Senate
File
354
-
Introduced
SENATE
FILE
354
BY
HART
,
QUIRMBACH
,
HORN
,
McCOY
,
BOULTON
,
BISIGNANO
,
DVORSKY
,
LYKAM
,
HOGG
,
and
MATHIS
A
BILL
FOR
An
Act
relating
to
the
admission
and
exclusion
of
pupils
in
1
kindergarten
and
first
grade
by
school
districts,
lowering
2
the
compulsory
age
of
attendance
to
age
five,
and
including
3
effective
date
provisions.
4
BE
IT
ENACTED
BY
THE
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
OF
THE
STATE
OF
IOWA:
5
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Section
1.
Section
256C.3,
subsection
1,
paragraph
a,
Code
1
2017,
is
amended
to
read
as
follows:
2
a.
A
child
who
is
a
resident
of
Iowa
and
is
four
years
3
of
age
on
or
before
September
15
of
a
school
year
shall
be
4
eligible
to
enroll
in
the
preschool
program
under
this
chapter
.
5
If
such
a
child
is
enrolled
under
this
chapter
,
the
child
shall
6
be
considered
to
be
of
compulsory
attendance
age
as
provided
in
7
section
299.1A,
subsection
3
2
.
8
Sec.
2.
Section
282.3,
subsections
1
and
2,
Code
2017,
are
9
amended
to
read
as
follows:
10
1.
The
board
of
directors
of
a
school
district
may
exclude
11
from
school
children
under
the
age
of
six
five
years
when
in
12
its
judgment
such
children
are
not
sufficiently
mature
to
be
13
benefited
by
regular
instruction,
or
any
child
who
is
found
14
to
be
physically
or
mentally
unable
to
attend
school
under
15
section
299.5
,
or
whose
presence
in
school
has
been
found
to
16
be
injurious
to
the
health
of
other
pupils,
or
is
efficiently
17
taught
for
the
scholastic
year
at
a
state
institution.
18
However,
the
board
shall
provide
special
education
programs
and
19
services
under
chapters
256B
,
257
,
and
273
for
all
children
20
requiring
special
education.
21
2.
The
conditions
of
admission
to
public
schools
for
work
in
22
the
year
immediately
preceding
the
first
grade
relating
to
a
23
child’s
age
and
in
the
first
grade
ability
shall
be
as
follows:
24
a.
A
child
under
the
age
of
six
five
years
on
the
fifteenth
25
of
September
of
the
current
school
year
shall
not
be
admitted
26
to
a
public
school
unless
the
board
of
directors
of
the
school
27
has
adopted
and
put
into
effect
courses
of
study
for
the
school
28
year
immediately
preceding
the
first
grade,
approved
by
the
29
department
of
education,
and
has
employed
a
practitioner
or
30
practitioners
for
this
work
with
standards
of
training
approved
31
by
the
board
of
educational
examiners
child
is
being
admitted
32
to
a
preschool
program
established
and
implemented
by
the
33
school
district
pursuant
to
chapter
256C
.
34
b.
No
child
shall
be
admitted
to
school
work
for
the
year
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immediately
preceding
the
first
grade
unless
the
child
is
five
1
years
of
age
on
or
before
the
fifteenth
of
September
of
the
2
current
school
year.
3
c.
b.
No
A
child
shall
not
be
admitted
to
the
first
grade
4
kindergarten
unless
the
child
is
six
five
years
of
age
on
5
or
before
the
fifteenth
of
September
of
the
current
school
6
year
;
except
that
as
provided
in
section
299.1A.
However,
a
7
child
under
six
five
years
of
age
who
has
been
admitted
to
8
public
school
work
for
the
year
immediately
preceding
the
9
first
grade
under
conditions
approved
by
the
department
of
10
education
kindergarten
pursuant
to
paragraph
“a”
,
or
who
has
11
demonstrated
the
possession
of
sufficient
ability
to
profit
by
12
first-grade
kindergarten
work
on
the
basis
of
tests
or
other
13
means
of
evaluation
recommended
or
approved
by
the
department
14
of
education,
may
be
admitted
to
first
grade
kindergarten
at
15
any
time
before
December
31.
16
Sec.
3.
Section
299.1A,
Code
2017,
is
amended
to
read
as
17
follows:
18
299.1A
Compulsory
attendance
age.
19
1.
Except
as
provided
in
subsections
subsection
2
and
3
,
a
20
child
who
has
reached
the
age
of
six
five
and
is
under
sixteen
21
years
of
age
by
September
15
is
of
compulsory
attendance
age.
22
However,
if
a
child
enrolled
in
a
school
district
or
accredited
23
nonpublic
school
reaches
the
age
of
sixteen
on
or
after
24
September
15,
the
child
remains
of
compulsory
age
until
the
end
25
of
the
regular
school
calendar.
26
2.
A
child
who
has
reached
the
age
of
five
by
September
15
27
and
who
is
enrolled
in
a
school
district
shall
be
considered
28
to
be
of
compulsory
attendance
age
unless
the
parent
or
29
guardian
of
the
child
notifies
the
school
district
in
writing
30
of
the
parent’s
or
guardian’s
intent
to
remove
the
child
from
31
enrollment
in
the
school
district.
32
3.
2.
A
child
who
has
reached
the
age
of
four
by
September
33
15
and
who
is
enrolled
in
the
statewide
preschool
program
under
34
chapter
256C
shall
be
considered
to
be
of
compulsory
attendance
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age
unless
the
parent
or
guardian
of
the
child
submits
written
1
notice
to
the
school
district
implementing
the
program
of
2
the
parent’s
or
guardian’s
intent
to
remove
the
child
from
3
enrollment
in
the
preschool
program.
4
Sec.
4.
STATE
MANDATE
FUNDING
SPECIFIED.
In
accordance
5
with
section
25B.2,
subsection
3,
the
state
cost
of
requiring
6
compliance
with
any
state
mandate
included
in
this
Act
shall
7
be
paid
by
a
school
district
from
state
school
foundation
aid
8
received
by
the
school
district
under
section
257.16.
This
9
specification
of
the
payment
of
the
state
cost
shall
be
deemed
10
to
meet
all
of
the
state
funding-related
requirements
of
11
section
25B.2,
subsection
3,
and
no
additional
state
funding
12
shall
be
necessary
for
the
full
implementation
of
this
Act
13
by
and
enforcement
of
this
Act
against
all
affected
school
14
districts.
15
Sec.
5.
EFFECTIVE
DATE.
This
Act
takes
effect
July
1,
2018.
16
EXPLANATION
17
The
inclusion
of
this
explanation
does
not
constitute
agreement
with
18
the
explanation’s
substance
by
the
members
of
the
general
assembly.
19
This
bill
lowers
the
compulsory
school
attendance
age
from
20
six
to
five
for
a
child
reaching
the
age
of
five
by
September
15
21
of
a
school
year.
22
Currently,
Code
section
282.3
authorizes
a
school
board
to
23
exclude
from
school
children
who
are
under
the
age
of
six
years
24
when
in
its
judgment
such
children
are
not
mature
enough
to
25
benefit
from
regular
instruction
or
for
other
reasons
specified
26
in
statute,
and
establishes
conditions
of
admission
to
public
27
schools
for
school
work
in
kindergarten
and
the
first
grade.
28
Current
law
also
provides
that
a
child
under
the
age
of
six
29
on
September
15
shall
not
be
admitted
to
a
public
school
unless
30
the
school
has
adopted
and
put
into
effect
courses
of
study
31
taught
by
a
licensed
teacher
for
the
school
year
immediately
32
preceding
the
first
grade,
except
that
a
child
under
age
six
33
who
was
admitted
to
kindergarten
under
conditions
approved
34
by
the
department
of
education,
or
who
has
demonstrated
the
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possession
of
sufficient
ability
to
profit
by
first-grade
work
1
on
the
basis
of
tests
or
other
means
of
evaluation
recommended
2
or
approved
by
the
department,
may
be
admitted
to
first
grade
3
at
any
time
before
December
31.
Current
law
prohibits
the
4
admission
of
a
child
for
the
year
immediately
preceding
the
5
first
grade
unless
the
child
is
five
years
of
age
on
or
before
6
September
15.
7
The
bill
makes
changes
to
Code
section
282.3,
relating
to
the
8
admission
and
exclusion
of
pupils,
to
apply
the
provision
to
9
children
of
kindergarten
age.
10
The
bill
may
include
a
state
mandate
as
defined
in
Code
11
section
25B.3.
The
bill
requires
that
the
state
cost
of
12
any
state
mandate
included
in
the
bill
be
paid
by
a
school
13
district
from
state
school
foundation
aid
received
by
the
14
school
district
under
Code
section
257.16.
The
specification
15
is
deemed
to
constitute
state
compliance
with
any
state
mandate
16
funding-related
requirements
of
Code
section
25B.2.
The
17
inclusion
of
this
specification
is
intended
to
reinstate
the
18
requirement
of
political
subdivisions
to
comply
with
any
state
19
mandates
included
in
the
bill.
20
The
bill
takes
effect
July
1,
2018.
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