Texas LPAC Guidelines & Procedures

Texas LPAC Guidelines & Procedures

In Texas public schools, the governance, identification, instructional placement, accommodations, and reclassification of Emergent Bilinguals (EBs) are strictly regulated by 19 TAC Chapter 89, Subchapter BB (Commissioner's Rules Concerning State Plan for Educating Emergent Bilingual Students). The legal authority responsible for making student-level language decisions on every Texas campus is the Language Proficiency Assessment Committee (LPAC).

Statutory LPAC Composition and Roles

To hold legal authority, an ESL program LPAC committee must be properly constituted and trained annually. Each campus LPAC must consist of the following mandatory, voting members who have signed official Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) confidentiality oaths:

1. A certified ESL or Bilingual teacher currently employed by the school district.
2. A campus administrator (principal, assistant principal, or designated administrative officer).
3. A parent of an Emergent Bilingual student participating in the program who is NOT an employee of the school district.

Mandatory Training Requirement: All LPAC members, including the parent representative, must undergo annual training provided by the district or Education Service Center (ESC) prior to conducting official committee business.

The Statutory Identification and Placement Timeline

Texas law enforces a strict four calendar weeks deadline from the date of initial student enrollment to complete the entire identification, testing, LPAC meeting, and parental notification sequence.

Step 1: Home Language Survey (HLS) administered upon initial enrollment.
   │
   ▼  If a language other than English is indicated on any HLS question:
Step 2: Administer the state-approved English language proficiency identification assessment.
   │
   ▼
Step 3: Convene LPAC Committee Meeting (within four calendar weeks of enrollment).
   │  └─ Review test scores, classify as EB, and recommend Bilingual or ESL placement.
   ▼
Step 4: Parent Notification & Signed Consent Request.
   │  ├─ Parent Approves ──> Official ESL/Bilingual Placement.
   │  └─ Parent Denies ───> Student coded as EB (Parent Denial); mainstream placement.

Detailed Identification Steps

1. Home Language Survey (HLS): Administered upon initial enrollment in a Texas public school (prekindergarten through grade 12). Current TEA HLS forms include three questions:
   • Which languages are used at home?
   • Which languages are used by the child at home?
   • If the child had a previous home setting, which languages were used? If there was no previous home setting, answer Not Applicable (N/A). If any response indicates a language other than English, the district must administer the state-approved English language proficiency identification assessment.
2. Language Proficiency Testing (19 TAC §89.1226):
   • Pre-K–Grade 1: State-approved English language proficiency test focused on listening and speaking components appropriate to the grade band.
   • Grades 2–12: State-approved English language proficiency test covering listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Identification uses the TEA-designated proficiency cut for the current approved instrument—not an invented local percentile rule.
3. LPAC Committee Convening: Within four calendar weeks of initial enrollment, the LPAC reviews assessment results, identifies the student as Emergent Bilingual or English proficient, and recommends bilingual or ESL placement as required by TAC Chapter 89.
4. Parent Approval or Denial: The district provides parental notification and obtains documented parental approval for program placement (written approval, or TEA-allowed documented phone/email confirmation).
   • Parent Approval: The student enters the recommended bilingual or ESL program.
   • Parent Denial: Parents may decline services. The student is coded as EB (Parent Denial), remains in general education without bilingual/ESL program placement, still takes annual TELPAS, and remains under LPAC monitoring until reclassification criteria are met.

Statutory Duties of the LPAC Committee Across the School Year

The LPAC is not a one-time enrollment committee; it operates continuously throughout the academic year to fulfill specific statutory duties:

• Initial Enrollment Review: Conduct identification, placement, and parent notifications within four calendar weeks of enrollment.
• Spring Pre-Assessment Meeting: Review student language data and formally prescribe individualized STAAR designated supports and TELPAS participation decisions.
• End-of-Year Annual Review: Evaluate TELPAS domain scores, STAAR academic results, and teacher evaluations to determine ongoing program placement or eligibility for reclassification (exit).
• Post-Exit Academic Monitoring: Monitor the academic progress of reclassified students for two full calendar years (M1 and M2) following program exit.

Texas Reclassification (Exit) Criteria

To be reclassified as English proficient, an Emergent Bilingual must meet all criteria on TEA’s current reclassification chart under 19 TAC §89.1226(i). Prekindergarten and Kindergarten students are not reclassified/exited under the standard chart.

Single-Criterion Exit Prohibition: Texas does not permit exit based on one measure alone. Use the current school-year TEA reclassification chart rather than memorizing outdated domain-by-domain folklore.

Two-Year Post-Reclassification Monitoring (M1 & M2)

Once an EB is reclassified and exited, the LPAC must monitor the student's academic progress for two full years:

• Year 1 Monitor (M1): The LPAC reviews report card grades, benchmark tests, and state assessments at each grading period.
• Year 2 Monitor (M2): The LPAC continues formal tracking through the second post-exit year.
• Remedial Action: If an M1 or M2 student experiences academic failure or severe struggling, the LPAC may recommend academic intervention or re-evaluate the student for potential re-enrollment in ESL services.