and they were discussing many different things. And the parent was like, I was so angry. When I got home, I sent, I typed up a huge email and then I held it and I read it the next day, and I edited it to make it seem more nice. So after that workshop, I stood up and I said, parents, parents, the deaf community has been in this situation forever. Why do we have to keep being nice? Why they are doing wrong? They are playing games with language. They are playing games with funding. They are arguing their way out of of being advocates for these children. And the children are suffering and we have to be nice. And I feel like the wave is coming of not being nice anymore. And I'm just hoping that you guys can develop a comprehensive bill. And in the language of the bill, also say very loudly, parents will be heard. They have the authority. Whatever the parents are asking, the school will do, they will comply. Thank you. Any other questions? Thank you. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you so much for all of your time. I really, really do appreciate everybody. Thank you. Thank you so much for inviting the experts to come and talk about their lives. I respect the deaf community very much. This is my son, josh. He was killed in a car accident when he was 24 in 2004, and he I'll talk about his great successes later. But when he became deaf. I'm sorry. Could you state your name and spell it? I'm sorry. Yes. My name is patricia. Patriciastear. Yeah. Josh was born in saint louis. He had meningitis at 16 months and became deaf because of that.

I appreciate that they would also forget to tell him that they were going to go off and get a burger, so he was left out. This is my fantasy to just finish here. My fantasy for lincoln is if I would win a gazillion dollars, I would buy one of the old empty insurance buildings or something and establish a new deaf school, because there is a real law that says best, least restrictive environment for education. And that's what deaf school education is. We also were invited, I'll just quickly say, when he was young, we were invited to the deaf school. When it was still in function, all the families of Nebraska went for five days. They housed us, they fed us. They took us to the zoo, to the children's museum. They brought in national speakers. They all the kids got to know each other, deaf kids around the state. And so that was a brilliant experience for us and for him. It broke my heart when that school was closed. And I can't believe that our state, as good as we are, would deny the deaf population something that don't every other state have these things? I don't know what's the deal. I really hope that that will happen in the future. That's my dream that we will wake up and establish a new deaf school in Nebraska. Thank you. Pat. Any other any questions? If not, appreciate your testimony. Sorry. You. One moment. Sorry. That's okay. All right. Thank you. My name is harry hafer. This device right here. Is a portable hearing loop, which is a advantageous. Not as good as it could be for this space because it's really meant for one on one or small meetings. I do have a little microphone here that feeds to it, which also helps hear the room. There's echo otherwise that affects it. Likes been mentioned. There's a range of people that have deafness and hard of hearing. And so I'm going to kind of go in on that. And I appreciate your your education Committee in in looking at this resolution and everything I've heard today for the deaf community hits me in the heart. There's also a large, hard of hearing community in the state, but so I, I just wanted to bring up some other issues that that maybe haven't been mentioned that relate to this because it's still part of accommodations for people that are deaf or hard. Of hearing. Excuse me. I'm sorry. Yes. Harry. Harry hafer. I should have remembered that harry last name is heaf as in frank e r. Sorry about that. It's been mentioned before too. Ada has regulations that are being ignored by the state education system, as well as other entities that are required to provide accommodations for those that are deaf or hard of hearing. I'm here as the chair of the h.

Good morning. Thank you all for being here. My name is jordan abegglen. Jordan. Last name is a b as in boy, e as in egg, g g, l as in larry, e as in egg, n as in nancy. I'm here today. I prepared a statement. I'm going to throw it out the window. I am the parent of a hard of hearing child. Lindsey specifically referenced our case. We're dealing with the school system right now that is hiding behind vague language, gray areas and how and where children receive services. And in recent months, we have tried to enter into mediation as well as iep facilitation. With this facility, it has been nothing but frustrating. There's a complete lack of regard for deaf and hard of hearing individuals. My wife and I had to make the tough decision to pull our child from our local school, and we drive 50 minutes to take our child to a different school. The school treats these children the same way that they treat anybody with a learning disability. A single room behavior, dyslexia, all of that lumped into one room. It is protected, and they're justifying it as a way to provide more one on one service. But for a child who is hard of hearing, the amount of noise there makes the learning day extremely fatiguing. It's hard to understand. It's hard to pay attention and know what's going on and where. The removal of asl services to these children in the classrooms not only puts them behind academically, but it puts them behind socially, it also begins to impact their confidence. This year, the services were provided for five days of our child's start of the school year. The removal of those services, what we've watched is a lack of confidence begin to build. She questions herself. When we get homework at home, there's no longer an answer of yes, I know that answer. There's I don't know. We've begun to see changes in how she acts at home and around her friends, and we do firmly believe that it has to do with the fatigue that comes from going to the school day. We know that she's asking for help at school, but we also have feedback from from her saying that she misses her interpreter because she misses things in school. The fm systems that are provided only help so much. They continue to pick up noise. There are moments where there's group work, there's children asking questions that those things are lost. They're not relayed. The teacher, looking away from the classroom and out of board, removes the understanding, the hearing that that child has. They're not able to see the lips because they're learning. Lip reading alongside of the asl. So what I would challenge this group with is looking at that language and making sure that it protects those children's right to communication. Communication is a key component for us as humans.

The start of this year is when the services were removed, and we were blindsided by that. We requested to update an iep because the goals that we had seen were still very much around the prior year. Self-advocacy, simple tasks. We wanted to see an update. We entered into that iep session were presented with an agenda. The agenda appeared to cover the things we wanted to cover, but in the middle of that, we were informed that we would no longer receive asl services and that there was nothing that we could do about it. We're still going through that process today. I'm here today to advocate that this needs to be protected because the justifications are not data driven. They're not looking at our child's ability to hear. They're focused on the fact that through what they believe are the loopholes, the requirements are out. Parentally placed outside of the district is the thing that protects them from providing basic communication skills, and that just feels wrong. So. So when you moved your child from the public school to the private school, you were well satisfied for the first year, if I understand correctly. For the first year we were satisfied the interpretation services transferred to the school. The school district that we were in contracted those services through another school district. It worked out phenomenally. We loved that that interpreter that was there, she provided us progress reports as well. She informed the iep around the self-advocacy goals around our child going out there and working within the small groups, and how that was how that was going, as well as feedback and where she was still relying on the interpreter to make sure that she could comprehend, not just here, because she does have hearing aids. It's not here, but really understand what the ask is. There are nuances within the language that are lost when it's spoken for. Somebody who has 7% and 4% hearing in in years. So then after the first year, the asl part of it was taken away is that. The start of this school year, their school year started, I believe, on the 27th. We received five days of services, and then we're informed that the interpreter had resigned. We asked a follow up to understand what what happened and if we could accomplish our iep review. At the same time. That is where we were presented with. We are removing your services because you have parentally placed your child outside of the district at a private institute, and we are not required to provide those services. Ada doesn't cover this part of it. The institute's private. They aren't required to provide that. We don't have an avenue to to make sure our child has what she needs to be successful. And that has been an incredibly frustrating process. I hear statements around parents being nice. I'm one of those parents.

My name is adam hauser, a damwiblishouser. I am a parent. My son's name is gage hauser. He's in the fourth grade and attends iowa school for the deaf. We are Nebraska residents and we are part of the elkhorn public school district. I'm here to tell you that everything that everybody said before me is absolutely true. And what it's boiling down to is the school districts are messing with the pws, they're messing with the ieps, and they're and they're messing with the language that they're using in the pu, ns and ieps to deny services that they don't want to pay for or is not of a convenience to the school district. I've been seeing this over and over and over again. I'm hearing it from other parents. I'm experiencing it. I know that I've been in contact with each and every one of you through email, and I'm trying to keep you informed in real time of what's going on and what I'm experiencing as a parent, just because I think that's important, that you guys know what's happening in the state of Nebraska. And from hearing the testimony of the people that can't be that's come before me. I know I'm not the only one. I know other parents that rule that lindsay addressed earlier about the 60 mile radius of iowa school for the deaf. I was the one that challenged Nebraska department of education on that rule, and about two weeks later, they rescinded it. However, the school districts still mess with the language about the least restrictive environment so that no kids can actually get that residential placement. I did ask through a public records request, ask nde to provide me with just a count of students that are within that proximity of how many are now residential students. I told them that I wanted to use it for this hearing, which is probably a mistake, because then they sent me back a letter saying that they could not have it by in time for this hearing. So law says they get four days. It was well over four days. Really. I'd I'd really kind of like to yield my time to answer questions, because I think most of you guys kind of already know my story. Okay. Thank you. Any questions, Senator hughes? Thank you. Thank you, chairman. Thanks for coming in. Thanks for putting a name to the emails that I printed out from you. So you said your son is at the isd. When did he get placed there? Did you have to fight for it? I'm assuming elkhorn is paying for this. Is he there just for the day? Does he do the dorms? So yeah. He's an a student. He went to kindergarten through ralston. The elkhorn placed him in ralston to go to kindergarten. Because ralston really does have a pretty decent deaf program there. Okay.

Like it's a requirement to work there that you'd be fluent with in asl within the first six months. And so you might not be able to answer this, but I know we clearly Nebraska had a school deaf that was closed a while back. I don't see a problem with partnering with the state when we're talking so few kids. I mean, if there's only 3 to 10 in a grade in iowa and Nebraska opens ours, it would be maybe even less than that, whatever. But if we're truly partnering, I don't understand, like, do people have to fight in Nebraska to get their kid in the school of death for Nebraska, too? Yes. Interesting. Okay. Yeah, it's a, it's a constant fight. What I would really like to see, I know reopening a deaf school in Nebraska would be a very, very big deal. But if we're going to partner with someone else's partner. Yeah, we had one for 230 years, but now we have this partner. Why not use this partnership? Right. Thank you. And you might not be the person to ask this, but. So the iowa school for the deaf has a school in council bluffs, which is pretty much on the border with Nebraska. Right. Do they have satellite schools then around iowa also? No, they do not. They there are some they do partner with council bluffs school school district, and they do have some classes that teach asl. That's new. I don't know a ton about it, but as far as any satellite, that's the closest they have to it that I'm aware of. Okay. Thank you, Senator lonowski. Thank you, chair murman thank you for your testimony. Earlier, someone said that there's 25 babies born per year that might have deaf have issues with hearing. So do we know how many k-12 students are in Nebraska? Do you happen to know that? I know. That was part of the information I requested from the department of education. That's still unanswered, but once I get an answer, I'd be happy to forward it to you guys. Sure. I guess I'm thinking of my district and there's obviously going to be some some deaf students in hastings and mendon and axtell. Like it's not really logical for them to drive to council bluffs, so they either have to move. So with the transportation, the district is responsive. If they move a kid out of district, the district's responsible for transportation. That has been a whole separate issue that I've had to go through that you guys are aware of and I won't go into. But yeah, when a district removes a student from their home district, the district has to transport them to and from, and it's about an hour drive in the afternoons. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? If not, thank. You, thank you. Other proponents. This is a very low seat. I feel like I'm tall.

With a remote interpreter, a child has to divide their attention between a screen in the classroom. They miss conversations, peer interactions, critical visual information. This isn't equal access to education and what's their only remedy? The legal system? Is this how we should be doing things? I urge the Committee to take these three steps. First, establish a statewide roster to document interpreter availability. Let's find out where our gaps are. Let's find out what we aren't being able to treat students equally. Second, let's recognize educational interpreters as professional technical staff, not parents, and address the compensation and employment conditions that undermine recruitment and retention. I see I have a red light. I have just a little bit more. May I continue? Thank you. Any questions? Continue. Oh, sure. Go ahead. Hit the highlights because we do have your testimony. Okay. The third thing I would ask people to do is require schools to make and document a good faith effort to hire qualified interpreters, give parents some of the authority that they have been begging for through rountree bill Senator rountree bill last year, through the types of bills that megan hunt introduced before turning to less, less, less, for example, very visual, should only be permitted as a temporary fallback. Nebraska can't neglect its workforce. It can't undervalue the professionals. And then, as deaf children to bear these consequences, we have to build a pipeline, support the qualified interpreters, protect children's civil rights. Our students shouldn't lose access to education just because our system is failing them. Thank you, thank you. Any questions, Senator meyer? Thank you, chairman. Speech pathologists are all trained in american sign. Know some. I don't I'm not aware of any speech pathologists unless they happen to be within the deaf community or the hard of hearing community. It's a completely. Speech pathologist. Yeah, but speech pathologists are not teaching in the public schools as deaf and hard of hearing interpreters, nor are they qualified interpreters. Not in the deaf and hard of hearing situation. But I think they probably, with your testimony, they in all probability, they took it upon themselves to learn. Okay. And then with mr. Universe, is there some universal. Sign? Is american sign universal? I, I had noticed one of our previous interpreters had to have a word spelled out specifically with. Didn't understand a sign or something. Is there some uniformity? Is there? You know, and when we get into english, it's not a second language. How do we how do we handle them? How do we work with those that don't understand them that are hard of hearing? So I am not deaf or hard of hearing, but I will give you my understanding as within my work within the deaf community. First of all, asl american sign language is indeed an entire separate language. It says it's like french or russian. It is a complete language.

We're all unique, and so I don't think there's ever one size fits all. Sure. I think yeah, I think the biggest challenge is if you can hear and do lip reading, you can get a bigger sense of what's happening linguistically. But when you really are asl and your language is what you see people speaking here today, you miss out on so much. If you don't have your language. It's like, imagine going to, I don't know what languages you don't speak, but just go to one of those countries and go into a restaurant and try to figure out what's going on. It's like that if you don't have an interpreter. And so when we're working with these children, we need to understand that what makes sense to us is not what they need. This is why the parents are so vocal about listen to me, I, I work with my child 24 over seven. I know what my child gets and what they don't get. And when you, the school district, say, this is the funding we have and this is what we're going to do, we're going to give you an interpreter in a box. Here we go. Interpreter in a box. Right. What is that? Interpreter. I'm using an ipad. That's if this is my interpreter here and I'm looking here. What am I missing everywhere else? What am I not hearing johnny say to the teacher? What am I missing when the teacher is doing a video? We aren't getting a complete a complete access to what's happening in the classroom because it's so much more complex. We don't even realize how much happens around us that we hear. Yeah, sure, elizabeth, I agree with you. I just didn't know what the I know technological, technologically, we're advancing daily. We. I just wondered if there's. But even even ai, ai can't really quite do it right. If I had like my ai agent, my ai agent is missing things around us. I got you. Thank you. Senator conrad. Thank you chair. Thank you. Elizabeth. Thank you for reaffirming the legislation this Committee advanced from Senator hunt in regards to putting some teeth in the enforcement for schools. Responsibility to provide transportation for kids with special learning needs that I know will keep working on even after she leaves this body. Senator rountree's measure to empower parents to actually be in charge, as the law demands, in managing and guiding their students, their child's education, when they're facing significant, significant resources and challenges, trying to get accommodations and services in place against the power of the schools. But another issue that I wanted to lift up, because I know your organization has worked closely with this Committee to try and make policy reforms, is in regards to the option enrollment program. So we know this long standing program in Nebraska works well for most kids and most families. We've heard anecdotally for years.

One of the families that's here that I will remain, I'm not going to identify, has a child who's very, very bright and was asked to go to a separate area where only deaf students were, but they didn't offer any advanced classes. This young lady is in all advanced classes because she insisted on going to a school where that happens. Now, unfortunately, what's happening is they don't want to provide an in-person interpreter. I think we also have some misunderstandings about intellect and hearing. Not all children who have a hearing disability have other disabilities or intellectual challenges. And so meeting the needs, forcing a child who is able to do incredibly talented, advanced work in all of her classes to go to a school where none of that's available. Just because that's where I want to put an interpreter is also discriminatory. Thank you. Any other questions? If not, appreciate your testimony. Thank you so much for your time. Other testifiers. Are there any other testifiers for LR 389? If not, you're welcome to close. Senator conrad waives closing. So we will close the hearing on LR 389 and move on to. To LR 480. We'll open hearing on LR 480. And Senator bostar is. Going to. Stand up and fight herpes. Senator murman okay. Comments. Online comments. Oh other online comments for LR 389. We had two comments submitted and that will close the hearing on LR 389 and we'll open hearing on LR 480. And. We'll listen as long as I can. Still. Good morning. For an hour and five minutes. Over an hour. I think. We have a lunch break. We'll see. But we'll be done with all these by then, if you know what I mean. I heard that Senator prokop was going to waive his hearing. He didn't need to do it. So. So that saved you some time. I guess. You're serious. We're going to find out. Okay. You're welcome to open. Thank you. And good afternoon. Good. Good morning, chairman murman, members of the education Committee. For the record, my name is elliot bostar. That's eliotbostar, representing legislative district 29 here today to introduce LR 480. An interim study examining youth development in Nebraska. High quality, accessible youth development programs strengthen Nebraska's economy after school and summer programs. Mentoring sports and the arts provide safe places for young nebraskans to learn and grow, while also helping parents stay productive at work. These opportunities help young people build relationships, develop leadership and practical skills, and explore careers, preparing them for graduation, further education, and the workforce. These programs also help reduce risky behaviors and long term costs associated with crime. Organizations such as big brothers, big sisters teammates, the ymca, boys and girls clubs, scouting for girls, inc. And hundreds of other afterschool providers and mentoring programs offer these opportunities. They support working families, strengthen Nebraska's talent pipeline, and help prepare the next generation of workers and community leaders.

He needed to get back to work, so I asked where his children stayed while he finished his shift. He explained that they would wait in his break room and play on their tablets. He was doing what he needed to do for his family, but his children had limited opportunities. Today, both children have mentors. They planted trees, built rockets, kayaked, and even got to go roping and riding on a mechanical bull with the college rodeo team. These experiences opened up a young person's world. They discover interests, build confidence, meet people and they learn that they have a place in their community. Recently, the father's ten year old daughter told her mentor that she gets along better with her dad since joining the program. We're not just filling time outside of school. We're helping young people grow in ways that impact the rest of their lives. Second, quality youth development takes intentional investment. Our program follows the elements of effective practice for mentoring, a framework for building safe, effective mentoring relationships. Mentors are carefully screened and trained, including how to support youth mental health and well-being. Our staff provide ongoing guidance. In the past five years, 90 sorry, 84% of our mentoring matches lasted longer than one year and 62% lasted longer than two years. Quality programing takes time, training and consistent support. Third, we need to expand access. We continue to have more young people seeking mentoring than we can currently serve. I received calls asking to provide service to neighboring counties, and families who move away often struggle to find similar programs or face long waits in their new communities. We've even continued mentoring youth by phone or zoom after they moved with our existing staff. We can only support so many matches, and when young people wait too long, they disengage before we can connect them with a mentor. Expanding access requires more than recruiting volunteers. It requires sustained funding for the staff who recruit, train and support mentors and youth. Without that investment, there are young people who could benefit from a mentor whom we cannot reach. Young people need opportunities to discover what they're capable of, where they belong, and who what their future might hold. Thank you for your time. I'm happy to answer any questions, and I'm happy to have you reach out to me in the future if I can provide additional information or any ways that I can support this work. Thank you. I to be honest with you, I've never heard of a mentoring coordinator for a county. How many counties in Nebraska have that position? Do you know? I don't know. There's. Our program is unique in lincoln county. We're based in north platte. But I can match kids within the whole county with the venture. So. Okay. I don't know. There's, you know, most programs like ours are just in omaha and lincoln. I think there's one in kearney.

I know that, you know, there's there's money coming in that's about kids being impacted by social media and that young people like this man whose kids have to spend, spend all their time with their tablet in front of them and being involved in something away from, you know, having to sit there with their tablet to entertain them has really opened up their life. And that's the, you know what I'm here to share for you. I see it happen. I certainly would be totally in favor of getting rid of all social media. Yeah. I know that's not going to happen. Yeah. Thank thank you. Any other questions? If not, thank you for your thank you. Any other questions? If not, thank you for your testimony. Other testifiers. For LR 480. Good morning, Senator and members of the education Committee. My name is avery nance, spelled a verynance. I am happy to be here today to tell you a little about a little bit about me and my story and the difference. Big brothers and big sisters of the midlands has made in my life. My life changed a lot, and the fact that I became more of a social person before me and brandt, my big brother, started meeting. I never really wanted to go out or do anything. I found talking to people outside of my own household a hassle. I really avoided socializing completely, but brant made me realize that being social and trying new things with new people can be fun and not uncomfortable. My life before I got engaged with big brothers big sisters was honestly dull. I was moving through my day just going through the motions. It was no way anyone should live their life. I was simply a follower at that point, doing what other people thought was cool. Brant, my big brother, encouraged me in so many ways from trying new things I didn't even know. I liked things like archery to passions that started off as simple hobbies like biking and artistry. Brant helped me realize that there were resources out there for me that are easily available, and I can use them to explore who I am as a person. Having someone older and wiser that can give you advice, real world advice. It changed a lot for me. I saw things differently and I approached challenging situations completely different. It was a night and day difference. And for my peers in school and out of school, I see it every day. People just coming to school because they have to and strang away from healthy social situations. Along with people just becoming more just followers. No one is their own person anymore. I believe that if every single one of them, or even just a few had a mentor, it would make a world of difference in their lives. Thank you for your time. I would be happy to answer any questions you have.

My name is lulu rangel, spelled lulurangel, and I'm the clinical director at completely kids at omaha. Thank you for the opportunity to share our perspective on the importance of youth development. Complete kit supports kids, teens, families through after school programing, teen programs, family education, mental health services, and weekend food assistance. My perspective on youth development is both professional and personal. I first experienced completely kids as a teenager. I participated my sophomore through senior year of high school, and it became a safe place for me and my friends to spend time after school. We had the opportunity to try new things, but most importantly, we had meaningful conversations with peers and staff. I learned how to communicate, build healthy relationships, and connect with others. These experiences stayed with me. After high school, I studied social work and returned to complete kids as a volunteer with the teen program. I later completed my practicum here and eventually joined the organization full time, working with our kids in our after school program in the shelters. After earning my master's degree in social work, I transitioned into mental health services and eventually became the clinical director. Each role has given me a different perspective on youth development. As a participant, I experienced the value of having a safe place and trusted adults. As a program staff member, I saw how important consistency could be for children, and in my current role, I see how youth programing can also connect children and families with additional support. I remember some siblings who experienced repeated periods of homelessness and moved in and out of shelters where we provided programing. Their lives were marked by uncertainty and instability. When they returned after a year and a half of being gone, the boy turned to his sibling and said, I knew completely kids was going to be here for these kids completely. Kids was a familiar, dependable place where they could count on much, where they could count on when much of their lives lacked consistency, they could reconnect with people they knew and return to a routine that felt safe. That moment has stayed with me because it showed how much consistent, supportive environments can mean to children. Young people need stability, dependable relationships, and a sense of belonging to grow and thrive. Youth development programs can help that foundation when children need it the most. We see these connections last well beyond the child's time in our programs. Many kids return year after year, and some grow from participants into junior support staff, then program support staff, eventually building careers serving the community that supported them. My own journey reflects that same path. The relationships and experiences I gained as a participant brought me back to complete kids, where I have built a career helping other children experience the same sense of connection and belonging. Unfortunately, not every child has the same access to youth opportunities.

My daughter josie was part of norfolk's aftershock program from the summer after fourth grade through eighth grade. It was both after school and then during the summer months. She joined the robotics team, participated in the entrepreneurship club, experimented with 3d printers. She tried science and cooking and sewing, and was involved in lots of clubs. Aftershock continued the school day through clubs that let students explore interests beyond their regular classwork. Those hands on experiences gave josie room to be creative, try new things and discover what she enjoyed. As a mom I love. She didn't have to go into it knowing what she wanted to be when she grew up. She could just try things. Including things she may never try again. There's real value in in that kind of opportunity and exploration. And as a workforce developer, I see the value in a different way. We talk a lot about career pathways and high schools and bn can start earlier. And 3d printing introduced technology design, manufacturing. The entrepreneur club shows these kids how a business can work. Science, cooking, sewing clubs, help with creativity, problem solving, and persistence. Those are skills employers need those opportunities to engage local businesses, bring their expertise into clubs, and helping students see the careers available right here in Nebraska, in northeast Nebraska. Growing together brings community partners together around a shared goal, strengthening our regional economy and helping young people see a future here in northeast Nebraska. Building that workforce pipeline does not begin with a job application. It begins when a child discovers an interest and has someone help them explore it. Access to these experience matters because not every student has a robotics kit or a 3d printer at home, or opportunities to learn outside of school. I hope we think of after school and summer clubs as part of Nebraska's youth development and workforce strategy, because these programs do help students discover interests, build skills, and imagine the possibilities of being here in Nebraska that they may not considered. Aftershock didn't need to determine josie's career path to make a difference. It opened the doors that she might not have known existed. So I'd love to see more Nebraska students have that same opportunity. Thank you for the opportunity to share our experience from our family. I'm happy to answer any questions. Yes, Senator hughes. Thank you. Chairman. Thanks for coming in from norfolk. Can you tell me the norfolk's aftershock program? Who funds it? Who's behind it? It sounds like four h to me because that's what my kids did a lot of that thing. But that was through our involvement with our program. And I know for h after school does a bit in seward area, but I'm curious. Norfolk does not have a four h after school. We also are in a four-h club and so jesse has done some things.

Understand what young people and communities needs, and should have a meaningful voice in how resources are invested. Fourth, allow philanthropic and private contributions to plan or supplement public investment. A stable public foundation can encourage additional investment and help resource resources go further. And finally, ensure funding reflects the needs of communities across Nebraska. Nebraska transportation program costs, language accessibility limited local resources can all create barriers. Our funding approach must be flexible enough to address those realities, particularly in rural communities. Nebraska's young people deserve more than temporary opportunity, supported by unpredictable funding, a sustainable youth development system gives providers the stability to do what they do best. Gives more young nebraskans a safe place to go, to grow and belong and thrive. When we invest in youth development, we invest not only in programs but in Nebraska's young people, working families and communities and the future. And with that, I would be more than happy to answer some questions that were deferred. Thank you to. Any questions, Senator sanders? Thank you, chairman. Question for you. On the first point, to establish a dedicated youth development fund. What is that dollar amount look like? So that's a really good question. So, you know, we know that there is currently for after school activities, the only the the largest fund is Nebraska for Nebraska's the 21st century community learning center grant dollars that are funded through federal grants. And that's about 6 million a year that funds, I believe it's 122 sites across Nebraska. We also know there's the e lowe grant fund, which is, I think, around $350,000 a year, which also supports those 122 sites. So that's just after school alone. And then we have mentoring as well. I mean, if we wanted to really grow based on the needs that are out there, I can speak from omaha collective for youth. We we coordinate about 10 million just for the omaha area. So statewide, I mean, it really could be a huge investment of 20 million or more. And when you think about these programs after school does support the workforce. In the case of a child care for elementary, but then expands on that as they grow throughout school. Thank you. Thank you. Chair. Any other questions? Senator conrad. Thank you. I don't know if this touches upon your work directly, but the state, under governor pillen initiative, has made significant increases in mentoring programs. And I think there's a lot of common ground across the state and political spectrum for helping to support more kids, get the resources that they need to be successful. So I think the overall policy goal there is good and one that I share and applaud the governor for championing. But what reporting has demonstrated is that those investments like ten, 11, $12 million of new funding is going out primarily to one nonprofit, the team mates mentoring program.

Perhaps this is a question more suited for Senator bostar, but what's your expectation for the education Committee and the state of Nebraska to provide you? Is it a dollar amount? Is it is it a commitment for continuing financial support? You know, I have a great appreciation for for these programs and the work you do. Please don't misunderstand. But what what's the end game here? What what's what's your aspirations? I mean, as. The Nebraska youth development coalition, our end game is to eventually to have state funding that supports these programs across the state. When we started this work two years ago, it was there was a fear that as our budget continues to shrink and as it's harder to make ends meet, that these safety net safety net programs first, right. Safe places for kids. And then on top of that, it's basic needs. And then it's the enrichment activities that they participate in. So they they stay committed to their communities. Who's going to continue to shrink and go away. So we know that other states have made larger investments from a state funding perspective versus just federal funding perspective. And unfortunately, Nebraska's is very small in that l o grant and is not accessible to a lot. And as we just heard about, even the read mentoring not accessible to a lot, just to a few. And so that is our that is one of our goals. Our other goals is just for that. The Committee understands the importance of these programs and that they are out there and they are I for some, fighting for their lives to stay open so they can provide those services for kids and families in their communities where they want to be, and then accidentally, there's been this social media settlement funding, which leads to a new opportunity, if invested in these types of programs, can lead kids to activities in real life where they are out in their community, experiencing things versus on their devices. So the timing couldn't be more perfect, but was not a planned. Okay. Sen meyer another question, if I may, chairman, as I look at the youth youth development coalition, there's roughly 35 to 45 individuals, hundreds of groups in the state. Do you want all our financial support? No, I don't think that's a realistic guess. I mean, the schools, you know, like there's lots of things that don't. With that many individuals, that many groups that are looking for resources, how are resources parsed out? Do you have a, you have a group here and there's probably another coordinated group of 2025, maybe 50 individuals and perhaps coordinate together. How are we supposed to, if we provide resources, how are we supposed to determine how those resources are set up? Well, I think there's good models in place already in Nebraska.

When we talk about youth sports, I think it's easy to focus on the games themselves. However, you know, we think about the friday night football game, a saturday morning soccer game, a basketball tournament, or a kid putting on their first pair of volleyball shoes. But the thing I wanted to focus on with this study is what happens before a kid even gets to that game. Can they afford to participate? Is there a program close enough to where they live? Is there a facility available? Our program is structured in a way that gives them a fair opportunity to participate. And maybe most importantly, do they have the opportunity to find a sport or activity that they enjoy and want to stick with? Because being a part of a team is about a lot more than winning games. For a lot of kids, youth sports are one of the places where they make some of their closest friends. They learn how to deal with failure, how to be accountable to a team, and how to work towards something that takes time. There are also significant health benefits to having kids physically active. These experiences can help shape kids and the adults and leaders they become. They learn responsibility, discipline, teamwork, and how to contribute to something bigger than themselves. Those are lessons that extend well beyond the playing field. Nebraska has a very strong tradition of youth and high school athletics. We have great schools, community organizations, coaches, volunteers, and families who invest in incredible amount of time into making these programs work. We're seeing questions about participation across different sports, and we're also seeing changes in how kids participate. Club and travel leagues have created additional opportunities for young athletes to compete and receive specialized coaching. But year round competition and specialization can also mean kids are playing one sport earlier and more intensively, while participating in few other activities. In some ways, youth sports have never been more sophisticated, but at the same time, we have to ask whether those opportunities are becoming available to fewer kids. That question becomes especially important when we look at the cost participation. Nationally, the aspen institute estimates that families spend more than $1,000 a year on their child's primary sport. When you account for things like equipment, uniform travel and tournament fees and participation rates show a significant income gap. In 2024, about 45% of kids from higher income households participate in youth sports, compared with about 25% of kids from lower income households. If a community doesn't have an adequate facility, if a family can't afford registration or travel costs, if transportation is a barrier, there simply isn't an organization serving a particular part of the state. Those are problems worth understanding before we decide whether there are policy solutions that make sense. We're also seeing changes in the organization of youth sports more broadly.

Again, this morning, you're going to hear from a variety of perspectives on that question. Across the lifespan of Nebraska, kids, from their first engagement to varsity athletics. I think hearing all of those perspectives together will help us understand not just how many kids are playing sports, but why they are participating, why some aren't, and what we can do to make those opportunities more accessible. I've given a few handouts on the topics that hopefully are instructive and informative for you, but with that, I'm happy to answer any questions the Committee might have. Thank you. Any questions for Senator prokop this time? If not, I appreciate your open. Thank you. And we'll invite the first testifier on LR 442. Good morning, chairman and members of the education Committee. My name is jennifer schwartz. Jenniferschwartz, and I'm the executive director of the Nebraska school activities association. Thank you to Senator prokop for bringing LR 442 forward and for shining a light on accessible participation for Nebraska kids. After more than two decades with the association, I've seen firsthand the impact extracurricular activities have on high school students. For many high school students, extracurricular activities provide purpose, connection, and are often the only reason they walk through the school doors each day. LR 442 asks how Nebraska supports structured opportunities for youth engagement. The nsaa is a prime example of providing those structured opportunities. For over a century, the nsaa has provided opportunities for high school students, with the goal of creating moments and memories that last a lifetime for kids, coaches, and communities. So who is the nsaa? The nsaa is a voluntary nonprofit association of 307 public and nonpublic schools. Schools form the association in 1916 to connect activities to the classroom, to apply the same competition rules and to put high school students first. Any Nebraska department of education approved or accredited high school can join the nsaa. They apply. They pay an annual dues of $40 and agree to follow the rules that they write together. Today, that adds up to 25 sports, five performing arts activities, six unified activities, 30 state championships, and nearly 100,000 kids every year. Nsa rules are written by member high schools for member high schools. Proposals for change start with a member school and are submitted for consideration in one of the six nsaa geographic districts, elected delegates must pass them by 3/5 vote, and changes to eligibility rules are required to go back to the member schools for a final vote. The nsa has an eight member board of directors. Each of them are elected by the member schools in their respective districts, therefore ensuring statewide representation. Board members must be a member, school superintendent, principal or administrator. Playing time, coaching decisions and team rules. Stay local, which is where the member schools believe they belong.

I know that that doesn't happen only in Nebraska. It happens in other states, too. Could we be, you know, if if the rules get too restrictive, could we be limiting our. Ability for individual students mostly to excel in a certain sport or be with a certain team that maybe fits their abilities better? Sure. Yeah. Again, it's, it's a, it's a balancing act, right? Because again, as I said, with option enrollment, you know, in the state of Nebraska, some states don't permit option enrollment, but we do here in Nebraska. And so that allows parents the choice of where they want to send their kids to go to school. And so with that, then we have to navigate what does that look like for varsity athletics and activities? And along those same lines, is there an issue of going across state lines? I guess for other states, students from other states to come into Nebraska? And I'm not saying that's good or bad either, but, you know. Sure. Is that an issue that you think needs to be addressed? I don't know that it's an issue. It probably depends on your location. In our state, if you live, you know, in western Nebraska, you know, a resident that lives in colorado might actually live closer to a school in western Nebraska. And so I don't know that our member schools are interested in limiting those opportunities, but I think it just kind of depends on what area of the state you're in. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions, Senator meyer? Thank you. Chairman murman. I got it right that time. I come from a time grade school, high school. When wednesday night was church night. Basketball. Maybe on tuesday night, otherwise friday, saturday. Now I go to volleyball games at 8:00 on sunday morning. There's an activity every night and every day. I can anticipate your response to this. But our activities being promoted at the expense of education because we're an education Committee and we're seeing diminishing outcomes, should. If if activities, regardless whether it's band or football or baseball or whatever, should. Should a student be required to be an activity if that will improve their outcome educationally? Well, our association was founded on that premise that we're we are an extracurricular. The other half of education. We believe in guidelines and regulations that academics, attendance at school, those types of things are, are important to to being able to participate to your comment about activities on sunday, I will tell you, our organization has a bylaw that doesn't allow high school participation on sunday. We do not have contests scheduled. That is. That is one of the days that we hold in. But as far as what they do during the week, those are local school controls. So that board of education can make those policies that they feel are important to their school and their community.

But that's not something this organization. Well, which means probably schools can't either, right? It's in their community. Correct. Live with it. Work with it. Correct. And my other question is what you you stated that you designated a Committee to study option enrollment or going where kids are leaving one school to go to another strictly for sport. Are the private schools included in that study? Yes, because that yes can be a problem also. Yes. Our membership, like I said, is 307 schools. 41 of them are private schools. So we have both private and public. I think specifically of wrestlers driving from wilber, Nebraska to omaha because it's a better opportunity. Yeah, yeah. Or or other places. Okay. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Any other questions? If not, appreciate your testimony. Other testifiers on our 442. Good morning, Senator murman and Committee members. My name is riley. Rileygrountorad. I'm currently the ceo of ymca of the prairie and hildreth lexington in gothenburg, Nebraska. I also am here representing all of the Nebraska ymcas. Something fun that's coming up too is I will pretty soon be the director of alliance services for Nebraska and south dakota and be able to continue with advocacy, and things like that for our entire state with all the ymcas and south dakota. So I look forward to that today. Obviously, talking a little bit more about the perspective with participation in the ymca and with youth, you know, with youth sports. Obviously, we offer a little bit of everything, but looking at youth sports and participation, you know, things we see, obviously we see the kids as young as three years old. You know, our lane is kind of 3 to 9 years old. I will tell you that something we've seen over the past few years is a is a decline in that participation right away is really young kids. We see kids or parents then decide, oh, I want to get my kids involved now, maybe at 5 or 6. And so not that they're behind, but but but our lane at 3 to 9 is fun and fundamentals and getting them involved. And how do I be a good kid? How do I be? How do I listen and you know, do those basic things. And so when we get to 5 or 6 and those kids have already started preschool and we see that a little bit less, you know, that that becomes obviously a little more of a challenge. But we continue to work with those kids on that and, and our volunteer coaches and things as we, as they get a little older, you know, we do see kids drop off as they participate more in travel sports and things like that. That is kind of a barrier that ymca do face with those club sports. You know, kids are are specializing. They're starting at a younger age with those things.

So most ymcas have a policy around that where it's never free, but we can give up to half off, whether that's membership through programing. So we want to make sure it's provided, if at all possible. Usually, to be honest, if I if we're really struggling, I go talk to a board member or someone and we just pay for it too. So usually in our communities, we make it happen. Good. Appreciate that. Any other questions, Senator lonowski? Thank you, chair. Murman thanks for being here, and thanks for traveling. With respect to Senator prokop concerns, do you have any suggestions or recommendations on maybe how we can get kids back into program, not just the y, but. Yeah, you know, we've really focused on kind of trying to bridge that gap with the club sports too. So, you know, again, we struggle with gym space and even in lexington where we actually have multiple gyms. And so we've been trying to, we partner with them. And whether it's that space, whether it's kind of working with the high school, a little bit of everything, we're, we're kind of open to whatever to help. Like that's our role at the y. So we've just been really creative on how do we, you know, we went from a y that was strictly focused on, you know, again, those fundamentals to now hosting a 50 team basketball tournament within the ymca. So how do we bridge that gap, bring people to our community, help those club sports, but still guide those kids from 3 to 9 that need that those basic, you know, how do we get them really from there to, okay, you're ready for club sports and okay, how do we do that? So those are a couple examples that we're kind of trying to do. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. I think I know the answer to this one, but are there some ymcas that. Coordinate with the public school to use the gym? Yeah. Or the public school. That's very common. Yeah. And I think it's again, it just goes back in some of those towns are just it's limited, whether it's field space, gym space, and just there, there could, we could definitely use more. For actual games or just practice both. Okay. Both. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? If not, appreciate your testimony. Appreciate you coming over. Thank you. Other testifiers. Good morning, chairman and members of the education Committee. My name is alvaro flores. A lvaro. Last name flores. I serve as the medical director of the pediatric weight and wellness and bariatric surgery programs at children's Nebraska. Thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of LR 02 and to provide a health care perspective on the importance of physical activity in youth access to healthy lifestyles. Children's Nebraska is the state's only full service pediatric specialty health system, serving children from nearly every county and neighboring states.

And what does that mean for not only healthy students, but, you know, getting that energy out and then being able to focus better when you're in the classroom. How that helps with behavior help that, how that helps with classroom management, how that helps with individual health, public health. So those are things that I'm kind of thinking about as well. The, the extracurricular club opportunities or nonprofit opportunities that might be a part of the ecosystem out beyond the school. That's really important. But then also figuring out how we can really maximize school time to achieve, to achieve good outcomes too, and maybe help work as an equalizer to some of the disparities and opportunity. I know my kids have participated in school sports, wii sports, club sports, so we've kind of kind of seen it from from all angles there. I also, you know, have just really seen the disparities on play display right here in my home community in lincoln, where, you know, some schools have a whole team of kids with a ton of club experience and some schools, they're a team. Players have never picked up the ball before, you know, and it's a really, really different experience. So I appreciate you being here. I appreciate Senator prokop being here, bringing this to our attention. But if you if you want to just talk about the tie in maybe to recess or movement or physical education and how that that might be a part of what the Committee needs to be thinking about in this regard, too. I'd appreciate it. Yeah. No, I. That's a lot. Sorry. No. No, no. I appreciate all your insight. I think definitely it's a balance that I know all you need to kind of get to where you need to have the kids well educated, but also participate in these activities. I think activities can be different in terms of when we talk about particular physical activity, what we're seeing is that about 60 minutes a day tends to have long term outcomes. On prevention of the disease. Typically, schools seem to provide at least 30 minutes or that would be the goal overall 30 minutes in school to be able to achieve those 30 minutes outside of school. Well, we have kids in sports activities, recreational activities. We have less kids in screens, less kids kind of wandering around having opportunities to get into drugs, mental health issues. So it's a broader issue. So I think I don't know what kind of scheduling would work, but I think if you're able to fit some form of physical activity about at least 30 minutes on all the day for achieving those purposes, it will be easier for families to get that gap and that those other 30 minutes or more at home, rather, some kids might not have any other form of physical activity besides the school one.

My name is jeff mul jeffmaul. I'm the executive director of visit lincoln and vice president of the lincoln chamber of commerce. I'm appearing today in support of. The resolution highlights an interim study mentioned in LR 4442. Excuse me, as a lifelong lincoln resident and in my 24 years of visit lincoln, I have spent time seeing all sides of youth sports, not only as a parent, but as a coach. And now in my role as an advocate for new facility development and recruitment of new events and programs to our community and state. The one thing that has held true, excuse me, is that new facilities create opportunities for the economy by hosting events. But most importantly, it's the interactions and opportunities for our youth, regardless of their background and ability, building relationships and confidence through team sports is important, but so is the wellness and activity aspect, which you just heard lessons that will carry through their entire adult life. I mean, right now I'm thinking I can't wait to get outside and take a walk. It's so important to our mental health. It's important to who we are. In addition to my role with visit lincoln, I'm also a board member of the brand new sandhills global youth complex, an eight field complex for baseball, softball, soccer and other sports. Due to the 100% turf nature of the playing surface, this has been a vision of our community for over 15 years, and business leaders, as well as a feasibility study, created this pathway to better understand the market for tournaments, league play clinics and opportunities for all. While year one numbers exceeded the study expectations, it's the combined numbers from 2025 and 2026 that continue to show not only the interest across the midwest for the caliber of facility and our amenities, but the type of programing that can happen during the day and into our weekends. February through october. The two year statistics are truly, truly impressive. We hosted 75 tournaments. We hosted over 500,000 visitors through the gates in two years, 7600 total games and practices, 28 states represented and 60% of our tournament visitors were from 60 or more miles away. In addition to the tournament practices, special olympics hosted their state softball tournament. Boys and girls club events were taking place throughout the calendar. Nebraska wesleyan university hosted camps for the underserved and the weekly special needs programing. Spring through fall featured the globe life field days, an autism family network of Nebraska hosted event including weekly recreation programs designed to get participants outdoors active and having fun in a welcoming environment. In closing, I would be remiss if I didn't recognize that our entire state continues to develop and discuss similar facilities. As is the case with the proposed n-4 v volleyball facility on north 27th.

And they define they need that defined programing model. So we know where they're at and what they're doing. It's a difficult question to answer, but I think it all comes down to the programing model and trying to balance what that public private partnership is. It's always going to be a difficult question to ask, but I think we're getting close. I think what we've done at first in cornhusker, to be super honest with you, went so far beyond our expectations of doing what's right for kids. And it's more than just throwing a couple balls out on the turf and just saying, hey, go play. We're providing guidance. We're providing, you know, leadership and helping develop tomorrow's leaders. Right. And I know you work primarily on the tourism side of things, but you do work with the lincoln chamber as well. Is that right? Yes. Yeah. So how does it make it easier or harder for families to afford access to participation in things like sports if they have less money in their pocket? The chamber actively pushed this Legislature successfully to cap minimum voter approved minimum wage increases that, it was recently reported, took about $600 a year out of working families pockets for the same amount of work, and kids themselves made even less. And maybe athletes, if they have the time to do that. So how do you square that up? I wish I had an answer for that, and I would probably lean on both jason ball and bruce boyer and our policy side and katie beau meyer for an answer to that. But that's a that's a great question that I don't have an answer for. Thanks. You bet. Any other questions? If not, appreciate your testimony. Thank you. Other testifiers for lr for 42. If not sen bostar, you're welcome to close. Oh, prokop. Sorry, claire. Yeah. It's not just me. Yeah. While you're coming up here, we did have one comment online. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And I thank for all the the parents and grandparents on, on this Committee, and especially former former coaches. When I talked to my wife, I was like, yeah, I think I want to do an interim study about youth sports. And she's like, are you crazy? I was like, it's great proving ground for for being an elected office. So because all the politics, you know, that goes into that sort of stuff. Well, thank you all for your time today. Just a couple of notes I wanted to close with based on some of the conversations that that we had this morning and now this afternoon. So, Senator meyer, to your to your point, you made about activities versus academics. So I have to respectfully disagree with you. I have a a statistic on that because I actually had the same I had the same question. And so I, I can only speak to lincoln public schools specifically.

Moore's point, just it's an economic development strategy. I know my son plays youth hockey. 12 you for for lincoln junior stars. And we do not have enough ice in in the city of lincoln, we have two sheets of ice. So on sundays you'll find me driving to to fremont or omaha. So I'm spending. So having to spend my money money there. And so if, if we invest in facilities, whether it be lincoln or other places, it certainly, I think shows a great return on on investment there. So with that, I will I will pause for questions. Well, I have one question I should have brought up, probably for the nsaa person or someone else, but and I just thought of it now, but when my son was younger and actually when I was younger two, we used to really get into schools pretty easily for mostly for practice. I mean, we could always usually get in for like a tournament or something, but for practices and so forth. We had a really tough time getting into any school. I don't think it was just any particular one, but and I think it was mostly for liability reasons or also, you know, is there who's going to supervise. Yeah. And you know, we usually had somebody that we thought was responsible. Yeah. Usually is myself to supervise. But is that getting to be more of an issue now or could how could maybe that be addressed? That is a really good question. I don't I don't have an answer for you on that. I don't know what I don't have an answer for you on that. I don't know what particular district's rules are around that. Maybe a good question for for nsa on that. If there are anything or, or individual school districts on that, because I, I know same thing where I grew up in crete and had pretty good access to, to the high school or other schools to be able to use courts and other things. It seemed like years ago, it was easier to get access. And now, and maybe it's just because I'm not so involved now, but it seems like now it's harder to get access. I think that's a really good question. It gets to the facilities conversation of do we have enough and are they accessible? So okay. Thank you, Senator meyer. Okay. Thank you, chairman murman, since you have totally shot down. My assumption that. Bragging on lincoln, I'm. Sorry, I appreciate that. Yeah. My nose in it and and so enjoy. So I just have just a yes or no. Sure. Adequate. So if we have such great graduation rates of students that participate in activities and that's not across the board with all of our graduates or with all of our students in schools and our outcomes, should we require all students to be involved in an activity? That's a great question.

The residential programs that we're all familiar with, or even a lot of the well known local child cares that many families rely upon that we see vanishing, but are really subsidizing private equity investments in large child care networks. And I'm learning a lot about that this summer, this interim. And I, I think there's some parallels here as well. You see it in the health care space too. But with the budget being what it is and the challenges being what they are, you know, I think nebraskans are really tired of this government using all of its power to prop up the wealthy and the well connected. And if they want to do their own thing with their private dollars, cool that free enterprise do it. Yeah. But when it's public dollars involved. Yeah. That's where I'm getting really uncomfortable. Yeah. And I think it goes, it gets back to organizational structure, right? Are you using it? Are you are you partnering with a nonprofit or something that has a specific mission as to who is using that facility or something like that? You know, so I yeah, your point is well made though. I appreciate thank thank you, thank you. Any other questions? If not, I appreciate. Thank you. The hearing. And that will close the hearing on. LR 442. And we'll move on to LR 472. Senator clausen. Good afternoon, education Committee. My name is stan clouse, stanclouse. Chairman murman appreciate the opportunity to come here and speak on this particular issue. LR 472 provides a comprehensive landscape overview of head start in Nebraska. It's a federally funded, locally tailored program unique to most other early childhood programs. Since its inception in the summer of 1965, head start has served as an integral community partner in breaking generational poverty and serving populations with limited options for early care and education or other support services, notably, the community action partnerships have been Nebraska and kearney, which is in my district, established one of the first programs in the state. Over the decades, head start has evolved significantly through structural updates and modernizations to expand its service delivery and reach more children and families. Despite these evolutions and its deep community roots, head start has largely existed outside of Nebraska state statute. So because of this, it's a federal to local program, and it must adhere to stringent federal program performance standards rather than mandatory state regulations that apply to other types of early childhood programs. However, recent federal developments proposing to redefine head start make it imperative for the state to reexamine its historical lack of policy for the program. In august of this year, the most significant federal rulemaking proposal in its history was introduced to overhaul the head start program performance standards. It's the last year a budget proposal federal budget proposal, would have eliminated its funding. But it was caught and it was scaled back and retained.

And I think that will eventually lead to possible legislation, at least dealing with the fingerprinting and then maybe some recognition of his start and state statute. So this is just kind of laying the groundwork for what may come from this interim study. So I do have a handout from first five and that out. And then I have. A testimony who she can't be here, but I'd like to read her testimony and then we can get her hand out. Is that no ask questions first. You can hand. It out. I'll hand it out. That's fine. And I've asked him to hand these things out. So you will have documents that you can refer to. So with that do you have any any questions. Any questions for Senator clouse at this time. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Testifiers on LR 472. Good afternoon, chairman murman members of the Committee, thank you for allowing me to testify on rl472. My name is mark haba mark last name haba haba. I am a past policy council member, a current board member at the hastings family head start children family development program, hastings, Nebraska. I'm also a parent, a board member on the Nebraska association region seven, the national head start association. And I'm on the community for parents tonight. Head start and a father of four. Thank you for this opportunity to talk about head start and some of his struggles. The end. Why does this proposal rule matter to parents? Head start is much more than a preschool. It helps children arrive at school healthy, ready to learn, and helps us access health care, nutrition, disabilities, mental health, and family support. We need and can easily access otherwise. As a parent, I know the importance of this service is because we experienced this impact in our own family. Like harper, age 11, qualified for head start through speech, which was caught early because of his start. And she's actually with me today sitting back here, and I have oakland. She's age ten, she has a slp and qualified for pt, ot and speech, and she'll be dealing with them for quite a while. But it was caught through head start to archer. He's enrolled through head start through the program department program at lawrence nelson high school. He's fine. He's just real ornery. One of the main things we had this last year after hastings location was our insurance increased $40,000. That was just in building and workman's comp. That was a big hit for the program, and it continues to put the whole program and financial struggles. Filling slots in rural Nebraska. As population is decreasing. We have a hard time filling spots because of the minimum wage increase results in over qualification because income is too much. So they just can't qualify because of the standards. And a lot of these communities lack child care already in them.

And then that will continue on all the way up until they're old enough to physically go to their, which if they qualify for disabilities and stuff early, they will get seen even at daycares at home, you know, the visitors will see them at some location. Thank you. Any other questions for mister hoffman? If not, thank you, thank you. That was easy group. I figured I would get hammered with more questions. Thank you. Other testifiers. Good afternoon, chairman murman and members of the education Committee. I'm jill bomberger, that's jillbomderger. I'm chief operating officer at community action partnership of lancaster and saunders counties, and we are a head start grant recipient. I've been the head start director for the past ten years, so I'm going to emphasize just some key information from my written submission that adds some context to some of what we're discussing today. So first, I want to highlight that local design is really a key element of the head start model. So every head start program works with their local community and parent leaders like mark to really plan the way that they offer services based on the unique needs and the resources of every community. Service can be offered via home visitation or in centers that might be located in public schools, standalone centers, or in child care partnerships. Enrollment can be offered to infants, toddlers, preschoolers, or expected parents. And really that local design is a really important key flexibility in meeting the needs of our communities. As really part of the early childhood mix delivery system, and as community needs change over time, head start preschool specifically serves those children ages 3 to 5, focusing on school readiness. Our teachers use high quality teaching practices, including research based curriculum and use of child assessment data to support all areas of development in order to achieve outcomes. My written information has some statistics on the over 2000 staff members in Nebraska, and over 5700 volunteers annually as well. We know, as is the case within the sector as a whole, head start teachers need and deserve compensation that reflects the value and complexity of their work. I wanted to highlight one specific workforce challenge, and that is that certificated teachers who work in Nebraska, head start programs that are not located in school systems face barriers to maintaining those teaching certificates, so teaching in head start alone does not enable them to renew their teaching certificates. Ultimately, teachers have to choose between taking graduate classes, leaving their job to work in a school system, or giving up that teaching certificate that they worked so hard to attain. So allowing that teaching practice within head start to fulfill those requirements would help keep those key professionals in our programs. We all know, and you all know, that early childhood is a critical period for children and families.

But would something like that be helpful to a stabilizing the workforce challenges that you may be seeing? I mean, I think we look at what are all of the levers that we can pull to improve things. And so, you know, we look at things like just what help people be stable and thrive. That's absolutely one of them. When we look at our turnover data, we see that a lot of those who are leaving are leaving due to personal issues, family issues, financial issues. They have to move, they have to relocate. So anything that helps stabilize, just the financial well-being of our teachers would help retain them. And also just help that that experience in the classroom for children and families. Right? And then maybe if you want to respond, or if there's some other testifiers coming after you. I'm trying to understand what's the impetus or the changes from cuts and changes on the federal level. Is that directly related to the big beautiful bill, or is this a separate. I know the trump administration has, I believe, proposed in years past eliminating head start, and Congress has not followed down that path. Has there been in the news this past year more than typically? And I think the first thing you are referring to was when there was sort of a leaked, proposed federal budget that would eliminate head start. When the actual budget came out, head start was maintained. But that, of course, is, you know, still something that folks are aware of. So we have been able to maintain level funding. The item that mr. Was referring to is a notice of proposed the item that mr. Was referring to is a notice of proposed rulemaking from the office of head start. And I've been in head start a long time, and we've seen changes to the rules and head start many times. That particular comment period recently closed. And so a final rule will be will be coming out sometime. But it was a sweeping change. It really proposed many things that were in alignment with the stated goal of making things more flexible for programs. So taking away some unnecessary requirements. But more than that, some of those things that are key to just we what we know is the effective model of head start, right? We have a 13% return on investment. It would no longer require those things. So we have a lot of concerns as a field into what that would mean for the investment of dollars. In terms of yielding results. I can talk about that for an hour. No, no no. Yes, I know it's very. And mitch will also speak to it. Great. Yeah. No, that's that's really helpful. Thank you.

I'm a and I'm the chief program officer at the Nebraska early childhood collaborative. Since 2015, we have served as an early head start child care partnership grantee, supporting 280 infants and toddlers and their families in five community child care centers in douglas county. As you've heard, early head start provides comprehensive services to pregnant women, children under age three and their families in home visiting programs and in child care centers in Nebraska. In fiscal year 25, 2249 infants and toddlers were enrolled in early head start in Nebraska, representing just 23% of the children statewide who were eligible for early head start services in early head start. High quality early learning is paired with coordinated wraparound services that help families overcome barriers, build on their strengths, and achieve their goals. Wraparound services and early head start look like health, dental and mental health services. Connecting pregnant women with needed prenatal care and making sure children are receiving needed health and oral health services. They also provide developmental screenings and early intervention support, often serving as the first people to notice when a child isn't meeting their developmental milestones. They provide family support services like connections to community resources, and they provide parenting, education and opportunities for family engagement and leadership. Consider a family whose infant needs a developmental evaluation, while the parent is also facing housing instability and transportation barriers. Without coordinated support, the parent may have to navigate disconnected systems, manage multiple appointments, and determine which resources are available and how to access them. And if you've never had to do this, this is incredibly challenging and time consuming. Through early head start, staff can contribute conn connaught sorry can coordinate the developmental referral, connect the parent with housing and transportation resources, and follow up on progress. The goal is not simply to make referrals, but to help families access and use needed services, understand all of their options, and remain engaged in decisions affecting their children. As you might imagine, safety, trust and compliance are fundamental to this work. Like you've heard, every head start program must complete required criminal background checks, including things like fingerprints. But as you've heard, some Nebraska programs, including our head start home visiting programs, have no way to obtain these finger based, fingerprint based checks that head start requires. This leaves these programs out of compliance with their federal requirements, which is not a position head start programs want to find themselves in. But by coordinating all of these developmental and educational, social and economic supports and maintaining strong health, safety and personnel screening practices, our early head start programs promote healthy development, strengthen our families, protect our children, and help our parents build greater stability. Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I would be happy to answer any questions you have. Thank you. Any questions for jennifer sen hunt? Sorry to ask something so simple, but.

Their families are needing some, some support in the head start is able to provide that for them. One of the things that I wanted to point out first was the regulations. The there are federal regulations, as I'll speak to here in a moment, but there are state regulations that if the head starts are operated by an esu or a school district, they also must adhere to rule 11, which is the Nebraska's early childhood and preschool standards. So those are real, specific and provide a nice set of guidelines. Esu support those. There's a nice process they go through. They were just revised this summer, but not all head starts have to do that. So as we are considering the revisions for the federal programs, the the intent is we're going to relax. Some of these regulations provide some flexibility, maybe a relax some of the administrative responsibilities so that there can be fewer dollars that need to go toward the administration of head starts. And while rule 11 continues to require the high level of standards they do, those administrative responsibilities don't go away. And to be clear, we don't want the things in rule 11 to go away. They provide really good guidelines for safety and quality assurance. One of the things that was mentioned earlier is that 80% of the funding in these programs goes toward the programing, and 20% of it is in-kind match. Of that, 80%, up to 15% can be used for administrative costs. Esu 13 acts accesses 8% of that, and esu three accesses 11. Not because they don't need the full 15%, but because they opt to give some extra money in to compensate teachers that are in the programs. Because there are situations in one building, there are head start programs funded through head start and other preschool programs funded through the school, and those teachers may not be paid the same amount because the grant for the head start may not be enough to pay for, to get them to the same wage that the teachers have from the from the public school. You can continue. Thank you. So the problem therein is if an. The esu continue to supplement to to pay the difference because they believe the programs are important and the esu are in a unique position. They also facilitate a number of other federal programs. So naturally, there might be some personnel that are doing some financial stuff for the other programs. This just slips right in there. So I just think it's important to understand that although and so the federal government is suggesting to cut that administrative cap from 15 to 5%, that would be really problematic for some of these who are already supplementing to some degree. There would be hard conversations like, should we cut a classroom size? You know, what should we do so that we can continue to run that program?

It kind of goes down to the back in 2014, when the federal government revamped its background check scheme for the child care space under the 2014 child care development block grant reauthorization act, a required fingerprint based background checks, as well as those registry checks and five year renewals. The head start program performance standards in 2016 codified and aligned with the requirements under the ketv g act. And so it's kind of treating everyone the same. But as you've heard today, the issue is there are some programs that are caught in this limbo because they're non licensed and not required to go through child care licensing that they're not authorized to request. Those fingerprint background checks, including some of the programs that doctor polk spoke to as well. And so it's just this weird limbo that they are caught in that we'll need to find a solution for, to provide for that safety for those children. And then on Senator lennox's question around how many programs there are 37 across the state, representing 64 of 93 counties. And as you heard from mr. Haba, there may be a coverage area that some of those programs may provide. Lastly, on the question of why certain early head start programs may not, I think doctor or excuse me, jennifer probably addressed that question. Yeah, great. Well, that's it. Short and sweet. I would be happy to take some questions. If you have any. Questions for mister clerk. If not, I appreciate your testimony. Okay. Thank you all. Other testifiers for lb for 72 or lr for 72. If not, Senator clouse, you're welcome to close. Oh, let's see the comments online. It's one comment online. Thank you, Senator murman. Mitch concluded it quite well. But just a couple of things that I want to talk about is there probably will or most likely will be legislation dealing with either the fingerprinting or how we deal with these, the rule making, what that looks like. I don't think we know just yet. But as you can see, when I start in on this, it was dealing with the fingerprint issue. And then the federal government made all their changes. And now it's created a whole bunch of other issues we're going to have to deal with. And what that looks like, I don't know. We'll continue to work on that. So with that, he addressed your question on on the numbers. I know, given the thing that was interesting to me was the issues and community action and multiple agencies that handle head start. It's not just one particular group. And those that have received funding from the federal government. There's several different ones that do that. One thing that I neglect to talk about, and I think it hopefully you got the the gist of it was the change at the federal government. And they talked about the notice of proposed rulemaking process that really threw things in disarray.