HF 3902

as introduced - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 02/27/2020 01:46pm

A bill for an act
relating to education; making certain policy and technical changes for early learning
provisions; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, sections 120A.20, by adding a
subdivision; 124D.141, subdivision 2; 124D.165, subdivisions 3, 4; 125A.30;
proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 121A.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 120A.20, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Verification of age for admission to public school. new text end

new text begin (a) Public schools may
request documentation that verifies a pupil falls within the school's minimum and maximum
age requirements for admission to publicly funded prekindergarten, preschool, kindergarten,
or grades 1 to 12. Documentation may include a passport, a hospital birth record or
physician's certificate, a baptismal or religious certificate, an adoption record, health records,
immunization records, immigration records, previously verified school records, early
childhood screening records, Minnesota Immunization Information Connection records, or
an affidavit from a parent.
new text end

new text begin (b) The school district or charter school must not deny a child from public school
enrollment solely because the child's parent or guardian is unable to provide a birth certificate
record.
new text end

Sec. 2.

new text begin [121A.425] FULL AND EQUITABLE PARTICIPATION IN PRESCHOOL
AND PREKINDERGARTEN.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Disciplinary dismissals prohibited. new text end

new text begin A school district or charter school
must prohibit the disciplinary dismissal of a child enrolled in a preschool or prekindergarten
program, including a child participating in early childhood family education, school readiness,
school readiness plus, voluntary prekindergarten, Head Start, or other school-based preschool
or prekindergarten program.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Nonexclusionary discipline. new text end

new text begin School district or charter school staff must ensure
that a child fully participates in a preschool or prekindergarten program described in
subdivision 1 by providing one or more of the following services:
new text end

new text begin (1) collaborating with the child's family or guardian, child mental health consultant or
provider, education specialist, or other community-based support;
new text end

new text begin (2) creating a plan, written with the parent or guardian, that details the action and support
needed for the child to fully participate in a preschool or prekindergarten program;
new text end

new text begin (3) providing a referral for needed support services, including parenting education, home
visits, or other supportive educational interventions; or
new text end

new text begin (4) determining if a referral for special education is appropriate for the child.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 124D.141, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Additional duties.

The following duties are added to those assigned to the
council under federal law:

(1) make recommendations on the most efficient and effective way to leverage state and
federal funding streams for early childhood and child care programs;

deleted text begin (2) make recommendations on how to coordinate or colocate early childhood and child
care programs in one state Office of Early Learning. The council shall establish a task force
to develop these recommendations. The task force shall include two nonexecutive branch
or nonlegislative branch representatives from the council; six representatives from the early
childhood caucus; two representatives each from the Departments of Education, Human
Services, and Health; one representative each from a local public health agency, a local
county human services agency, and a school district; and two representatives from the
private nonprofit organizations that support early childhood programs in Minnesota. In
developing recommendations in coordination with existing efforts of the council, the task
force shall consider how to:
deleted text end

deleted text begin (i) consolidate and coordinate resources and public funding streams for early childhood
education and child care, and ensure the accountability and coordinated development of all
early childhood education and child care services to children from birth to kindergarten
entrance;
deleted text end

deleted text begin (ii) create a seamless transition from early childhood programs to kindergarten;
deleted text end

deleted text begin (iii) encourage family choice by ensuring a mixed system of high-quality public and
private programs, with local points of entry, staffed by well-qualified professionals;
deleted text end

deleted text begin (iv) ensure parents a decisive role in the planning, operation, and evaluation of programs
that aid families in the care of children;
deleted text end

deleted text begin (v) provide consumer education and accessibility to early childhood education and child
care resources;
deleted text end

deleted text begin (vi) advance the quality of early childhood education and child care programs in order
to support the healthy development of children and preparation for their success in school;
deleted text end

deleted text begin (vii) develop a seamless service delivery system with local points of entry for early
childhood education and child care programs administered by local, state, and federal
agencies;
deleted text end

deleted text begin (viii) ensure effective collaboration between state and local child welfare programs and
early childhood mental health programs and the Office of Early Learning;
deleted text end

deleted text begin (ix) develop and manage an effective data collection system to support the necessary
functions of a coordinated system of early childhood education and child care in order to
enable accurate evaluation of its impact;
deleted text end

deleted text begin (x) respect and be sensitive to family values and cultural heritage; and
deleted text end

deleted text begin (xi) establish the administrative framework for and promote the development of early
childhood education and child care services in order to provide that these services, staffed
by well-qualified professionals, are available in every community for all families that express
a need for them.
deleted text end

deleted text begin In addition, the task force must consider the following responsibilities for transfer to the
Office of Early Learning:
deleted text end

deleted text begin (A) responsibilities of the commissioner of education for early childhood education
programs and financing under sections 119A.50 to 119A.535, 121A.16 to 121A.19, and
124D.129 to 124D.2211;
deleted text end

deleted text begin (B) responsibilities of the commissioner of human services for child care assistance,
child care development, and early childhood learning and child protection facilities programs
and financing under chapter 119B and section 256E.37; and
deleted text end

deleted text begin (C) responsibilities of the commissioner of health for family home visiting programs
and financing under section 145A.17.
deleted text end

deleted text begin Any costs incurred by the council in making these recommendations must be paid from
private funds. If no private funds are received, the council must not proceed in making these
recommendations. The council must report its recommendations to the governor and the
legislature by January 15, 2011;
deleted text end

deleted text begin (3) deleted text end new text begin (2) new text end review program evaluations regarding high-quality early childhood programs; new text begin
and
new text end

deleted text begin (4) deleted text end new text begin (3) new text end make recommendations to the governor and legislature, including proposed
legislation on how to most effectively create a high-quality early childhood system in
Minnesota in order to improve the educational outcomes of children so that all children are
school-ready by 2020 deleted text begin ; deleted text end new text begin .
new text end

deleted text begin (5) make recommendations to the governor and the legislature by March 1, 2011, on the
creation and implementation of a statewide school readiness report card to monitor progress
toward the goal of having all children ready for kindergarten by the year 2020. The
recommendations shall include what should be measured including both children and system
indicators, what benchmarks should be established to measure state progress toward the
goal, and how frequently the report card should be published. In making their
recommendations, the council shall consider the indicators and strategies for Minnesota's
early childhood system report, the Minnesota school readiness study, developmental
assessment at kindergarten entrance, and the work of the council's accountability committee.
Any costs incurred by the council in making these recommendations must be paid from
private funds. If no private funds are received, the council must not proceed in making these
recommendations; and
deleted text end

deleted text begin (6) make recommendations to the governor and the legislature on how to screen earlier
and comprehensively assess children for school readiness in order to provide increased early
interventions and increase the number of children ready for kindergarten. In formulating
their recommendations, the council shall consider (i) ways to interface with parents of
children who are not participating in early childhood education or care programs, (ii) ways
to interface with family child care providers, child care centers, and school-based early
childhood and Head Start programs, (iii) if there are age-appropriate and culturally sensitive
screening and assessment tools for three-, four-, and five-year-olds, (iv) the role of the
medical community in screening, (v) incentives for parents to have children screened at an
earlier age, (vi) incentives for early education and care providers to comprehensively assess
children in order to improve instructional practice, (vii) how to phase in increases in screening
and assessment over time, (viii) how the screening and assessment data will be collected
and used and who will have access to the data, (ix) how to monitor progress toward the goal
of having 50 percent of three-year-old children screened and 50 percent of entering
kindergarteners assessed for school readiness by 2015 and 100 percent of three-year-old
children screened and entering kindergarteners assessed for school readiness by 2020, and
(x) costs to meet these benchmarks. The council shall consider the screening instruments
and comprehensive assessment tools used in Minnesota early childhood education and care
programs and kindergarten. The council may survey early childhood education and care
programs in the state to determine the screening and assessment tools being used or rely on
previously collected survey data, if available. For purposes of this subdivision, "school
readiness" is defined as the child's skills, knowledge, and behaviors at kindergarten entrance
in these areas of child development: social; self-regulation; cognitive, including language,
literacy, and mathematical thinking; and physical. For purposes of this subdivision,
"screening" is defined as the activities used to identify a child who may need further
evaluation to determine delay in development or disability. For purposes of this subdivision,
"assessment" is defined as the activities used to determine a child's level of performance in
order to promote the child's learning and development. Work on this duty will begin in
fiscal year 2012. Any costs incurred by the council in making these recommendations must
be paid from private funds. If no private funds are received, the council must not proceed
in making these recommendations. The council must report its recommendations to the
governor and legislature by January 15, 2013, with an interim report on February 15, 2011.
deleted text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 124D.165, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Administration.

(a) The commissioner shall establish application timelines
and determine the schedule for awarding scholarships that meets operational needs of eligible
families and programs. The commissioner must give highest priority to applications from
children who:

(1) have a parent under age 21 who is pursuing a high school diploma or a course of
study for a high school equivalency test;

(2) are in foster care or otherwise in need of protection or services; or

(3) have experienced homelessness in the last 24 months, as defined under the federal
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, United States Code, title 42, section 11434a.

The commissioner may prioritize applications on additional factors including family
income, geographic location, and whether the child's family is on a waiting list for a publicly
funded program providing early education or child care services.

(b) The commissioner shall establish a target for the average scholarship amount per
child based on the results of the rate survey conducted under section 119B.02.

(c) A four-star rated program that has children eligible for a scholarship enrolled in or
on a waiting list for a program beginning in July, August, or September may notify the
commissioner, in the form and manner prescribed by the commissioner, each year of the
program's desire to enhance program services or to serve more children than current funding
provides. The commissioner may designate a predetermined number of scholarship slots
for that program and notify the program of that number. For fiscal year 2018 and later, the
statewide amount of funding directly designated by the commissioner must not exceed the
funding directly designated for fiscal year 2017. Beginning July 1, 2016, a school district
or Head Start program qualifying under this paragraph may use its established registration
process to enroll scholarship recipients and may verify a scholarship recipient's family
income in the same manner as for other program participants.

(d) A scholarship is awarded for a 12-month period. If the scholarship recipient has not
been accepted and subsequently enrolled in a rated program within ten months of the
awarding of the scholarship, the scholarship cancels and the recipient must reapply in order
to be eligible for another scholarship. A child may not be awarded more than one scholarship
in a 12-month period.

(e) A child who receives a scholarship who has not completed development screening
under sections 121A.16 to 121A.19 must complete that screening within 90 days of first
attending an eligible program new text begin or within 90 days after the child's third birthday if awarded
a scholarship under the age of three new text end .

(f) For fiscal year 2017 and later, a school district or Head Start program enrolling
scholarship recipients under paragraph (c) may apply to the commissioner, in the form and
manner prescribed by the commissioner, for direct payment of state aid. Upon receipt of
the application, the commissioner must pay each program directly for each approved
scholarship recipient enrolled under paragraph (c) according to the metered payment system
or another schedule established by the commissioner.

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 124D.165, subdivision 4, is amended to read:

Subd. 4.

Early childhood program eligibility.

(a) In order to be eligible to accept an
early learning scholarship, a program must:

(1) participate in the quality rating and improvement system under section 124D.142;
and

(2) beginning July 1, 2020, have a three- or four-star rating in the quality rating and
improvement system.

(b) Any program accepting scholarships must use the revenue to supplement and not
supplant federal funding.

deleted text begin (c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), all Minnesota early learning foundation scholarship
program pilot sites are eligible to accept an early learning scholarship under this section.
deleted text end

Sec. 6.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 125A.30, is amended to read:

125A.30 INTERAGENCY EARLY INTERVENTION COMMITTEES.

(a) A group of school districts or special education cooperatives, in cooperation with
the new text begin county and tribal new text end health and human service agencies located in the county or counties
in which the districts or cooperatives are located, must establish an Interagency Early
Intervention Committee for children with disabilities under age five and their families under
this section, and for children with disabilities ages three to 22 consistent with the requirements
under sections 125A.023 and 125A.027. Committees must include representatives of local
health, education, and county new text begin and tribal new text end human service agencies, early childhood family
education programs, Head Start, parents of young children with disabilities under age 12,
child care resource and referral agencies, school readiness programs, current service
providers, and agencies that serve families experiencing homelessness, and may also include
representatives from other private or public agencies and school nurses. The committee
must elect a chair from among its members and must meet at least quarterly.

(b) The committee must develop and implement interagency policies and procedures
concerning the following ongoing duties:

(1) develop public awareness systems designed to inform potential recipient families,
especially parents with premature infants, or infants with other physical risk factors associated
with learning or development complications, of available programs and services;

(2) to reduce families' need for future services, and especially parents with premature
infants, or infants with other physical risk factors associated with learning or development
complications, implement interagency child find systems designed to actively seek out,
identify, and refer infants and young children with, or at risk of, disabilities, including a
child under the age of three who: (i) is the subject of a substantiated case of abuse or neglect
or (ii) is identified as directly affected by illegal substance abuse, or withdrawal symptoms
resulting from prenatal drug exposure;

(3) implement a process for assuring that services involve cooperating agencies at all
steps leading to individualized programs;

(4) identify the current services and funding being provided within the community for
children with disabilities under age five and their families; and

(5) develop a plan for the allocation and expenditure of federal early intervention funds
under United States Code, title 20, section 1471 et seq. (Part C, Public Law 108-446) and
United States Code, title 20, section 631, et seq. (Chapter I, Public Law 89-313).

(c) The local committee shall also participate in needs assessments and program planning
activities conducted by local social service, health and education agencies for young children
with disabilities and their families.