HB311

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that many studies show the importance of early childhood education. A federal department of education study reports that all kindergarteners increase their knowledge and skills regardless of how much they knew prior to enrollment. Kindergartners are expected to and do leave kindergarten knowing how to read and write. First graders who did not go to kindergarten are typically behind their peers in their academic and social development and are more likely to fail a grade in elementary school. Despite these compelling findings, kindergarten attendance is not mandatory in the State of Hawaii.

The purpose of this Act is to enhance learning by lowering the compulsory education age from six years to five years and to make attendance in kindergarten mandatory.

SECTION 2. Section 302A-411, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§302A-411 Junior kindergarten and kindergarten program; establishment; attendance. (a) The department shall establish and maintain junior kindergartens and kindergartens with a program of instruction as a part of the public school system; provided that:

(1) [~~Attendance~~] Junior kindergarten attendance shall not be mandatory; and

(2) Charter schools shall be excluded from mandatory participation in the program.

(b) The department shall establish a two-tier junior kindergarten and kindergarten program to support the range of developmental abilities of children in junior kindergarten and kindergarten. Any school may move students between junior kindergarten and kindergarten as the school deems appropriate. Junior kindergarten students may graduate directly to grade one. The program shall include any or all of the following models:

(1) Classrooms composed exclusively of either junior kindergarten or kindergarten students;

(2) Coordination with public, private, or public-private entities to address the needs of junior kindergarten-eligible students within the school's community; and

(3) The blending of junior kindergarten and kindergarten students in a single classroom.

(c) [~~Beginning with the 2004-2005 school year, a child who will be at least five years of age on or before December 31 of the school year may attend a public school kindergarten.~~] Beginning with the 2006-2007 school year, a child who will be at least five years of age on or before August 1 of the school year may attend a public school kindergarten. Beginning with the 2006-2007 school year, a child who will be at least five years of age after August 1 and on or before [~~January 1~~] December 31 of the school year may attend a public school junior kindergarten. Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, a child who is not excluded from school or excepted from compulsory attendance pursuant to section 302A-1132 and who will be at least five years of age on or before December 31 of any school year shall attend a public or private school kindergarten. Any parent, guardian, or other person having the responsibility for, or care of, a child whose attendance at kindergarten is mandatory under this section shall send the child to either a public or private school kindergarten.

(d) Effective August 1, 2009, a child who:

(1) Will be at least five years of age on or before December 31 of any school year; and

(2) Is enrolled in appropriate alternative educational program or in home school pursuant to section 302A-1132(a)(5)

shall be exempt from mandatory kindergarten attendance under this section; provided that any child so exempt shall successfully pass a standardized admission test approved by the board as a prerequisite to entering grade one in a public school.

[~~(d)~~] (e) The department may accept gifts to establish and maintain junior kindergartens and kindergartens."

SECTION 3. Section 302A-1132, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§302A-1132[]] Attendance compulsory; exceptions. (a) Unless excluded from school or excepted from attendance, all children who will have arrived at the age of at least [~~six~~] five years, and who will not have arrived at the age of eighteen years, [~~by January 1~~] on or before December 31 of any school year, shall attend either a public or private school, including kindergarten, for, and during, the school year[~~, and any~~]. Any parent, guardian, or other person having the responsibility for, or care of, a child whose attendance at school is obligatory shall send the child to either a public or private school. Attendance at a public or private school shall not be compulsory in the following cases:

(1) Where the child is physically or mentally unable to attend school (deafness and blindness excepted), of which fact the certificate of a duly licensed physician shall be sufficient evidence;

(2) Where the child, who has reached the fifteenth anniversary of birth, is suitably employed and has been excused from school attendance by the superintendent or the superintendent's authorized representative, or by a family court judge;

(3) Where, upon investigation by the family court, it has been shown that for any other reason the child may properly remain away from school;

(4) Where the child has graduated from high school;

(5) Where the child is enrolled in an appropriate alternative educational program as approved by the superintendent or the superintendent's authorized representative in accordance with the plans and policies of the department, or notification of intent to home school has been submitted to the principal of the public school that the child would otherwise be required to attend in accordance with department rules adopted to achieve this result[~~; or~~] provided that a child who:

(A) Is excepted from compulsory attendance under this paragraph; and

(B) Will be at least six years of age on or before December 31 of any school year

shall successfully pass a standardized admission test approved by the board as a prerequisite to entering grade one in a public school.

(6) Where:

(A) The child has attained the age of sixteen years;

(B) The principal has determined that:

(i) The child has engaged in behavior [~~which~~] that is disruptive to other students, teachers, or staff; or

(ii) The child's non-attendance is chronic and has become a significant factor that hinders the child's learning; and

(C) The principal of the child's school, and the child's teacher or counselor, in consultation with the child and the child's parent, guardian, or other adult having legal responsibility for or care of the child, develops an alternative educational plan for the child. The alternative educational plan shall include a process that shall permit the child to resume school.

The principal of the child's school shall file the plan made pursuant to subparagraph (C) with the child's school record. If the adult having legal responsibility for or care of the child disagrees with the plan, then the adult shall be responsible for obtaining appropriate educational services for the child.

(b) Any employer who employs a child who is excused from school attendance in accordance with subsection (a)(2) shall notify the child's school within three days upon termination of the child's employment."

SECTION 4. The board of education shall establish a task force to develop a standardized admission test, including test materials, forms, and grading methods, and educational and informational material for prospective students and their family or guardian, to be administered to any child who did not attend kindergarten in public or private school as a prerequisite to entering first grade in public school. The task force shall complete all matters necessary to implement the standardized admission test to enable a qualified child to enter first grade in a public school by school year 2009-2010. The task force shall cease to exist on December 31, 2009.

SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon approval, provided that section 3 shall take effect July 1, 2009.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	311
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII