Senators heard testimony April 14 on House Bill 3,063, a measure that would require students placed in hospital education programs to remain enrolled as residents of the home school district they attended before hospitalization so they retain access to curricular materials and related technology.

Louis Dussiter, representing the Oregon Education Association, told the committee his members who work in hospital systems have seen students experiencing serious medical trauma—such as cancer—fall out of their home school enrollment after absences of 10 days or more. Dussiter said that practice is inconsistent across districts and can be arbitrary: “One week, it’s one child, and the district says, yes, we will maintain that connection. And the next week, it’s a different child, and they have a different decision,” he said.

Dussiter said the Oregon Department of Education has been working for years with educators and union representatives to design a system that maintains dual enrollment for hospitalized students without double‑weighting funding. HB 3,063, he said, would codify that approach so that changes in administration would not disrupt the process. He described the bill as “pretty simple, but pretty important to children who are facing some pretty traumatic experiences.”

Committee members were referred to written testimony submitted to the House that includes accounts from educators who work in hospital settings. No committee vote was taken on HB 3,063 during the April 14 hearing.

Ending

Proponents asked senators to review the written witness testimony from hospital educators. The committee closed the public hearing and continued with other bills on its agenda.