The Honorable Dennis Daugaard
President of the Senate
500 East Capitol Avenue
Pierre, SD 57501-5070

Dear Mr. President and Members of the Senate:

I herewith return Senate Bill 121 and VETO the same.

Senate Bill 121 is entitled, "An Act to require the Department of Education to promote certain programs for children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing."

Senate Bill 121 requires the Department of Education to establish and implement a program and policy which promotes the education of children who are deaf and hard-of hearing. The program and policy shall be disseminated to all school districts and other local education agencies. Further, the program and policy require school districts to implement many specific instructional methods that are already required by federal law or extend beyond federal law. The bill is simultaneously redundant and restrictive.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act requires a student's individual education program team to "consider the communication needs of the child and in the case of a child who is deaf or hard of hearing, consider the child's language and communication needs, opportunities for direct communication with peers and professional personnel in the child's language and communication mode, academic level, and full range of needs, including opportunities for direct instruction in the child's language and communication mode." The federal requirement has the same intent as sections 1 and 2 in the bill. Additional federal regulations mirror sections 6, 7, and 8 of the bill.

However, sections 3 and 4 of the bill exceed federal expectations. Section 3 calls for virtually all personnel working with children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing to be specifically trained to work with those children and their special education teachers or interpreters are required to be proficient in the primary language mode of those children. While schools recognize the importance of disability related training and information for teachers, it would be very difficult, for example, to make certain a special educator was proficient in American Sign Language, if that was the child's primary language mode. Section 4 of the bill calls for school districts to make certain that children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing "have an education with a sufficient number of language mode peers who are of the same or approximately the same age and ability level and with whom the children can communicate directly, or as appropriate through the use of qualified interpreters." This is just not possible in our rural districts and, I believe, even our larger school districts would struggle with this requirement.

The bill language is very broad and thus subject to different interpretation. The Department of Education must establish a program and policy. The department must make sure school districts understand and implement all of the bill's provisions. The bill sponsors believe it is necessary to "raise awareness" or to "continue the conversation." However, the bill language states otherwise. School districts and the department will be in a vulnerable position if challenged in the implementation.

The Department of Education, Board of Regents, and advocates for deaf and hard-of-hearing children are currently working together to revise the interagency agreement and craft a transition plan for the South Dakota School for the Deaf. Both entities have been very open with the deaf community and are seeking input from that group. Please allow this process to work prior to passing Senate Bill 121. The bill has a delayed implementation date. If, following the work of the Department of Education, the Board of Regents, and the deaf community, we find that legislation is still necessary, that remains an option. I believe the bill is well intended. I also believe we can accomplish the goals of the sponsors without the bill.

Therefore, I respectfully request you concur with my action. If the South Dakota Legislature sustains my veto, the Department of Education and the Board of Regents will work to accomplish the bill's goals while not mandating an undue burden on local schools.

Respectfully yours,
M. Michael Rounds
Governor