BILL NUMBER: AB 1236 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Mullin
FEBRUARY 23, 2007
An act to amend Sections 46117, 46201, 46300, 48200 and 52122 of,
to repeal Section 48010 of, and to repeal and add Article 1.5
(commencing with Section 48005.10) of Chapter 1 of Part 27 of
Division 4 of Title 2 of, the Education Code, relating to compulsory
school attendance.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1236, as introduced, Mullin. Compulsory school attendance:
kindergarten readiness program.
(1) Existing law requires a child to be admitted to kindergarten
if the child will have his or her 5th birthday on or before December
2.
This bill would, commencing on July 1, 2008, change from December
2 to September 1 the date by which a child is required to have a 5th
birthdate for admission to kindergarten.
(2) Existing law establishes the kindergarten readiness pilot
program, to be implemented in the 2006-07 school year, and requires a
participating school district to offer admission to 1st grade at the
beginning of the school year, or at a later time in the same school
year, only to children who will have their 6th birthday on or before
September 1 of that school year. Under existing law, these provisions
become inoperative on July 1, 2013, and are repealed as of January
1, 2014.
This bill would repeal the kindergarten readiness pilot program
and would establish instead the kindergarten readiness program, to be
administered by the Superintendent of Public Instruction who would
be required to promulgate rules and regulations governing the
program. Participating county offices of education and school
districts would be allocated funds for purposes of making
kindergarten readiness classes available to all children on a
voluntary basis and administering local programs.
The bill would require that kindergarten readiness classes be
taught by a teacher who holds a credential issued by the Commission
on Teacher Credentialing that authorizes services in kindergarten or
a baccalaureate degree with 24 units in early care and education with
a professional development plan that provides for a credential
within five years. The bill would require that a teacher with an
associate degree and 24 units in early care and education also be
employed in each classroom and would limit class size to 20 children
with one teacher and one associate teacher. The bill would require
kindergarten readiness teachers and associate teachers to be
employees of the administering county office of education or school
district.
The bill would make a kindergarten readiness program eligible for
school facilities funding and would authorize funds made available to
public schools for joint uses to be used for a kindergarten
readiness program.
The bill would require the State Department of Education to
establish and maintain an evaluation system that, among other things,
ensures the privacy of children, assesses children's progress, and
measures the statewide effectiveness of the program
The bill would make conforming changes in provisions regarding the
minimum schoolday, the number of required instructional minutes per
year, computation of average daily attendance, and the class size
reduction program.
(3) Existing law requires a school district to admit a child to
the first grade of an elementary school during the first month of a
school year if the child will have his or her 6th birthday on or
before December 2 of that school year and authorizes the governing
board of a school district to permit a child of proper age to be
admitted to a class after the first school month of a school term.
This bill would repeal the provisions described above.
(3) Existing law requires a person between the ages of 6 and 18
years who is subject to compulsory full-time education to attend
public school in which the residency of either the parent or legal
guardian is located.
This bill would make a person who is 5 years of age subject to
compulsory full-time education and would deem kindergarten attendance
to be full-time education.
By subjecting children who are 5 years of age to compulsory
education and violators of this requirement to criminal sanctions,
the bill would impose state-mandated local programs.
(4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no
reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that,
if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains
costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall
be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2008.
SEC. 2. (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) The state has rigorous academic content standards for
kindergarten. The kindergarten content standards define the
knowledge, concepts, and skills that a child acquires at that grade
level. These content standards were designed to encourage the highest
achievement of every child.
(2) Four states (California, Connecticut, Michigan, and Vermont)
have cutoff dates for admission to kindergarten between December 1
and January 1. California's late cutoff date permits children to
enter traditional kindergarten as early as four years nine months, or
younger in year-round schools.
(3) By delaying the age at which some of our very youngest
children are permitted to enroll in kindergarten, California's
children will be better prepared to enter into the academic
environment that is required by the kindergarten curriculum.
(4) Research shows that preschool-age children are better prepared
for success in kindergarten and beyond when they have attended a
high-quality prekindergarten program. Prekindergarten attendance has
been shown to decrease the educational achievement gaps between
economically advantaged and disadvantaged children that are apparent
by kindergarten and are difficult and costly to correct. Researchers
estimate that one-half of the test score gap at the 12th grade is
attributable to gaps that exist when children enter school and that
at least half, and probably more, of that gap could be eliminated by
improving children's access to high-quality prekindergarten programs.
(5) Research demonstrates that high-quality prekindergarten
experiences boost academic achievement in school, decrease grade
retention, decrease special education placements, and increase
graduation rates, college enrollment, and earnings as adults.
Research also shows additional societal benefits such as decreased
crime, teen pregnancies, and public assistance.
(6) During their formative years, some children show signs of
delayed development or being at risk of delayed development. Early
intervention often can resolve developmental issues.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act that
all of the following shall take place:
(1) School districts offer voluntary kindergarten readiness
classes for all children one year before those children enroll in
kindergarten.
(2) Children be five years of age by September 1 in order to
attend kindergarten.
(3) Children five years of age be subject to compulsory education.
(4) School districts inform parents and guardians of the new age
limitations for enrollment in kindergarten and first grade that are
implemented pursuant to this act.
SEC. 3. Section 46117 of the Education Code is amended to read:
46117. The minimum schoolday for pupils in kindergarten
readiness classes and kindergartens is 180 minutes inclusive of
recesses, and no units of average daily attendance shall be credited
for attendance in kindergarten readiness and kindergarten
classes if the minimum schoolday of such
those classes is less than 180 minutes.
SEC. 4. Section 46201 of the Education Code is amended to read:
46201. (a) In each of the 1984-85, 1985-86, and 1986-87 fiscal
years, for each school district that certifies to the Superintendent
of Public Instruction that it offers at least the
amount of instructional time specified in this subdivision at a grade
level or levels, the Superintendent of Public Instruction
shall determine an amount equal to twenty dollars ($20) per
unit of current year second principal apportionment regular average
daily attendance in kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, and
forty dollars ($40) per unit of current year second principal
apportionment regular average daily attendance in grades 9 to 12,
inclusive. This section shall not apply to adult average daily
attendance, the average daily attendance for pupils attending summer
schools, alternative schools, regional occupational centers and
programs, continuation high schools, or opportunity schools, and the
attendance of pupils while participating in community college or
independent study programs.
(1) In the 1984-85 fiscal year, for kindergarten and each of
grades 1 to 12, inclusive, the sum of subparagraphs (A) and (B):
(A) The number of instructional minutes offered at that grade
level in the 1982-83 fiscal year.
(B) One-third of the difference between the number of minutes
specified for that grade level in paragraph (3) and the number of
instructional minutes offered at that grade level in the 1982-83
fiscal year.
(2) In the 1985-86 2008- 09
fiscal year, for kindergarten and each of grades 1 to 12,
inclusive, the sum of subparagraphs (A) and (B):
(A) Thirty-six thousand minutes in kindergarten readiness classes.
(A)
(B) The number of instructional minutes offered at that
grade level in the 1982-83 fiscal year.
(B)
(C) Two-thirds of the difference between the number of
minutes specified for that grade level in paragraph (3) and the
number of instructional minutes offered at that grade level in the
1982-83 fiscal year.
(3) In the 1986-87 fiscal year:
(A) Thirty-six thousand minutes in kindergarten.
(B) Fifty thousand four hundred minutes in grades 1 to 3,
inclusive.
(C) Fifty-four thousand minutes in grades 4 to 8, inclusive.
(D) Sixty-four thousand eight hundred minutes in grades 9 to 12,
inclusive.
(4) In any fiscal year, each school district that receives an
apportionment pursuant to subdivision (a) for average daily
attendance in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, shall offer a program of
instruction that allows each student to receive at least 24 course
years of instruction, or the equivalent, during grades 9 to 12,
inclusive.
(5) For any schoolsite at which programs are operated in more than
one of the grade levels enumerated in subparagraph (B) or (C) of
paragraph (3), the school district may calculate a weighted average
of minutes for those grade levels at that schoolsite for purposes of
making the certification authorized by this subdivision.
(b) (1) If any of the amounts of instructional time specified in
paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) is a lesser number of minutes for
that grade level than actually provided by the district in the same
grade in the 1982-83 fiscal year, the 1982-83 fiscal year number of
minutes for that grade level, adjusted to comply with Section 46111,
shall instead be the requirement for the purposes of paragraphs (1),
(2), and (3) of subdivision (a). Commencing with the 1990-91 fiscal
year, and each fiscal year through the 1995-96 fiscal year, any
school district subject to this subdivision that does not maintain
the number of instructional minutes for a particular grade level that
the school district maintained for the 1982-83 fiscal year, adjusted
to comply with Section 46111, shall not be subject to paragraphs (1)
to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (c) if that school district
maintains at least the minimum number of instructional minutes for
each grade level set forth in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) in the
1990-91 fiscal year and each fiscal year through the 1994-95 fiscal
year or the 1995-96 fiscal year for districts whose instructional
minutes were adjusted to comply with Section 46111, and thereafter
returns to the number of instructional minutes maintained for each
grade level in the 1982-83 fiscal year.
(2) The Legislature finds and declares that the school districts
to which paragraph (1) is applicable have not offered any less
instructional time than is required of all other school districts and
therefore should not be forced to pay any penalty.
(c) (1) For any school district that receives an apportionment
pursuant to subdivision (a) in the 1984-85 fiscal year and that
reduces the amount of instructional time offered below the minimum
amounts specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) in the 1985-86
fiscal year or any fiscal year thereafter, up to and including the
2000-01 fiscal year, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction shall reduce the base revenue limit per unit of
average daily attendance for the fiscal year in which the reduction
occurs by an amount attributable to the increase in the 1985-86
fiscal year base revenue limit per unit of average daily attendance
pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 42238, as
adjusted in the 1985-86 fiscal year and fiscal years thereafter.
(2) For each school district that receives an apportionment
pursuant to subdivision (a) in the 1985-86 fiscal year and that
reduces the amount of instructional time offered below the minimum
amounts specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) in the 1986-87
fiscal year or any fiscal year thereafter, up to and including the
2000-01 fiscal year, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction shall reduce the base revenue limit per unit of
average daily attendance for the fiscal year in which the reduction
occurs by an amount attributable to the increase in the 1986-87
fiscal year base revenue limit per unit of average daily attendance
pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 42238, as
adjusted in the 1986-87 fiscal year and fiscal years thereafter.
(3) For each school district that receives an apportionment
pursuant to subdivision (a) in the 1986-87 fiscal year and that
reduces the amount of instructional time offered below the minimum
amounts specified in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) in the 1987-88
fiscal year or any fiscal year thereafter, up to and including the
2000-01 fiscal year, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction shall reduce the base revenue limit per unit of
average daily attendance for the fiscal year in which the reduction
occurs by an amount attributable to the increase in the 1987-88
fiscal year base revenue limit per unit of average daily attendance
pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 42238, as
adjusted in the 1987-88 fiscal year and fiscal years thereafter.
(d) For each school district that receives an apportionment
pursuant to subdivision (a) in the 1986-87 fiscal year and that
reduces the amount of instructional time offered below the minimum
amounts specified in either paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) or
paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), whichever is applicable, in the
2001-02 fiscal year, or any fiscal year thereafter, the
Superintendent of Public Instruction shall
withhold from the district's revenue limit apportionment for the
average daily attendance of each affected grade level, the sum of
that apportionment multiplied by the percentage of the minimum
offered minutes at that grade level that the district failed to
offer.
SEC. 5. Section 46300 of the Education Code is amended to read:
46300. (a) In computing average daily attendance of a school
district or county office of education, there shall be included the
attendance of pupils while engaged in educational activities required
of those pupils and under the immediate supervision and control of
an employee of the district or county office who possessed a valid
certification document, registered as required by law.
(b) (1) For the purposes of a work experience education program in
a secondary school that meets the standards of the California State
Plan for Vocational Education, "immediate supervision," in the
context of off-campus work training stations, means pupil
participation in on-the-job training as outlined under a training
agreement, coordinated by the school district under a state-approved
plan, wherein the employer and certificated school personnel share
the responsibility for on-the-job supervision.
(2) The pupil-teacher ratio in a work experience program shall not
exceed 125 pupils per full-time equivalent certificated teacher
coordinator. Notwithstanding Section 52033, this ratio may be waived
by the State Board of Education pursuant to Article 3 (commencing
with Section 33050) of Chapter 1 of Part 20 under criteria developed
by the State Board of Education.
(3) A pupil enrolled in a work experience program shall not be
credited with more than one day of attendance per calendar day, and
shall be a full-time pupil enrolled in regular classes that meet the
requirements of Section 46141 or 46144.
(c) (1) For purposes of the rehabilitative schools, classes, or
programs described in Section 48917 that require immediate
supervision, "immediate supervision" means that the person to whom
the pupil is required to report for training, counseling, tutoring,
or other prescribed activity shares the responsibility for the
supervision of the pupils in the rehabilitative activities with
certificated personnel of the district.
(2) A pupil enrolled in a rehabilitative school, class, or program
shall not be credited with more than one day of attendance per
calendar day.
(d) (1) For the purposes of computing the average daily attendance
of pupils engaged in the educational activities required of high
school pupils who are also enrolled in a regional occupational center
or regional occupational program, the school district shall receive
proportional average daily attendance credit for those educational
activities that are less than the minimum schoolday, pursuant to
regulations adopted by the State Board of Education; however, none of
that attendance shall be counted for purposes of computing
attendance pursuant to Section 52324.
(2) A school district shall not receive proportional average daily
attendance credit pursuant to this subdivision for any pupil in
attendance for less than 145 minutes each day.
(3) The divisor for computing proportional average daily
attendance pursuant to this subdivision is 240, except that, in the
case of a pupil excused from physical education classes pursuant to
Section 52316, the divisor is 180.
(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, travel time of
pupils to attend a regional occupational center or regional
occupational program shall not be used in any manner in the
computation of average daily attendance.
(e) (1) In computing the average daily attendance of a school
district, there shall also be included the attendance of pupils
participating in independent study conducted pursuant to Article 5.5
(commencing with Section 51745) of Chapter 5 of Part 28 for five or
more consecutive schooldays.
(2) A pupil participating in independent study shall not be
credited with more than one day of attendance per calendar day.
(f) For purposes of cooperative vocational education programs and
community classrooms described in Section 52372.1, "immediate
supervision" means pupil participation in paid and unpaid on-the-job
experiences, as outlined under a training agreement and
individualized training plans wherein the supervisor of the training
site and certificated school personnel share the responsibility for
the supervision of on-the-job experiences.
(g) In computing the average daily attendance of a school
district, there shall be included the attendance of pupils in
kindergarten readiness classes or kindergarten after
they have completed one school year in kindergarten only if the
school district has on file for each of those pupils an agreement
made pursuant to Section 48011, approved in form and content by the
State Department of Education and signed by the pupil's parent or
guardian, that the pupil may continue in kindergarten for not more
than an additional school year .
SEC. 6. Section 48000 of the Education Code is amended to read:
48000. (a) A Commencing on July 1, 2008,
a child shall be admitted to a kindergarten at the beginning of
a school year , or at any later time in the same year
if the child will have his or her fifth birthday on or
before December 2 September 1 of that
school year.
A child who will have his or her fifth birthday on or before
December 2 may be admitted to the prekindergarten summer program
maintained by the school district for pupils who will be enrolling in
kindergarten in September.
(b) The governing board of any 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 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.
SEC. 7. Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 48005.10) of Chapter
1 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code is
repealed.
SEC. 8. Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 48005.10) is added to
Chapter 1 of Part 27 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code,
to read:
Article 1.5. Kindergarten Readiness
48005.10. (a) There is hereby established the kindergarten
readiness program.
(b) The department shall administer the kindergarten readiness
program and shall promulgate rules and regulations governing this
program.
(c) The department shall allocate funds to participating county
offices of education and school districts for purposes of making
kindergarten readiness classes available to all children on a
voluntary basis and administering local kindergarten readiness
programs.
(d) The department shall be appropriately reimbursed for state
administrative responsibilities from within program funding sources.
48005.15. A participating county office of education and school
district shall do all of the following:
(a) Provide public notice of the availability of the program in
their service region.
(b) Within available resources, administer the program for
participating children.
(c) Provide educational support and assistance to help preschool
teaching personnel to meet program qualifications.
(d) Provide affirmative outreach efforts to recruit and retain a
culturally and linguistically diverse workforce.
(e) Provide specialized training in appropriate screening,
referral, inclusive practices, linguistic and culturally appropriate
teaching practices, research-based and developmentally appropriate
teaching methods to achieve early learning foundations, and engaging
and effectively communicating with parents and families of children
with exceptional needs and English Learners.
(f) Collaborate with the Head Start programs to maximize Head
Start funds.
(g) Maintain and provide data to the department for purposes of
program evaluation.
48005.20. A local kindergarten readiness program shall do all of
the following:
(a) Align early kindergarten with the elementary education school
system by providing all of the following:
(1) Connections between standards, assessment, curriculum, and
reporting.
(2) Organizational oversight and accountability.
(3) Comprehensive, coordinated professional development.
(4) Effective outreach and involvement of families.
(b) Integrate with public schools serving kindergarten and grades
1 to 12, inclusive, through strategies including all of the
following:
(1) Use and implementation of the department's research-based, age
and developmentally appropriate early learning foundations for all
five early childhood domains that are aligned with elementary
education standards.
(2) Use and implementation of early learning foundations,
curriculum, and assessment tools that align with the early learning
foundations.
(3) Integration with existing academic and fiscal interventions,
coaching, and technical assistance.
(4) Being included in the single school plan for pupil
achievement.
(c) Link with other providers of service to young children,
including providers of health insurance and services (including
mental and behavioral health), parent literacy and education, and
social services, especially through systems of care provided by First
5 school readiness programs and preschool demonstration projects,
healthy start programs, and school health services and clinics.
(d) Maximize connections and integration with full-day, full-year
early care and education programs, and be sensitive to the cultural
and linguistic needs of families.
(e) Assure the program is developed in conjunction with early care
and education workforce development activities. It is the intent of
the Legislature that the early kindergarten program is developed in
concert with the development of an infrastructure for educating a
culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse instructional
workforce that is adequately compensated to attract highly-qualified
teachers.
(f) Maximize the use of existing facilities by permitting the use
of facilities that meet licensing standards and that support an
inclusive environment for individuals with exceptional needs.
(g) Increase access to health and developmental screenings and
assessments for children. The state should phase in access to health
and developmental screenings, using valid, reliable, and culturally
sensitive instruments, for the purpose of identifying children with
physical disabilities, developmental delays, or other particular
needs that, if not addressed, can impede child development and school
success.
48005.25. Standards and guidelines for all aspects of the
kindergarten readiness program shall be based on the desired results
for children system, and early learning content and performance
standards and benchmarks required by the department. Standards and
guidelines shall do all of the following:
(a) Enhance children's overall development.
(b) Establish a foundation for developing language, early literacy
and numeracy competencies, as well as competencies in the areas of
social and emotional development, general cognition, physical and
motor development, and approaches to learning.
(c) Be developmentally appropriate.
(d) Meet federal child nutrition program requirements.
(e) Address developmental screening needs for children and guide
appropriate follow through that provides early intervention for
children with identified needs.
(f) Encourage local programs to establish program elements that
meet their unique circumstances, including cultural and linguistic
competency, and are inclusive of individuals with exceptional needs.
(g) Establish skills and competencies for each professional role.
(h) Build on quality early care and education programs to sustain
the gains that children make in kindergarten readiness.
48005.30. (a) Kindergarten readiness classes shall be taught by a
teacher who holds a credential issued by the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing that authorizes services in kindergarten, pursuant to
Division 8 (commencing with Section 80000) of Title 5 of the
California Code of Regulations, or a baccalaureate degree with 24
units in early care and education with a professional development
plan that provides for a credential within five years. A teacher with
an associate degree with 24 units in early care and education shall
be employed in each classroom. Class size shall be limited to 20
children with one teacher and one associate teacher.
(b) For the purposes of compensation, including pay and benefits,
kindergarten readiness teachers and associate teacher shall provide
two sessions per day to be considered full-time employees and shall
be employees of the administering county office of education or
school district.
(c) The Legislature encourages county offices of education and
school districts to use parents and other volunteers to lower their
adult-child ratios and to expand opportunities for family literacy,
parent involvement, and parent education.
(d) A kindergarten readiness program serving individuals with
exceptional needs in an inclusive setting may require additional
adult support, depending on the individualized educational program of
the child.
48005.35. To ensure that children participating in a kindergarten
readiness program will play and learn in safe and clean facilities
and environments, a program shall comply with the following
standards:
(a) Facilities and playgrounds shall meet the licensing
requirements of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations, where
applicable, and all other applicable state and federal health and
safety laws or regulations.
(b) Facilities and playgrounds shall meet the requirements of the
Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101, et seq.) and
the California Building Standards Code, and address best practices
for accessible facilities.
(c) Facilities and playgrounds shall be thoroughly cleaned and
inspected daily to ensure that all health and safety standards are
met.
(d) Health policies and practices to ensure prevention of disease
shall be established and followed according to all applicable state
and federal laws and regulations.
(e) Emergency disaster plans shall be established and followed.
(f) Emergency care plans for accommodating children who become ill
shall be established and followed.
(g) All staff and other adults associated with the program shall
meet the criminal clearance procedures required for public school
employees.
(h) All staff and other adults shall be trained to provide basic
first aid and CPR.
(i) Facilities are designed to maximize learning and facilitate
movement and play.
48005.40. (a) A kindergarten readiness program is eligible for
school facilities funding.
(b) Funds made available to public schools for joint uses may be
utilized for a kindergarten readiness program.
(c) Local providers are encouraged to seek shared use agreements
with a broad array of entities.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that funding appropriated
in the annual Budget Act for the support of state preschool programs
be allowed to fund the early kindergarten program as quality elements
are met.
48005.45. (a) The department shall establish and maintain an
evaluation system that ensures the privacy of children and measures
the statewide effectiveness of the program in achieving the desired
outcomes of children, using developmentally, culturally, and
linguistically appropriate and uniform tools statewide. This
evaluation system shall do all of the following:
(1) Provide an accurate accounting of the number of children
enrolled each year and an accounting of parental demand for
kindergarten readiness programs.
(2) Assess children's progress and program
effectiveness by using the Desired Results for Children and Families
system, as well as fiscal accountability.
(3) Use additional measures to determine whether the statewide
program is effective in accomplishing all of the following:
(A) Decreasing the number of children retained in the elementary
grades.
(B) Decreasing the number of children placed in special education
classes.
(C) Improving reading and mathematics scores.
(D) Increasing the number of inclusive settings for individuals
with disabilities and special needs.
(E) Outreaching to homeless, migrant, foster, and non-English
speaking families, families with special needs children, and other
underrepresented groups.
(F) Improving transitions of children and families to kindergarten
and transitions from home and care settings.
(4) Be integrated with performance indicators applied to
kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive.
(5) Require programs to report appropriate information to document
children's progress and program effectiveness.
(b) Following the fourth and eighth years of implementation of the
program, a report based on a sampling of this information, as it
becomes available, shall be submitted by the department to the
Governor and the Legislature and shall be used, in part, to determine
if additional expansion of the program is beneficial.
SEC. 9. Section 48010 of the Education Code is repealed.
48010. A child shall be admitted to the first grade of an
elementary school during the first month of a school year if the
child will have his or her sixth birthday on or before December 2nd
of that school year. For good cause, the governing board of a school
district may permit a child of proper age to be admitted to a class
after the first school month of the school term.
SEC. 10. Section 48200 of the Education Code is amended to read:
48200. (a) Each person between the ages of
6 5 and 18 years not exempted under
the provisions of this chapter or Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 48400) is subject to compulsory full-time
education. Each person subject to compulsory full-time education and
each person subject to compulsory continuation education not exempted
under the provisions of Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 48400)
shall attend the public full-time day school or continuation school
or classes and for the full time designated as the length of the
schoolday by the governing board of the school district in which the
residency of either the parent or legal guardian is located and each
parent, guardian, or other person having control or charge of the
pupil shall send the pupil to the public full-time day school or
continuation school or classes and for the full time designated as
the length of the schoolday by the governing board of the school
district in which the residence of either the parent or legal
guardian is located.
(b) Unless otherwise provided for in this
code, a pupil shall not be enrolled for less than the minimum
schoolday established by law. Kindergarten attendance pursuant
to Sections 46111 and 46114 shall be deemed full-time
education.
SEC. 11. Section 52122 of the Education Code is amended to read:
52122. (a) Except as otherwise provided by Section 52123, any
school district that maintains any kindergarten readiness class,
kindergarten , or any of grades 1 to 3, inclusive,
may apply to the Superintendent of Public Instruction
for an apportionment to implement a class size reduction
program in that school district in kindergarten and any of the grades
designated in this chapter.
(b) An application submitted pursuant to this chapter shall
identify both of the following:
(1) Each class that will participate in the Class Size Reduction
Program.
(2) For each class that will participate in the Class Size
Reduction Program, whether that class will operate under Option One
or Option Two:
(A) (i) Option One: A school district shall provide a reduced
class size for all pupils in each classroom for the full regular
schoolday in each grade level for which funding is claimed. For the
purposes of this chapter, "full regular schoolday" means a
substantial majority of the instructional minutes per day, but shall
permit limited periods of time during which pupils are brought
together for a particular phase of education in groups that are
larger than 20 pupils per certificated teacher. It is the intent of
the Legislature that those limited periods of time be kept to a
minimum and that instruction in reading and mathematics not be
delivered during those limited periods of time. For the purposes of
this subparagraph, "class" is defined in the same manner as provided
in the regulations adopted by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction prior to July 1, 1996, pursuant to Sections
41376 and 41378 (subdivision (a) of Section 15103 of Title 5 of the
California Code of Regulations).
(ii) The purpose of the Class Size Reduction Program is to ensure
that children in public school in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3,
inclusive, receive instruction in classrooms where there are not more
than 20 pupils. Except as provided in subdivision (h), in order to
qualify for funding pursuant to this chapter, each class in the Class
Size Reduction Program shall be maintained with an annual average
class size of not more than 20 pupils for the instructional time that
qualifies the class for funding pursuant to this chapter.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to This
chapter does not prohibit the class size from exceeding 20
pupils on any particular day, provided that the average class size
for the school year does not exceed 20.
(B) (i) Option Two: A school district shall provide a reduced
class size for all pupils in each classroom for at least one-half of
the instructional minutes offered per day in each grade level for
which funding is claimed. School districts selecting this option
shall primarily devote those instructional minutes to the subject
areas of reading and mathematics. For the purposes of this
subparagraph, "class" is defined in the same manner as provided in
the regulations adopted by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction prior to July 1, 1996, pursuant to Sections
41376 and 41378 (subdivision (a) of Section 15103 of Title 5 of the
California Code of Regulations).
(ii) The purpose of the Class Size Reduction Program is to ensure
that children in public school in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3,
inclusive, receive instruction in classrooms where there are not more
than 20 pupils. Except as provided in subdivision (h), in order to
qualify for funding pursuant to this chapter, each class in the Class
Size Reduction Program shall be maintained with an annual average
class size of not more than 20 pupils for the instructional time that
qualifies the class for funding pursuant to this chapter.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to This
chapter does not prohibit the class size from exceeding 20
pupils on any particular day, provided that the average class size
for the school year does not exceed 20.
(c) A school district that intends to implement a class size
reduction program for the 1996-97 school year shall submit an
application for funds pursuant to this chapter to the Superintendent
of Public Instruction not later than November 1,
1996. To receive the total amount of funding in the 1996-97 school
year for which the school district is eligible pursuant to Section
52126, a school district shall implement the Class Size Reduction
Program by February 16, 1997, within the meaning of paragraph (2) of
subdivision (b).
(d) A school district that intends to implement or continue to
implement a class size reduction program for the 1997-98 school year
and any subsequent school year shall submit an application for
funding pursuant to this chapter to the Superintendent of
Public Instruction not later than 90 days after the annual
Budget Act is chaptered, unless otherwise specified in regulations
adopted by the State Board of Education .
(e) For the 1997-98 school year, a school district that is either
implementing or expanding a class size reduction program pursuant to
this chapter may receive funding pursuant to this chapter even if the
new classes for which funding is sought are not implemented at the
beginning of the 1997-98 school year, provided that, for each new
class in the Class Size Reduction Program, all of the following
criteria are met:
(1) The teacher for each new class is hired and placed on the
school district's payroll by November 1, 1997.
(2) Each teacher for a new class has begun to receive the training
required by this chapter on or before February 16, 1998.
(3) All other requirements of this chapter are satisfied by
February 16, 1998, and continue to be satisfied for the remainder of
the 1997-98 school year.
(f) For the 1997-98 school year, the number of new classes in the
Class Size Reduction Program is the number of classes satisfying the
requirements of this chapter minus the number of classes funded in
the Class Size Reduction Program pursuant to this chapter in the
1996-97 school year.
(g) Any school district that chooses to reduce class size through
the use of an early-late instructional program is ineligible to also
use Section 46205, relating to the computation of instructional time
for purposes of the Incentive for Longer Instructional Day and Year,
in any grade level for which class size reduction funding is received
pursuant to this chapter; provided, however, that any school
district that operated under Section 46205 prior to July 1, 1996, may
receive class size reduction funding pursuant to Option One in any
grade level for which class size reduction funding would otherwise be
received pursuant to Option One.
(h) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a school
district that maintains only one school serving pupils in
kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive, is eligible to receive
funding under this section on behalf of the school if there are no
more than two classes per participating grade level and the average
class size is no more than 20 pupils in each of the classes
participating in class size reduction at that schoolsite. For
purposes of this subdivision, average class size may be determined by
calculating the total number of pupils enrolled in all classes at
all grade levels in a school that will participate in the Class Size
Reduction Program divided by the total number of classes in the
school. The ratio of pupils to teacher in any class included in the
average shall not exceed the 20 to 1 standard by more than two
pupils.
(2) As a condition of applying for funding under this subdivision,
a governing board shall make a public declaration, either by
adopting a resolution or by issuing a statement in a publicly noticed
open meeting, that it has exhausted all possible alternatives to
averaging and is unable to achieve the 20 to 1 pupil-teacher ratio in
a way that is educationally acceptable.
SEC. 12. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for
certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district because, in that regard, this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of
Title 2 of the Government Code.