WEST virginia legislature
2020 regular session
Introduced
Senate Bill 588
By Senators Prezioso, Baldwin, Facemire, Hardesty, Ihlenfeld, Jeffries, Lindsay, Palumbo, Plymale, Romano, Stollings, Unger, and Woelfel
[Introduced January 22,
2020; referred
to the Committee on Education]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5-44 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to expanding permissive early childhood education programs to children who are three years old beginning in the 2020-2021 school year; providing counties with the authority to implement three-year old early childhood education programs; and clarifying that state board rules should take into consideration curriculum appropriate for three-year old children in such programs.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-44. Early childhood education programs.
(a) For the purposes of this section, an “early childhood
education program” means a program created under this section for children who
have attained the age of four prior to September 1 of the school year in which
the children enter the program. (b) For the purposes of this section
beginning in the school year 2018-2019, an “early childhood education program”
means a program created under this section for children who have attained the
age of four prior to July 1 of the school year in which the children enter the
program. For the purposes of this section, beginning in the school year 2020-2021,
an “early childhood education program” may also include, at the discretion of
each county board of education, a program created under this section for
children who have attained the age of three prior to July 1 of the school year
in which the children enter the program.
(c) (b) Findings. –
(1) Among other positive outcomes, early childhood education programs have been determined to:
(A) Improve overall readiness when children enter school;
(B) Decrease behavioral problems;
(C) Improve student attendance;
(D) Increase scores on achievement tests;
(E) Decrease the percentage of students repeating a grade; and
(F) Decrease the number of students placed in special education programs;
(2) Quality early childhood education programs improve school performance and low-quality early childhood education programs may have negative effects, especially for at-risk children;
(3) West Virginia has the lowest percentage of its adult population 25 years of age or older with a bachelor’s degree and the education level of parents is a strong indicator of how their children will perform in school;
(4) During the 2006-2007 school year, West Virginia ranked 39th among the 50 states in the percentage of school children eligible for free and reduced lunches and this percentage is a strong indicator of how the children will perform in school;
(5) For the school year 2008-2009, 13,135 students were enrolled in prekindergarten, a number equal to approximately 63 percent of the number of students enrolled in kindergarten;
(6) Excluding projected increases due to increases in enrollment in the early childhood education program, projections indicate that total student enrollment in West Virginia will decline by one percent, or by approximately 2,704 students, by the school year 2012-2013;
(7) In part, because of the dynamics of the state aid formula, county boards will continue to enroll four-year-old students and three-year-old students to offset the declining enrollments;
(8) West Virginia has a comprehensive kindergarten program for five-year-olds, but the program was established in a manner that resulted in unequal implementation among the counties, which helped create deficit financial situations for several county boards;
(9) Expansion of current efforts to implement a comprehensive early childhood education program should avoid the problems encountered in kindergarten implementation;
(10) Because of the dynamics of the state aid formula, counties experiencing growth are at a disadvantage in implementing comprehensive early childhood education programs; and
(11) West Virginia citizens will benefit from the establishment of quality comprehensive early childhood education programs.
(d) (c) County boards shall provide early
childhood education programs for all children who have attained the age of four
prior to September 1 of the school year in which the children enter the early
childhood education program. These early childhood education programs shall
provide at least 48,000 minutes annually and no less than 1,500 minutes of
instruction per week. (e) Beginning in the school year 2018-2019, county
boards shall provide early childhood education programs for all children who
have attained the age of four prior to July 1 of the school year in which the
children enter the early childhood education program. Beginning in the
school year 2020-2021, county boards may provide early childhood education
programs for all children who have attained the age of three prior to July 1 of
the school year in which the children enter the early childhood education
program.
(f) (d) The program shall meet the following
criteria:
(1) It shall be voluntary, except that, upon enrollment, the provisions of §18-8-1a of this code apply to an enrolled student, subject to subdivision (4) of this subsection;
(2) It shall be open to all children meeting the age requirement set forth in this section;
(3) It shall provide no less than 1,500 minutes of instruction per week, in a full-day program with at least 48,000 minutes of instruction annually; and
(4) It shall permit a parent of an enrolled child to withdraw the child from that program by notifying the district in writing. A child withdrawn under this section is not subject to the attendance provisions of this chapter until that child again enrolls in a public school in this state.
(g) (e) Enrollment of students in Head Start, or
in any other program approved by the state superintendent as provided in this
section, may be counted toward satisfying the requirement of subsection (c) of
this section.
(h) (f) For the purposes of implementation
financing, all counties are encouraged to make use of funds from existing
sources, including:
(1) Federal funds provided under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act pursuant to 20 U. S. C. §6301, et seq.;
(2) Federal funds provided for Head Start pursuant to 42 U. S. C. §9831, et seq.;
(3) Federal funds for temporary assistance to needy families pursuant to 42 U. S. C. §601, et seq.;
(4) Funds provided by the School Building Authority pursuant to §18-9D-1 et seq. of this code;
(5) In the case of counties with declining enrollments, funds from the state aid formula above the amount indicated for the number of students actually enrolled in any school year; and
(6) Any other public or private funds.
(i) (g) Each county board shall develop a plan for
implementing the program required by this section. The plan shall include the
following elements:
(1) An analysis of the demographics of the county related to early childhood education program implementation;
(2) An analysis of facility and personnel needs;
(3) Financial requirements for implementation and potential sources of funding to assist implementation;
(4) Details of how the county board will cooperate and collaborate with other early childhood education programs including, but not limited to, Head Start, to maximize federal and other sources of revenue;
(5) Specific time lines for implementation; and
(6) Any other items the state board may require by policy.
(j) (h) A county board shall submit its plan to
the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources. The secretary
shall approve the plan if the following conditions are met:
(1) The county board has maximized the use of federal and other available funds for early childhood programs; and
(2) The county board has provided for the maximum implementation of Head Start programs and other public and private programs approved by the state superintendent pursuant to the terms of this section; or
(3) The secretary finds that, if the county board has not met one or more of the requirements of this subsection, the county board has acted in good faith and the failure to comply was not the primary fault of the county board. Any denial by the secretary may be appealed to the circuit court of the county in which the county board is located.
(k) (i) The county board shall submit its plan for
approval to the state board. The state board shall approve the plan if the
county board has complied substantially with the requirements of subsection (g)
of this section and has obtained the approval required in subsection (h) of
this section.
(l) (j) Every county board shall submit its plan
for reapproval by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources
and by the state board at least every two years after the initial approval of
the plan and until full implementation of the early childhood education program
in the county. As part of the submission, the county board shall provide a
detailed statement of the progress made in implementing its plan. The standards
and procedures provided for the original approval of the plan apply to any
reapproval.
(m) (k) A county board may not increase the total
number of students enrolled in the county in an early childhood program until
its program is approved by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human
Resources and the state board.
(n) (l) The state board annually may grant a
county board a waiver for total or partial implementation if the state board
finds that all of the following conditions exist:
(1) The county board is unable to comply either because:
(A) It does not have sufficient facilities available; or
(B) It does not and has not had available funds sufficient to implement the program;
(2) The county has not experienced a decline in enrollment at least equal to the total number of students to be enrolled; and
(3) Other agencies of government have not made sufficient funds or facilities available to assist in implementation.
Any county board seeking a waiver shall apply with the supporting data to meet the criteria for which they are eligible on or before March 25 for the following school year. The state superintendent shall grant or deny the requested waiver on or before April 15 of that same year.
(o) (m) The provisions of §18-5-18 (b), (c) and
(d) of this code relating to kindergarten apply to early childhood education
programs in the same manner in which they apply to kindergarten programs.
(p) (n) Except as required by federal law or
regulation, no county board may enroll students who will be less than four
years of age prior to September 1 for the year they enter school. (q)
Except as required by federal law or regulation, beginning in the school year
2018-2019, no county board may enroll students who will be less than four years
of age prior to July 1 for the year they enter school. Except as required by
federal law or regulation, beginning in the school year 2020-2021, no county
board may enroll students who will be less than three years of age prior to
July 1 for the year they enter school.
(r) (o) Neither the state board nor the state
department may provide any funds to any county board for the purpose of
implementing this section unless the county board has a plan approved pursuant
to subsections (h), (i) and (j) (f), (g) and (h) of this
section.
(s) (p) The state board shall promulgate a rule in
accordance with the provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code for the
purposes of implementing the provisions of this section. The state board shall
consult with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources in
the preparation of the rule. The rule shall contain the following:
(1) Standards for curriculum;
(2) Standards for preparing students;
(3) Attendance requirements;
(4) Standards for personnel; and
(5) Any other terms necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
(t) (q) The rule shall include the following
elements relating to curriculum standards:
(1) A requirement that the curriculum be designed to address the developmental needs of three-year-old and four-year-old children, respectively, consistent with prevailing research on how children learn;
(2) A requirement that the curriculum be designed to achieve long-range goals for the social, emotional, physical and academic development of young children;
(3) A method for including a broad range of content that is relevant, engaging and meaningful to young children;
(4) A requirement that the curriculum incorporate a wide variety of learning experiences, materials and equipment, and instructional strategies to respond to differences in prior experience, maturation rates and learning styles that young children bring to the classroom;
(5) A requirement that the curriculum be designed to build on what children already know in order to consolidate their learning and foster their acquisition of new concepts and skills;
(6) A requirement that the curriculum meet the recognized standards of the relevant subject matter disciplines;
(7) A requirement that the curriculum engage children actively in the learning process and provide them with opportunities to make meaningful choices;
(8) A requirement that the curriculum emphasize the development of thinking, reasoning, decision-making, and problem-solving skills;
(9) A set of clear guidelines for communicating with parents and involving them in decisions about the instructional needs of their children; and
(10) A systematic plan for evaluating program success in meeting the needs of young children and for helping them to be ready to succeed in school.
(u) (r) After the school year 2012-2013, on or before
July 1 of each year, each county board shall report the following information
to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources and the state
superintendent:
(1) Documentation indicating the extent to which county boards are maximizing resources by using the existing capacity of community-based programs, including, but not limited to, Head Start and child care; and
(2) For those county boards that are including eligible children attending approved, contracted community-based programs in their net enrollment for the purposes of calculating state aid pursuant to article nine-a of this chapter, documentation that the county board is equitably distributing funding for all children regardless of setting.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill will authorize, beginning in the school year 2020-2021, county boards provide early childhood education programs for all children who have attained the age of three.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.