Source: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB186%20SUB2%20enr.htm&yr=2017&sesstype=RS&i=186
Timestamp: 2017-10-19 14:47:41
Document Index: 752592770

Matched Legal Cases: ['§18', '§18', '§18', '§18', '§18', '§18']

Enrolled Version - Final Version Senate Bill 186 History
Senators Jeffries, Ojeda, Facemire and Woelfel, original sponsors
[Passed April 5, 2017; in effect 90 days from passage]
AN ACT to amend and reenact §18-5-18 and §18-5-44 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §18-8-1a of said code, all relating to adjusting the date upon which children become eligible for certain school programs and school attendance requirements; changing the kindergarten age attainment requirement from age five prior to September 1 to age five prior to July 1, with the July 1 date to become enforceable with the 2019-2020 school year; changing the early childhood education program age attainment date requirement from age four prior to September 1 to age four prior to July 1, with the July 1 date becoming enforceable with the 2018-2019 school year; and changing the age for which compulsory attendance begins to those who attain age six by July 1 of each year, with the July 1 date becoming enforceable with the 2019-2020 school year.
That §18-5-18 and §18-5-44 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that §18-8-1a of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
(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.
(c) Findings. –
(d) 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 forty-eight thousand minutes annually and no less than fifteen hundred 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.
(f) The program shall meet the following criteria:
(3) It shall provide no less than fifteen hundred minutes of instruction per week, in a full-day program with at least forty-eight thousand minutes of instruction annually; and
(g) 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) For the purposes of implementation financing, all counties are encouraged to make use of funds from existing sources, including:
(i) Each county board shall develop a plan for implementing the program required by this section. The plan shall include the following elements:
(j) 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:
(k) 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) 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) 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) 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:
(o) The provisions of subsections (b), (c) and (d), section eighteen of this article relating to kindergarten apply to early childhood education programs in the same manner in which they apply to kindergarten programs.
(p) 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.
(r) 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) of this section.
(s) The state board shall promulgate a rule in accordance with the provisions of article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a 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:
(t) The rule shall include the following elements relating to curriculum standards:
(8) A requirement that the curriculum emphasize the development of thinking, reasoning, decisionmaking and problem-solving skills;
(u) 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: