File No. 77

Senate, March 17, 2011

The Committee on Education reported through SEN. STILLMAN of the 20th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the Senate, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING THE SCHOOL ENTRANCE AGE.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 10-184 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2011):

All parents and those who have the care of children shall bring them up in some lawful and honest employment and instruct them or cause them to be instructed in reading, writing, spelling, English grammar, geography, arithmetic and United States history and in citizenship, including a study of the town, state and federal governments. Subject to the provisions of this section and section 10-15c, each parent or other person having control of a child five years of age and over and under eighteen years of age shall cause such child to attend a public school regularly during the hours and terms the public school in the district in which such child resides is in session, unless such child is a high school graduate or the parent or person having control of such child is able to show that the child is elsewhere receiving equivalent instruction in the studies taught in the public schools. For the school year commencing July 1, 2011, and each school year thereafter, the parent or person having control of a child seventeen years of age may consent, as provided in this section, to such child's withdrawal from school. Such parent or person shall personally appear at the school district office and sign a withdrawal form. Such withdrawal form shall include an attestation from a guidance counselor or school administrator of the school that such school district has provided such parent or person with information on the educational options available in the school system and in the community. The parent or person having control of a child five years of age shall have the option of not sending the child to school until the child is six years of age and the parent or person having control of a child six years of age shall [have the option of not sending the] not be required to send the child to school until the child is seven years of age if (1) a physician certifies that the child should not attend school until age seven, or (2) the child has been identified as having a developmental delay, as defined in section 10-76a. The parent or person shall exercise such option by personally appearing at the school district office and signing an option form. The school district shall provide the parent or person with information on the educational opportunities available in the school system.

The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst's professional knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact:

Note: GF=General Fund

Municipal Impact:

Explanation

The bill, which requires children to start school by age six, unless a child meets certain criteria, is anticipated to result in increased costs to various municipalities and a potential cost to the state. It is anticipated that there are currently 1,600 children who would be required to begin school a year earlier than they otherwise would have.

MUNICIPAL:

The additional 1,600 children will increase the size of the incoming kindergarten classes at various municipalities. It is anticipated that not all local and regional boards of education will be impacted by this change. Depending on the number of additional kindergarteners at each school, the cost will vary. It is anticipated that districts could face increased marginal costs of approximately $3,000 to $4,000 per child ($4.8 million to $6.4 million statewide). It is anticipated that there will be some districts where the addition of only a few students would not result in the need for additional resources. This is due to various factors including: additional capacity in kindergarten classrooms and availability of seats on the school buses. To the extent that any one district has a significant number of additional kindergarten students, they could face costs in excess of the marginal cost, such as an additional teacher, teacher's assistant, or other support staff.

STATE:

Currently, in FY 11, the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grant and other various statutory formulaic grants are capped (as they have been since FY 03). For FY 12 and future years, additional statutory language is required to cap these grants. If these caps were to be lifted, the formulas would require additional funding, within SDE, to account for the 1,600 new students. For example, the average per student cost under the ECS grant is $3,450. An additional 1,600 students would result in an additional cost of approximately $5.5 million to SDE, and a corresponding revenue gain to the municipalities with an increasing number of kindergarteners. If the grants remain capped, and to the extent that the additional 1,600 children impact population totals in various municipalities, a redistribution of the formulaic grants could occur. This could result in a revenue gain to various municipalities and a corresponding revenue loss to other municipalities.

The Out Years

The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would decrease in magnitude, annually, until enrollment levels out.

OLR Bill Analysis

sSB 930

AN ACT CONCERNING THE SCHOOL ENTRANCE AGE.

SUMMARY:

This bill eliminates a parent's option to delay a child's school entry until the child turns age seven. Instead, it requires children to start school by age six unless (1) a physician certifies that a child should not attend school until he or she turns seven or (2) the child has been identified under the state special education law as having a developmental delay (see BACKGROUND).

Under this bill, as under existing law, children are generally required to start school at age five, but parents can choose to keep five-year-olds out of school until they turn age six. To exercise this option, a parent must personally appear at the school district office and sign a form. Under current law, parents may also, by the same means, opt to keep a six-year-old out of school until age seven. The bill eliminates the latter option.

With certain exceptions, unless parents can show that their children aged five to 18 are receiving equivalent instruction elsewhere, they must, by law, send them to public school in the school district where they live.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2011

BACKGROUND

Developmental Delay

By law, a “developmental delay” is a significant delay in a child's physical, communication, cognitive, social, emotional, or adaptive development as (1) measured by appropriate diagnostic tests and procedures and (2) demonstrated by scores on appropriate, valid, standardized tests (CGS § 10-76a).

COMMITTEE ACTION

Education Committee

Joint Favorable Substitute