Download This Bill in Microsoft Word format
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
S. 478
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Elliott, Williams, Malloy, McGill, Reese, Pinckney, Short, Drummond, Sheheen, Land, Moore, Patterson and Lourie
Document Path: l:\council\bills\ggs\22737sj07.doc
Introduced in the Senate on February 21, 2007
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Education
Summary: Four-year-old kindergarten program
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
Date Body Action Description with journal page number ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2/21/2007 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-18 2/21/2007 Senate Referred to Committee on Education SJ-18
View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 59-35-20 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL PROVIDE FOR A FOUR-YEAR-OLD KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THIS STATE; AND TO AMEND SECTION 59-19-90, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL BOARDS OF TRUSTEES, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT BOARDS SHALL PROVIDE PROGRAMS FOR FOUR-YEAR-OLDS; TO AMEND SECTION 59-19-125, RELATING TO LEASING OF SCHOOL PROPERTY, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT BOARDS OF TRUSTEES MAY LEASE PROPERTY TO PROVIDE PROGRAMS FOR FOUR-YEAR-OLDS; TO AMEND SECTION 59-19-340, RELATING TO CHILD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A BOARD OF TRUSTEES THAT PROVIDES CHILD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS FOR THREE-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN MAY CONTINUE TO SERVE THOSE CHILDREN; TO AMEND SECTION 59-20-40, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO EDUCATION FINANCE ACT WEIGHTINGS, SO AS TO INCLUDE FOUR- AND FIVE-YEAR-OLDS IN THE KINDERGARTEN WEIGHTING; TO AMEND SECTION 59-63-20, RELATING TO A STUDENT'S AGE OF ATTENDANCE, SO AS TO INCLUDE FOUR-YEAR-OLDS; TO AMEND SECTION 59-63-31, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR ATTENDANCE AT A PUBLIC SCHOOL, SO AS TO INCLUDE FOUR-YEAR-OLDS; TO AMEND SECTION 59-65-10, RELATING TO THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF A PARENT, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT PARENTS SHALL ENROLL THEIR CHILDREN IN A FOUR-YEAR-OLD KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Chapter 35, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 59-35-20. (A) Beginning with the 2007-08 school year, the board of trustees of each school district shall establish and provide at least a half-day four-year-old kindergarten program. Beginning with the 2009-10 school year, each school district shall provide a full-day four-year-old kindergarten program. Children who are four years old by September first may attend the four-year-old kindergarten program. Children in the four-year-old kindergarten program must be counted in the average daily membership of the public school district. State aid for the four-year-old kindergarten program must be distributed through the formula provided in Section 59-20-40 of the Education Finance Act.
(B) The State Board of Education may waive the four-year-old kindergarten requirement for a particular school district if the board finds that the school district does not have available space and the cost of temporary classroom space cannot be justified.
(C) A child who is eligible to attend the full-day four-year-old kindergarten program may attend the half-day program. The parent shall notify the school district that the child will attend the full-day four-year-old kindergarten program by January thirty-first of the year of the anticipated enrollment date. Parents moving into the district after the notification date may apply for the full-day four-year-old kindergarten program, and the district shall enroll the child in the program on a space available basis. A parent of a child eligible to attend the four-year-old kindergarten program may elect for their child not to attend kindergarten pursuant to Section 59-65-10."
SECTION 2. Section 59-19-90(11) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(11) Provide:
(a) a school-age child care childcare program for children aged five through fourteen years that operates before or after the school day, or both, and during periods when school is not in session;
(b) a school-age child care childcare program that operates during periods when school is in session for students who are enrolled in a half-day kindergarten program; or
(c) classrooms, other space, or both, in a school for use by an organization that is operating a school-age child care childcare program before or after the school day, or both, and during periods when school is not in session for children aged five through fourteen years; or
(d) beginning with the 2007-08 school year, the programs in subitems (a), (b), and (c) for children aged four.
All latchkey programs operating pursuant to this item must be licensed."
SECTION 3. Section 59-19-125 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-19-125. Each district board of trustees may lease any school property for a rental which the board considers reasonable or permit the free use of school property for:
(1) civic or public purposes; or
(2) the operation of a school-age child care childcare program for children aged five four through fourteen years that operates before or after the school day, or both, and during periods when school is not in session, if the property is not needed for school purposes. Under this section the board may enter into a long-term lease with a corporation, community service organization, or other governmental entity, if the corporation, organization, or other governmental entity will use the property to be leased for civic or public purposes or for a school-age child care childcare program. However, if the property subject to a long-term lease is being paid for from money in the district's debt service fund, then all proceeds from the long-term lease must be deposited in that school district's debt service fund so long as the property has not been paid for."
SECTION 4. Section 59-19-340 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-19-340. The board of trustees of each school district may establish and provide for the education of children who will attain the age of four on or before September first of the applicable school year in child development programs. The board of trustees of school districts having child development programs serving three and four-year-olds on the date of enactment of this section may continue to serve three-year-old children."
SECTION 5. Section 59-20-40(1)(c)(1) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 49 of 2005, is further amended to read:
"(1) Four- and five-year old kindergarten pupils 1.30"
SECTION 6. Section 59-63-20 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 59-63-20. It is not lawful for any person who is less than five four or more than twenty-one years of age to attend any of the public schools of this State, including kindergarten, except that:
(1) Persons over twenty-one years of age may attend night schools;
(2) When a pupil is in the graduating class and becomes twenty-one years of age before graduation, he is permitted to complete the term if otherwise qualified to do so;
(3) Students may enter kindergarten in the public schools of this State if they will attain the age of five four on or before September first of the applicable school year or have substantially initiated a public school kindergarten program in another state that has a different attendance age requirement from South Carolina;
(4) Students may not enter the first grade in the public schools of this State unless they will attain the age of six on or before September first of the applicable school year or have substantially initiated a first grade program in another state that has a different attendance age requirement from South Carolina or have attended a public school kindergarten program for one full school year;
(5) The restrictions in this section may be waived by the local board of school trustees in any proper case. However, that if the provisions of items (3) and (4) of this section are not complied with, the school district is not entitled to receive any state aid for any students who fail to meet these requirements;
(6) Four-year-olds may attend optional child development programs and All three-year-old, four-year-old, and five-year-old children with disabilities in accordance with their individual education program, may participate in any public education preschool program, including optional child development programs. Children with disabilities served in four-year-old optional child development programs may be counted for funding under both funding sources."
SECTION 7. Section 59-63-31(B) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(B) A child between five four and twenty-one years of age is entitled to continue attending a particular public school or a successor school in the same school district without charge if the:
(1) the child has been attending the school or a predecessor school in the same district prior to being taken into custody by the Department of Social Services or prior to being moved from one placement to another by the department;
(2) the Department of Social Services places the child outside the school district or school attendance zone in a foster home or residential community-based facility licensed or operated by the department; and
(3) the Department of Social Services has determined that it is in the child's best interests for the child to continue attending the school, and that transportation for the child to and from the school is reasonably available.
In addition to the requirements of this subsection, the child also shall satisfy the requirements of Section 59-63-30(d) and (e)."
SECTION 8. Section 59-65-10(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(A) All parents or guardians shall cause their children or wards to attend regularly a public or private school or kindergarten of this State which has been approved by the State Board of Education or a member school of the South Carolina Independent Schools' Association or some similar organization, or a parochial, denominational, or church-related school, or other programs which have been approved by the State Board of Education from the school year in which the child or ward is five years of age and, beginning with the 2007-08 school year, four years of age before September first until the child or ward attains his seventeenth birthday or graduates from high school. A parent or guardian whose child or ward is not six years of age on or before the first day of September of a particular school year may elect for their child or ward not to attend kindergarten. For this purpose, the parent or guardian shall sign a written document making the election with the governing body of the school district in which the parent or guardian resides. The form of this written document must be prescribed by regulation of the Department of Education. Upon the written election being executed, that child or ward may not be required to attend kindergarten."
SECTION 9. This act takes effect on approval by the Governor.
This web page was last updated on Monday, October 10, 2011 at 1:28 P.M.