Code Section

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 their 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:

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

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

(C) From the 2014–15 school year to the 2021–22 school year, inclusive, a child who will have their fifth birthday between September 2 and December 2 shall be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by the school district or charter school.

(D) In the 2022–23 school year, a child who will have their fifth birthday between September 2 and February 2 shall be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by the school district or charter school.

(E) In the 2023–24 school year, a child who will have their fifth birthday between September 2 and April 2 shall be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by the school district or charter school.

(F) In the 2024–25 school year, a child who will have their fifth birthday between September 2 and June 2 shall be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by the school district or charter school.

(G) In the 2025–26 school year, and in each school year thereafter, a child who will have their fourth birthday by September 1 shall be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by the school district or charter school.

(2) (A) In any school year, 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 their fifth birthday after the date specified for the applicable year in subparagraphs (A) to (F), inclusive, of paragraph (1) but during that same school year, with the approval of the parent or guardian, subject to the following conditions:

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

(B) Notwithstanding any other law, a pupil admitted to a transitional kindergarten program pursuant to subparagraph (A) 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 the pupil’s 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/Transitional Kindergarten 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 do all of the following:

(1) Maintain an average transitional kindergarten class enrollment of not more than 24 pupils for each schoolsite. For purposes of this calculation, the following shall apply for each schoolsite of a school district or charter school:

(A) “Class” means a group of pupils scheduled to report regularly at a particular time to a particular teacher during the regular schoolday, as defined by the governing board of the school district or the governing body of the charter school, as applicable, excluding special day classes. Classes in the evening and summer school class shall not be considered classes for purposes of this calculation.

(B) (i) “Active enrollment count” for purposes of subparagraph (C) means the count of all pupils enrolled in a class with transitional kindergarten pupils on the first day of the school year on which the class was in session, plus all later enrollees, minus all withdrawals since that first day. An active enrollment count shall be made on the last teaching day of each school month that ends before April 15 of the school year.

(ii) For school districts, active enrollment count shall not include pupils enrolled in independent study pursuant to Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 51744) of Chapter 5 of Part 28 who meet the minimum day requirements for independent study and are continually enrolled in independent study for more than 14 schooldays in a school year.

(iii) For charter schools, active enrollment count shall not include pupils enrolled in independent study pursuant to Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 51744) of Chapter 5 of Part 28 who are continually enrolled in independent study for more than 14 schooldays on any of the days on which school is taught for the purpose of meeting the 175-instructional-day offering, as described in Section 11960 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations.

(C) “Average number of pupils enrolled per class” means the quotient of the sum of the active enrollment counts made under subparagraph (B) divided by the total number of those active enrollment counts for each class of the schoolsite.

(D) “Average transitional kindergarten class enrollment” means the quotient of the sum of the average number of pupils enrolled per class determined pursuant to subparagraph (C) of all classes at the schoolsite divided by the total number of all classes at the schoolsite that include transitional kindergarten pupils, rounded to the nearest half or whole integer.

(2) Commencing with the 2022–23 school year, maintain an average of at least one adult for every 12 pupils for transitional kindergarten classrooms at each schoolsite. For purposes of this calculation, the following shall apply for each schoolsite of a school district or charter school:

(A) “Total transitional kindergarten enrollment” is the sum of the average number of pupils enrolled per class of all classes at the schoolsite, as determined in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1).

(B) “Number of adults” shall be determined for each schoolsite as follows:

(i) A count of employees of the school district or charter school assigned to each class at the schoolsite that includes transitional kindergarten pupils shall be made on the last teaching day of each school month that ends before April 15 of the school year.

(ii) The sum of all of the adult counts pursuant to clause (i) shall be divided by the total number of those counts, rounded to the nearest half or whole integer.

(C) “Adult-to-pupil ratio” shall be the quotient of the total transitional kindergarten enrollment divided by the total number of adults, rounded to the nearest half or whole integer.

(3) (A) Commencing with the 2025–26 school year, and for each year thereafter, maintain an average of at least one adult for every 10 pupils for transitional kindergarten classrooms.

(B) It is the intent of the Legislature to appropriate funds for purposes of this paragraph.

(4) Ensure that credentialed teachers who are first assigned to a transitional kindergarten classroom after July 1, 2015, have, by August 1, 2025, one of the following:

(A) At least 24 units in early childhood education, childhood development, or both.

(B) As determined and documented by the local educational agency employing the teacher, professional experience in a classroom setting with preschool age children meeting the criteria established by the governing board or body of the local educational agency that is comparable to the 24 units of education described in subparagraph (A).

(C) A child development teacher permit, or an early childhood education specialist credential, issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

(h) A school district or charter school may place four-year-old children, as defined in Section 8205, enrolled in a California state preschool program into a transitional kindergarten program classroom. A school district or charter school that commingles children from both programs in the same classroom shall meet all of the requirements of the respective programs in which the children are enrolled, and the school district or charter school shall adhere to all of the following requirements, irrespective of the program in which the child is enrolled:

(1) An observation using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) tool and CLASS Environment tool shall be completed for the classroom.

(2) All children enrolled for 10 or more hours per week shall be evaluated using the Desired Results Developmental Profile, as specified in Section 17702 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations.

(3) The classroom shall be taught by a teacher that holds a credential issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing in accordance with Section 44065 and subdivision (b) of Section 44256 and who meets the requirements set forth in subdivision (g).

(4) The classroom shall be in compliance with the adult-child ratio specified in subdivision (c) of Section 8241.

(5) Contractors of a school district or charter school commingling children enrolled in the California state preschool program with children enrolled in a transitional kindergarten program classroom shall report the services, revenues, and expenditures for the California state preschool program children in accordance with Section 18068 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations. Those contractors are not required to report services, revenues, and expenditures for the children in the transitional kindergarten program.

(i) Until July 1, 2019, a transitional kindergarten classroom that has in attendance children enrolled in a California state preschool program shall be licensed pursuant to Chapter 3.4 (commencing with Section 1596.70) of, and Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 1596.90) of, Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code.

(j) A school district or charter school that chooses to place California state preschool program children into a transitional kindergarten program classroom shall not also include children enrolled in transitional kindergarten for a second year or children enrolled in kindergarten in that classroom.

(k) A child’s eligibility for transitional kindergarten enrollment under paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (c) shall not impact family eligibility for a preschool or childcare program, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(1) A Head Start or Early Head Start program, as defined by the federal Head Start Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9801 et seq.).

(2) A childcare center, family childcare home, or license-exempt provider serving children through an alternative payment program pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 10225) of Part 1.8 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(3) A migrant childcare and development program serving children pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 10235) of Part 1.8 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(4) A childcare center or family childcare home educational network serving children through a California state preschool program pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 8207) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1.

(5) A childcare center, family childcare home, or license-exempt provider serving children through a general childcare and development program pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 10240) of Part 1.8 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(6) A family childcare home educational network serving children pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 10250) of Part 1.8 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(7) Childcare and development services for children with special needs pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 10260) of Part 1.8 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(8) A program serving children through a CalWORKs Stage 1, Stage 2, or Stage 3 program pursuant to Chapter 21 (commencing with Section 10370) of Part 1.8 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(l) (1) The Superintendent shall authorize California state preschool program contracting agencies to offer less than four hours each instructional day of wraparound childcare services within a part-day California state preschool program for children enrolled in an education program as a transitional kindergarten or kindergarten pupil, if their families meet the requirements of Section 8208.

(2) The Superintendent shall authorize California state preschool programs operating on a local education agency campus to operate a part-day California state preschool program that allows flexibility in the operational hours and enrollment cutoff dates to better align with the enrollment for the new school year.

(3) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code) and Section 33308.5, until regulations are filed with the Secretary of State to implement this subdivision the department shall implement this subdivision, through management bulletins or similar letters of instruction on or before December 31, 2022.