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Bilingual Exceptions and ESL Waivers

TAC §89.1207 provides the LEA requirements for bilingual exceptions and ESL waivers. The purpose of filing an exception/waiver is to inform the TEA on the needs for appropriately certified teachers in bilingual and ESL programs across the state.

Teachers who hold the necessary bilingual or ESL Probationary or Intern certificate or for whom an Emergency Permit has been obtained (by the district) are appropriately certified for the specified time period and should NOT be added to the respective bilingual exception or ESL Waiver.

Yes, a teacher is only appropriately certified to teach in the bilingual/ESL program if he/she has the necessary bilingual or ESL certification in addition to the appropriate content and grade level for the courses and students they instruct.

The appropriate bilingual or ESL certification must be posted to the teacher’s certificate before the November 1st deadline for filing a bilingual exception or ESL waiver. If a teacher is in the process of obtaining the appropriate certification, such as participating in an alternative certification program, or has passed the exam but does not yet possess the appropriate certification and posted to the teacher’s certificate, the teacher would have to be included in the bilingual exception or ESL waiver petition.

If a bilingual exception or ESL waiver is needed for EB students served in an EE setting, this data will be included under the prekindergarten (PK) student, classroom, and teacher data on the application.

No. In anticipation of filing the bilingual exception or ESL waiver, LEAs may enter the participating students’ program code based on the instructional arrangement, which are the students being served through the district’s alternative methods as the district works to fulfill the appropriate certification requirements of the teacher(s) under the exception/waiver.

If a teacher is under a bilingual exception, they would not also be under an ESL waiver. The fact that the teacher is not ESL certified would be mentioned on the bilingual exception application as part of the information on the district’s alternative methods plan. The students’ Parental Permission codes would be (E) since the district has filed a bilingual exception, and the program codes would be Alternative Language Program (01) since the students are in an alternative plan from a bilingual exception. The Program Type codes for Bilingual and ESL would be (0).

Districts that have submitted a bilingual exception and an ESL waiver can consolidate the comprehensive PD plan into one document as long as the district clearly differentiates the plan for teachers under the exception and the plan for teachers under the waiver.