Relating to preschool for four-year-old children, including funding, minimum hours, and approved programs, and including effective date provisions

The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. This bill relates to preschool for four-year-old children. The bill requires that each statewide voluntary preschool program (SVPP) offered by a school district to include hours of instruction per week for children whose household income is below 185 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) applicable to the family’s size. Currently, each SVPP is only required to offer hours of instruction per week for an enrolled child. A school district with an approved SVPP is funded in part by preschool foundation aid payments. The preschool foundation aid is calculated by multiplying the regular program state cost per pupil by the school district’s preschool budget enrollment. Currently, the preschool budget enrollment for a given year is calculated by multiplying the number of eligible students enrolled in the preschool program by percent. The bill changes the calculation for preschool budget enrollment to the sum of the actual number of eligible students who receive hours per week of instruction and whose household income is less than 185 percent of the FPL plus percent of all other eligible students. The education savings account (ESA) program is a program established to assist pupils who attend nonpublic schools in paying for qualified educational expenses including but not limited to tuition, tutoring or cognitive skill training fees, educational therapy costs, software expenses, and expenses related to course materials. Under current law, students enrolled in a preschool program are not eligible for the ESA program. The bill defines “approved nonpublic program” as an accredited nonpublic school’s program for four-year-old children approved by the department of education to provide high-quality preschool instruction. The bill requires the state board of education to adopt rules to define the requirements for an accredited nonpublic school preschool program to be approved for the purposes of qualifying for payments from an ESA. The bill prohibits such rules from requiring an approved nonpublic program to retain the services of a licensed teacher for the approved nonpublic program, partner or collaborate with a school district, or partner or collaborate with community stakeholders. The bill provides that all children eligible to participate in preschool programming provided by a school district through the statewide voluntary preschool program are eligible to participate in an approved nonpublic program. The bill makes tuition for an approved nonpublic program a qualified expense for the purposes of the ESA program. The bill makes resident pupils who are eligible to enroll in an approved nonpublic program eligible for the ESA program for school budget years beginning on or after July 1, 2024. The bill sets ESA payments for pupils enrolled in an approved nonpublic school in an amount equal to the regular program state cost per pupil for the school budget year multiplied by percent, which is the same amount per pupil a school district receives for preschool students under current law for programs that offer hours of instruction per week. The bill allows the state board of education to adopt emergency rules to implement the provisions of the bill. The bill takes effect upon enactment.