Legislative Updates ---10/4/06

House Bill 1539: This bill is now House Bill 1214. It was “rolled” in with a number of other study bills.
Currently we are trying to provide this committee with information. AGAIN, our primary purpose is to get concrete accurate data relative to HOW the determination of critical shortage is arrived at within the area of speech and language. We have asked:
 How is it determined? What are the criteria? Are they definitive?
 Is it statewide or is it specific to certain regions of the state?
 What are districts doing to remedy this in terms of advertising, sharing information, etc?

The DOE and others continue to confuse the issue for the legislators by testifying that an SLS is more qualified to work in the schools, has more knowledge of the special education process and that SLP’s primarily work only as contracted services. These latter statements have nothing to do with the issue of determination of critical shortage.

FINALLY, AND MOST IMPORTANT AT THIS TIME, the rules for Speech and Language Specialists under the Department of Education (DOE) have been finalized.
They CONTINUE TO INCLUDE THE ALTERNATIVE 4 process for certification as a method to be certified as a Speech and Language Specialist. . The primary reason Alternative 4 still applies is because the DOE still considers speech and language to be a critical shortage area even without updated data.

This means that a Bachelor’s degree (bachelors degree does not have to be in communication disorders) individual can be hired by a school district and after writing their own “plan” they will be allowed to provide any and all speech and language services as deemed appropriate by the school WHILE they are taking coursework. There is no provision for actual practicum. That occurs while actually working. They then have up to three years to get their masters degree in education, special education or communication disorders. If not completed in three years, extensions are granted. The DOE does not directly oversee the ALT 4 process. It is up to the local school district.

There is a hearing on October 18th which would be the forum to express concerns and opinions that ALT 4 should no longer apply to the SLS rules.

If you or any parent, teacher etc. has any concerns about this you need to contact these people ASAP. If at all possible please come to the public hearing.
October 18th – Dept. of Education. Concord, NH.
The people who write these rules NEED to hear from constituents.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On October 17th there is a hearing at the Legislative Office Building Room 203 -10 a.m.
This is the regular meeting of the committee to study various issues including the critical shortage in the area of speech and language. Please attend if you can and if not please write the following legislators ASAP with your concerns regarding the need for highly qualified providers in the schools of NH. The bachelor’s degree today is only a pre-professional degree.


Letters should be mailed via hard copy (not e-mail) to the following:

House Representatives

Honorable Nancy Stiles Honorable Mary Stuart Gile
40 Hobbs Road 35 Penacook Street
Hampton, NH 03842 Concord, NH 03301

Honorable Deborah Hogancamp
347 Route 63
Chesterfield, NH 03443


Letters to Senators are as follows:

Honorable Peter Bragdon Honorable Iris Estabrook
20 Park Street 8 Burnham Ave
Milford, NH 03055 Durham, NH 03824


This update and news of future hearings relative to the SLS rules will be posted on our website www.nhslha.org. Please check it periodically and refer colleagues and parents to it as well


Senate Bill 252: This bill passed but with significant restrictions due to opposition by the DOE and the New Hampshire School Administrators Association. They objected to the wording of SLPA’S being supervised by Licensed SLP’s. As the law stands now Speech Language Assistants in the schools can be supervised by either an SLS or an SLP. Our website www.nhslha.org has a more complete explanation.

Rules for this law will now be written by the licensure board. If you have any questions, please contact them. There is a link to the licensure board on our website www.nhslha.org.