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SB-837 Transitional kindergarten: enrollment for 4-year-olds.(2017-2018)

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Date Published: 01/08/2018 09:00 PM
SB837:v99#DOCUMENT


CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 837

Introduced by Senator Dodd

January 08, 2018

An act to amend Section 48000 of the Education Code, relating to transitional kindergarten.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 837, as introduced, Dodd. Transitional kindergarten: enrollment for 4-year-olds.
Existing law authorizes a school district or charter school to maintain a transitional kindergarten program. Existing law requires, in the 2014–15 school year and each school year thereafter, and as a condition of receipt of apportionments for pupils in a transitional kindergarten program, a child who will have his or her fifth birthday between September 2 and December 2 to be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by a school district or charter school.
This bill, as a condition of receipt of apportionments for pupils in a transitional kindergarten program, beginning in the 2020–21 school year, would require progressively younger 4-year-old pupils to be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by a school district or charter school, as provided, until, in the 2022–23 school year and each school year thereafter, the bill would require all 4-year-old pupils to be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by a school district or charter school. The bill would authorize, from the 2015–16 school year to the 2021–22 school year, inclusive, a 4-year-old child who is not required to be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program to be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program, as provided.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) California has, in the past decade, reinforced its commitment to high quality and accessible pre-kindergarten education.
(b) In 2010, California revised the age of admission to kindergarten and first grade by one month over three consecutive years, conjointly creating a program known as transitional kindergarten.
(c) Transitional kindergarten provides two years of preparation for the first grade, which research shows boosts test scores and reduces special education placements and the number of pupils held back a grade.
(d) High-quality early childhood programs like transitional kindergarten provide critical preparation for California’s pupils to enjoy success in elementary school and beyond.
(e) Disparities persist in academic performance between lower-income African American and Latino pupils and higher-income white and Asian American pupils. Furthermore, around 170,000 California children who are eligible for publicly funded preschool are not enrolled because there are not enough spots available for them, according to the American Institutes for Research.
(f) Research shows that a one-year, universal, high-quality preschool program in California would generate $11,400 in benefits per child for California society, between $2 and $4 in benefits for every dollar expended, and other potential benefits for the California labor force, the competitiveness of the state’s economy, and economic and social equality.
(g) In 2016, the Legislative Analyst issued a report recommending that the Legislature create a single, coherent preschool program designed to provide access to all low-income and at-risk children.
(h) Expanding transitional kindergarten can augment existing early learning programs, including the California State Preschool Program and Head Start, and expand options to children who might not have access to any other prekindergarten program.
(i) Given the inequities in access to early education across California, expanding transitional kindergarten gives school districts and charter schools the chance to reduce opportunity gaps by expanding school readiness programs for the children they serve.
(j) By adopting this universal program, California will improve student achievement and generate substantial statewide social and economic benefits for future generations.

SEC. 2.

 Section 48000 of the Education Code is amended to read:

48000.
 (a) A child shall be admitted to a kindergarten maintained by the school district at the beginning of a school year, or at a later time in the same year, if the child will have his or her fifth birthday on or before one of the following dates:
(1) December 2 of the 2011–12 school year.
(2) November 1 of the 2012–13 school year.
(3) October 1 of the 2013–14 school year.
(4) September 1 of the 2014–15 school year and each school year thereafter.
(b) The governing board of the school district of a school district maintaining one or more kindergartens may, on a case-by-case basis, admit to a kindergarten a child having attained the age of five years at any time during the school year with the approval of the parent or guardian, subject to the following conditions:
(1) The governing board of the school district determines that the admittance is in the best interests of the child.
(2) The parent or guardian is given information regarding the advantages and disadvantages and any other explanatory information about the effect of this early admittance.
(c) (1) As a condition of receipt of apportionment for pupils in a transitional kindergarten program pursuant to Section 46300, and Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 47610) of Part 26.8, as applicable, a school district or charter school shall ensure the following:

(1)

(A) In the 2012–13 school year, a child who will have his or her fifth birthday between November 2 and December 2 shall be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by the school district or charter school.

(2)

(B) In the 2013–14 school year, a child who will have his or her fifth birthday between October 2 and December 2 shall be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by the school district or charter school.

(3)(A)In

(C) From the 2014–15 school year and each school year thereafter, to the 2019–20 school year, inclusive, a child who will have his or her fifth birthday between September 2 and December 2 December 2, inclusive shall be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by the school district or charter school.
(D) For the 2020–21 school year, a child who has his or her fifth birthday between September 2, 2020, and February 28, 2021, inclusive, shall be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by the school district or charter school.
(E) For the 2021–22 school year, a child who has his or her fifth birthday between September 2, 2021, and May 31, 2022, inclusive, shall be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by the school district or charter school.
(F) For the 2022–23 school year and each school year thereafter, a child who has his or her fifth birthday between September 2 of the calendar year in which the school year begins and September 1 of the following calendar year, inclusive shall be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by the school district or charter school.

(B)(i)For

(2) (A) From the 2015–16 school year and each school year thereafter, a school district or charter school may, at any time during a school year, admit a child to a transitional kindergarten program who will have his or her fifth birthday after December 2 but during that same school year, to the 2021–22 school year, inclusive, a four-year-old child who is not required to be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program pursuant to paragraph (1) may be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by a school district or charter school, with the approval of the parent or guardian, subject to the following conditions:

(I)

(i) The governing board of the school district or the governing body of the charter school determines that the admittance is in the best interests of the child.

(II)

(ii) The parent or guardian is given information regarding the advantages and disadvantages and any other explanatory information about the effect of this early admittance.

(ii)

(B) Notwithstanding any other law, a pupil admitted to a transitional kindergarten program pursuant to clause (i) this paragraph shall not generate average daily attendance for purposes of Section 46300, or be included in the enrollment or unduplicated pupil count pursuant to Section 42238.02, until the pupil has attained his or her fifth birthday, regardless of when the pupil was admitted during the school year.
(d) For purposes of this section, “transitional kindergarten” means the first year of a two-year kindergarten program that uses a modified kindergarten curriculum that is age and developmentally appropriate.
(e) A transitional kindergarten shall not be construed as a new program or higher level of service.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that transitional kindergarten curriculum be aligned to the California Preschool Learning Foundations developed by the department.
(g) As a condition of receipt of apportionment for pupils in a transitional kindergarten program pursuant to Section 46300, a school district or charter school shall ensure that credentialed teachers who are first assigned to a transitional kindergarten classroom after July 1, 2015, have, by August 1, 2020, one of the following:
(1) At least 24 units in early childhood education, or childhood development, or both.
(2) As determined by the local educational agency employing the teacher, professional experience in a classroom setting with preschool age children that is comparable to the 24 units of education described in paragraph (1).
(3) A child development teacher permit issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing.