The bill left the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 12th and was set for hearing on May 18th, but because Governor Newsom included annual kindergarten through second grade universal screening for reading difficulties, including risk of dyslexia, in his revised budget plan (May Revision) and trailer bill language, SB 691 was held in committee while this welcome new development played out.
For more more information and a full explanation of how the provisions of SB 691 were included in the Education Omnibus Budget Trailer bill, please see this Decoding Dyslexia CA’s BLOG.
On July 10th, Governor Newsom signed the Education Omnibus Trailer Bill (SB 114), which included a provision for requiring universal screening in grades K-2 for reading difficulties, including risk of dyslexia!
The provision requires the State Board of Education to develop evaluation criteria and designate an expert panel to approve a list of culturally, developmentally, and linguistically appropriate screening instruments. Local Education Agencies (LEAs) will need to select screeners from the approved list and begin annual K-2 screening by the 2025-2026 school year. LEAs must share the screening results with parents and guardians including how to interpret the results and next steps for supports and services for students identified as “at risk”. Parents and guardians may opt out if they do not want their child to be screened. If you’re interested in reading the bill language, Decoding Dyslexia CA has excerpted the text in the budget trailer bill regarding K-2 screening for easy reference.