SB 150 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION.

Lockman &DELAWARE Rep.STATE SENATE 150th GENERAL ASSEMBLY SENATE AMENDMENT NO.

Minor-Brown1 Sens.TO SENATE BILL NO.

Cloutier,150 Hansen,AMEND Poore,Senate Sokola,Bill Sturgeon,No. Townsend;

Reps.150 on line 45 by deleting “in a school district or charter school”.

Bolden,FURTHER Chukwuocha,AMEND Cooke,Senate DorseyBill WalkerNo. DELAWARE STATE SENATE 150th GENERAL ASSEMBLY SENATE BILL NO.

150 ANon ACTline TO58 AMENDby TITLEinserting 14the OFfollowing THEafter DELAWAREthe CODEperiod RELATINGtherein: TO KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION.

WHEREAS,“The childrenDepartment thatmay startmake school with the skillsuniform theykindergarten needregistration toprocess succeedavailable arein moreother likelylanguages.”. to be successful throughout their education;

andFURTHER WHEREAS,AMEND currentlySenate thereBill areNo. 28 school districts and charter schools that provide kindergarten services, each with its own registration process, most of which use paper forms requiring in-person completion;

and150 WHEREAS, early kindergarten registration helps children be prepared to start school on the first day, by ensuringdeleting theylines have59 allthrough the67 necessaryin formstheir completedentirety and byinserting providingin thelieu schoolsthereof and families time to work with the childrenfollowing: to help get them ready;

and“(b) WHEREAS,The earlyuniform kindergarten registration helpsprocess schoolestablished districtsunder and§ charter402A schoolsof bythis givingtitle themmust accurateinclude studentall counts,of whichthe drivedocuments teacherrequired hiring,to supplies,be classroomcompleted setby up,a scheduling,parent andwho accurateis andregistering efficienta buschild routesfor andkindergarten. transportation scheduling;

and(c) WHEREAS,The earlyuniform kindergarten registration helpsprocess familiesestablished takeunder advantage§ 402 of choicethis slots,title whichmust oftencollect closeinformation byrelated to all types of early learning experiences a child has before kindergarten, including the firstduration weekand intime January;attended for each experience.”.

andFURTHER WHEREAS,AMEND familiesSenate findBill theNo. current process challenging and confusing;

and150 WHEREAS,on approximatelyline 178 inby 3deleting Delaware“document” publicand schoolinserting studentsin exerciseslieu schoolthereof choice,“document, electingincluding toa attendbirth othercertificate,”. schools within his or her district of residence, or choice-out of their district to another public school;

andFURTHER WHEREAS,AMEND 3Senate outBill ofNo. 4 Delaware parents or caregivers describe the kindergarten registration process as “hard” or “extremely hard”, and almost all Spanish speaking parents (98%) said the registration process was “hard” or “extremely hard”;

and150 WHEREAS,by familiesdeleting maylines live84 inthrough one86 schoolin districttheir entirety and moveinserting beforein thelieu startthereof of“(1) theEstablish schoola year,process orfor choicesupporting intoa anotherparent schoolto districtregister or a charterchild for kindergarten before the application deadline for the school anddistrict mustenrollment fillchoice outprogram duplicateunder paperwork;§ 403 of this title.”.

andSYNOPSIS WHEREAS,This schoolAmendment districtsdoes and charter schools will benefit from the efficiencyfollowing: of a single, State Internet-based system, and some districts have already begun to develop common forms and processes for kindergarten registration;

and(1) LCClarifies :that the Department of Education (“Department”) can provide the uniform kindergarten registration process in languages other than English and Spanish.

MJC(2) :Removes the exemplary list of documents required to be completed by a parent who is registering a child for kindergarten.

CM(3) PageRequires 1that information related to all types of 4early Released:learning experiences that a child has before kindergarten is collected by the uniform kindergarten registration process.

06/11/2019(4) 05:41Clarifies PMthat WHEREAS,all schoolpersonal districtsdocuments andavailable charterfor schoolsInternet-based shouldor controlelectronic theupload localmust implementationbe ofaccepted welcomingby familiesschools offor kindergartenersconsideration, intoincluding theirbirth schools,certificates. continuing to hold their own open houses, kindergarten readiness events, and delivery screening through locally-determined strategies;

and(5) WHEREAS,Requires that the StateDepartment currentlyestablish operatesa process for supporting a commonparent datato systemregister anda child for kindergarten before the application deadline for the school district enrollment choice portal;program under § 403 of Title 14 rather than requiring the Department to establish a date by which it is recommended a parent register a child.

and(6) WHEREAS,Makes theadditional Stateconforming currentlyamendments. requires school districts and charter schools to collect some common information.

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1.

Amend Part I, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

Chapter 4A.

Uniform Kindergarten Registration Process.

§ 401A.

Definitions.

(1) “Charter school” means a public school established under Chapter 5 of this title.

(2) “Department” means the Department of Education.

(3) “Parent” means a natural parent, an adoptive parent, any person legally charged with the care or custody of a student under 18 years of age, or any person who has assumed responsibility for the care of a student under 18 years of age including any person acting as a caregiver pursuant to the provisions of § 202(f) of this title.

(4) “Receiving local education agency” means as defined under § 402 of this title.

(5) “School district” means a clearly defined geographic subdivision of the State organized for the purpose of administering public education in that area and includes a district specifically created to administer a system of vocational or technical education.

§ 402A.

Establishment of a uniform kindergarten registration process.

(a) The Department shall establish a uniform kindergarten registration process to be used by a parent to register a child for kindergarten in a school district or charter school.

(b) The Department shall establish the uniform kindergarten registration process for the 2021 through 2022 school year.

(c) The Department shall provide interested school districts and charter schools the option of testing the uniform kindergarten registration process for the 2021 through 2022 school year.