Committee adopts amendment and substitute, votes 'do pass' on gifted-education substitute (HB 1757)

The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee adopted a house committee amendment (0.03H) to House Bill 1757 and subsequently approved the house committee substitute by a roll call vote of 20–0.

Chairman Lewis explained the amendment was developed collaboratively with the bill sponsor, ranking member and committee members to address earlier questions. Key changes include postponing an effective school-year date to 2027–28 (from an earlier proposed date) to allow for phase-in; clarifying that universal screening should precede targeted assessment and that valid, reliable evidence is required for gifted identification; and replacing a single-staff referral process with a committee-based referral team that may include a gifted-education teacher, an administrator, or an assessment specialist.

Representative Steinhoff and others praised the clearer language distinguishing screening, assessment and identification. Vice Chair Bannerman cautioned about mandated certification responsibilities for larger districts and the potential staffing burdens for programs required to establish certified personnel for programs above a specified size threshold; the committee discussed pathways and flexibility.

The committee adopted the amendment, rolled it into a new substitute, and after roll-call voting recorded a unanimous 20–0 do-pass recommendation for the substitute to the next stage.