Relating to statewide voluntary preschool program required hours of instruction and funding calculations

This bill relates to statewide voluntary preschool program required hours of instruction and funding calculations. The bill requires that each statewide voluntary preschool program (SVPP) offered by a school district to include a minimum of 1,080 hours of instruction during a calendar year. This is the current minimum hours of instruction required for students attending kindergarten through grade classes. 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 100 percent of eligible students enrolled in the preschool program. This is the same as the current method for calculating budget enrollment for a school district.