SF 3626

as introduced - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 03/20/2018 09:29am

A bill for an act
relating to education finance; funding universal voluntary prekindergarten;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2016, sections 124D.15, subdivisions 1, 3a;
124D.151, subdivision 2; Minnesota Statutes 2017 Supplement, sections 124D.151,
subdivisions 5, 6; 124D.165, subdivision 3.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 124D.15, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Establishment; purpose.

A district or a group of districts may establish
a school readiness program for children age three to kindergarten entrance. The purpose of
a school readiness program is to prepare children to enter kindergarten. new text begin A district must
coordinate its school readiness program with its voluntary prekindergarten program.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 124D.15, subdivision 3a, is amended to read:

Subd. 3a.

Application and reporting requirements.

(a) A school readiness program
provider must include a biennial plan in the district's world's best workforce plan under
section 120B.11, describing how the school readiness program meets the program
requirements under subdivision 3 deleted text begin . deleted text end new text begin and how the program coordinates with other early learning
programs, including voluntary prekindergarten and early learning scholarships.
new text end

(b) Programs receiving school readiness funds annually must submit a report to the
department.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 124D.151, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Program requirements.

(a) A voluntary prekindergarten program provider
must:

(1) provide instruction through play-based learning to foster children's social and
emotional development, cognitive development, physical and motor development, and
language and literacy skills, including the native language and literacy skills of English
learners, to the extent practicable;

(2) measure each child's cognitive and social skills using a formative measure aligned
to the state's early learning standards when the child enters and again before the child leaves
the program, screening and progress monitoring measures, and others from the state-approved
menu of kindergarten entry profile measures;

(3) provide comprehensive program content including the implementation of curriculum,
assessment, and instructional strategies aligned with the state early learning standards, and
kindergarten through grade 3 academic standards;

(4) provide instructional content and activities that are of sufficient length and intensity
to address learning needs including offering a program with at least 350 hours of instruction
per school year for a prekindergarten student;

(5) provide voluntary prekindergarten instructional staff salaries comparable to the
salaries of local kindergarten through grade 12 instructional staff;

(6) coordinate appropriate kindergarten transition with families, community-based
prekindergarten programs, and school district kindergarten programs;

(7) involve parents in program planning and transition planning by implementing parent
engagement strategies that include culturally and linguistically responsive activities in
prekindergarten through third grade that are aligned with early childhood family education
under section 124D.13;

(8) coordinate with relevant community-based services, including health and social
service agencies, to ensure children have access to comprehensive services;

(9) coordinate with all relevant school district programs and services new text begin , new text end including new text begin school
readiness programs, new text end early childhood special education new text begin programs new text end , new text begin programs for new text end homeless
students, and new text begin programs for new text end English learners;

(10) ensure staff-to-child ratios of one-to-ten and a maximum group size of 20 children;

(11) provide high-quality coordinated professional development, training, and coaching
for both school district and community-based early learning providers that is informed by
a measure of adult-child interactions and enables teachers to be highly knowledgeable in
early childhood curriculum content, assessment, native and English language development
programs, and instruction; and

(12) implement strategies that support the alignment of professional development,
instruction, assessments, and prekindergarten through grade 3 curricula.

(b) A voluntary prekindergarten program must have teachers knowledgeable in early
childhood curriculum content, assessment, native and English language programs, and
instruction.

(c) Districts and charter schools must include their strategy for implementing and
measuring the impact of their voluntary prekindergarten program under section 120B.11
and provide results in their world's best workforce annual summary to the commissioner of
education.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2017 Supplement, section 124D.151, subdivision 5, is amended
to read:

Subd. 5.

Application process; priority for high poverty schools.

(a) deleted text begin To qualify for
program approval for fiscal year 2017, a district or charter school must submit an application
to the commissioner by July 1, 2016. deleted text end To qualify for program approval for fiscal year 2018
and later, a district or charter school must submit an application to the commissioner by
January 30 of the fiscal year prior to the fiscal year in which the program will be
implemented. The application must include:

(1) a description of the proposed program, including the number of hours per week the
program will be offered at each school site or mixed-delivery location;

(2) an estimate of the number of eligible children to be served in the program at each
school site or mixed-delivery location; and

(3) a statement of assurances signed by the superintendent or charter school director that
the proposed program meets the requirements of subdivision 2.

(b) The commissioner must review all applications submitted for fiscal year deleted text begin 2017 by
August 1, 2016, and must review all applications submitted for fiscal year deleted text end 2018 and later
by March 1 of the fiscal year in which the applications are received and determine whether
each application meets the requirements of paragraph (a).

(c) new text begin For fiscal years prior to 2020, new text end the commissioner must divide all applications for new
or expanded voluntary prekindergarten programs under this section meeting the requirements
of paragraph (a) and school readiness plus programs into four groups as follows: the
Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts; other school districts located in the metropolitan
equity region as defined in section 126C.10, subdivision 28; school districts located in the
rural equity region as defined in section 126C.10, subdivision 28; and charter schools.
Within each group, the applications must be ordered by rank using a sliding scale based on
the following criteria:

(1) concentration of kindergarten students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches by
school site on October 1 of the previous school year. A school site may contract to partner
with a community-based provider or Head Start under subdivision 3 or establish an early
childhood center and use the concentration of kindergarten students eligible for free or
reduced-price meals from a specific school site as long as those eligible children are
prioritized and guaranteed services at the mixed-delivery site or early education center. For
school district programs to be operated at locations that do not have free and reduced-price
lunch concentration data for kindergarten programs for October 1 of the previous school
year, including mixed-delivery programs, the school district average concentration of
kindergarten students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches must be used for the rank
ordering;

(2) presence or absence of a three- or four-star Parent Aware rated program within the
school district or close proximity of the district. School sites with the highest concentration
of kindergarten students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches that do not have a three-
or four-star Parent Aware program within the district or close proximity of the district shall
receive the highest priority, and school sites with the lowest concentration of kindergarten
students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches that have a three- or four-star Parent
Aware rated program within the district or close proximity of the district shall receive the
lowest priority; and

(3) whether the district has implemented a mixed delivery system.

(d) new text begin For fiscal years 2018 and 2019, new text end the limit on participation for the programs as specified
in subdivision 6 must initially be allocated among the four groups based on each group's
percentage share of the statewide kindergarten enrollment on October 1 of the previous
school year. Within each group, the participation limit for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 must
first be allocated to school sites approved for aid in the previous year to ensure that those
sites are funded for the same number of participants as approved for the previous year. The
remainder of the participation limit for each group must be allocated among school sites in
priority order until that region's share of the participation limit is reached. If the participation
limit is not reached for all groups, the remaining amount must be allocated to the highest
priority school sites, as designated under this section, not funded in the initial allocation on
a statewide basis. deleted text begin For fiscal year 2020 and later, the participation limit must first be allocated
to school sites approved for aid in fiscal year 2017, and then to school sites approved for
aid in fiscal year 2018 based on the statewide rankings under paragraph (c).
deleted text end

(e) Once a school site or a mixed delivery site under subdivision 3 is approved for aid
under this subdivision, it deleted text begin shall remain deleted text end new text begin remains new text end eligible for aid if it continues to meet program
requirements deleted text begin , regardless of changes in the concentration of students eligible for free or
reduced-price lunches deleted text end .

(f) new text begin For fiscal years 2018 and 2019, new text end if the total number of participants approved based
on applications submitted under paragraph (a) is less than the participation limit under
subdivision 6, the commissioner must notify all school districts and charter schools of the
amount that remains available within 30 days of the initial application deadline under
paragraph (a), and complete a second round of allocations based on applications received
within 60 days of the initial application deadline.

(g) new text begin For fiscal years 2018 and 2019, new text end procedures for approving applications submitted
under paragraph (f) shall be the same as specified in paragraphs (a) to (d), except that the
allocations shall be made to the highest priority school sites not funded in the initial allocation
on a statewide basis.

new text begin (h) For fiscal year 2020 and later, the commissioner may approve all applications
submitted under paragraph (a).
new text end

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2017 Supplement, section 124D.151, subdivision 6, is amended
to read:

Subd. 6.

Participation limits.

(a) Notwithstanding section 126C.05, subdivision 1,
paragraph (d), the pupil units for a voluntary prekindergarten program for an eligible school
district or charter school must not exceed 60 percent of the kindergarten pupil units for that
school district or charter school under section 126C.05, subdivision 1, paragraph (e).

deleted text begin (b) In reviewing applications under subdivision 5, the commissioner must limit the
estimated state aid entitlement approved under this section to $27,092,000 for fiscal year
2017. If the actual state aid entitlement based on final data exceeds the limit in any year,
the aid of the participating districts must be prorated so as not to exceed the limit.
deleted text end

deleted text begin (c) The commissioner must limit the total number of funded participants in the voluntary
prekindergarten program under this section to not more than 3,160.
deleted text end

deleted text begin (d) Notwithstanding paragraph (c), deleted text end new text begin (b) new text end The commissioner must limit the total number
of participants in the voluntary prekindergarten and school readiness plus programs to not
more than 6,160 participants for fiscal year 2018 and 7,160 participants for fiscal year 2019. new text begin
The commissioner must not limit the total number of participants in the voluntary
prekindergarten program for fiscal years 2020 and later.
new text end

Sec. 6.

Minnesota Statutes 2017 Supplement, 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. new text begin When prioritizing
scholarships, the commissioner may consider whether the child's geographic area lacks
voluntary prekindergarten programs or school readiness programs.
new text end

(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. deleted text begin The commissioner may designate a predetermined number of scholarship slots
for that program and notify the program of that number. deleted text end 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.

(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.