Republican Sen. Heidi Balderree knows how difficult a language barrier can be, having served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Japan and having traveled internationally.
“If you can't communicate in a language, it really hamstrings, you know, opportunities to participate in the culture and country that you're in,” she said.
And for those who are in a new place indefinitely and don’t speak the language, she said, access to resources is a big help.
That’s why this legislative session, she wanted to make changes to the emergency school funding for new English language learners that she successfully sponsored last year. Utah lawmakers lowered the eligibility threshold after no schools qualified under the 2025 law.
The new formula, part of the 2026 public education funding bill, says a school can qualify for emergency funding if it has 40% more students learning English than the previous three-year average, and if the increase is at least 10 students.
That’s down from the original law’s minimum 75% increase of at least 30 students.
The goal was to support schools that have a sudden increase in English learners. Legislators wanted to make the threshold attainable while keeping it high enough that it only applied in extraordinary circumstances, said Balderree.
“This adjustment was to make sure that it was more responsive, but still to protect the integrity of the fund,” she said.
Extra money for aides, professional development, educational materials or smaller class sizes will come from unused funds for at-risk students, up to $500,000 per fiscal year. It’s designed to provide support for schools that experience a mid-year surge, since standard funding is based on the previous year’s enrollment.
“We want to make sure that everyone's learning, and it's hard to do that if the classroom just doesn't have the resources that are needed,” Balderree said.
Lawmakers also changed the definition of a student learning English. While originally based on a test score, it now refers to a student born outside the United States who has not attended school in this country for at least two full years.
That will allow schools to tally the number of students who need extra help right away, rather than wait on test results, said Aaron Brough, director of data and statistics at the Utah State Board of Education.
“Talking with the Title III specialist, she's like, ‘The majority of the students who need the most help instantaneously, or, you know, the critical one, is the ones who've just shown up,’” he said.
There’s room for exceptions. Under the new law, the state board of education can also approve funding for a school that does not meet the criteria, as long as it has experienced a significant increase in students learning English and a resulting financial need.
“It's far more flexible, but more importantly, responsive to the needs of our LEAs or local education agencies,” Balderree said.
The state board wants schools to access available federal funds before tapping into these state funds, Brough said.
Though lawmakers tweaked the requirements, the largest increases in English learners may have already happened. Immigration to the United States dropped dramatically in 2025 under President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. While English learners in Utah schools rose sharply from 2021 to 2024, that growth slowed from 2024 to 2025. The number of Utah students who were new to the country dropped in the 2024-2025 school year as U.S. Border Patrol encounters with migrants crossing the Mexico border reached a 50-year low.
“Sometimes the gears of government just don't spin fast enough for those emergencies,” Brough said.
Still, Balderree doesn’t think this funding will become obsolete, in part because of the newfound state board flexibility to grant funds to schools that demonstrate need.
The new law takes effect July 1, and Brough doesn’t expect schools to have the necessary data to request funding until mid-October. Thirty-two schools would have qualified under the new rules for the 2025-2026 school year, he said.
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.
