By Hodge H.B. No. 1925
75R7968 E
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to public prekindergarten programs.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 29.153, Education Code, is amended to
1-5 read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 29.153. Prekindergarten. (a) Any school district may
1-7 offer prekindergarten classes, but a district shall offer
1-8 prekindergarten classes if the district identifies 15 or more
1-9 eligible children who are at least four years of age on September 1
1-10 of the school year. [A school district may offer prekindergarten
1-11 classes if the district identifies 15 or more eligible children who
1-12 are at least three years of age.]
1-13 (b) [A child is eligible for enrollment in a prekindergarten
1-14 class if the child is at least three years of age and is:]
1-15 [(1) unable to speak and comprehend the English
1-16 language;]
1-17 [(2) educationally disadvantaged; or]
1-18 [(3) homeless, as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section 11302,
1-19 regardless of the residence of the child, of either parent of the
1-20 child, or of the child's guardian or other person having lawful
1-21 control of the child.]
1-22 [(c)] A prekindergarten class shall be operated on a
1-23 half-day basis. A district is not required to provide
1-24 transportation for a prekindergarten class, but transportation, if
2-1 provided, is included for funding purposes as part of the regular
2-2 transportation system.
2-3 (c) [(d) On application of a district, the commissioner may
2-4 exempt a district from the application of this section if the
2-5 district would be required to construct classroom facilities in
2-6 order to provide prekindergarten classes.]
2-7 [(e)] Each school district shall develop a system to notify
2-8 the population in the district with children who are eligible for
2-9 enrollment in a prekindergarten class of the availability of the
2-10 class. The system must include public notices issued in English
2-11 and Spanish.
2-12 (d) [(f)] A district's prekindergarten program shall be
2-13 designed to develop skills necessary for success in the regular
2-14 public school curriculum, including language, mathematics, and
2-15 social skills.
2-16 (e) [(g)] If a school district contracts with a private
2-17 entity for the operation of the district's prekindergarten program,
2-18 the program must at a minimum comply with the applicable child-care
2-19 licensing standards adopted by the Texas Department of Human
2-20 Services under Section 42.042, Human Resources Code.
2-21 SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 1997-1998
2-22 school year.
2-23 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-27 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-1 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-2 passage, and it is so enacted.