Senators SHEHEEN, TURNER, TALLEY, and SETZLER proposed the following amendment (419R096.SP.RT):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, PART IX, Miscellaneous, by adding an appropriately numbered new SECTION to read:

/ SECTION__. A. Section 59-156-120 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-156-120. (A)(1)The South Carolina Child Early Reading Development and Education Program first must be made available to eligible children statewide from the following eight trial districts in Abbeville County School District et al vs. South Carolina: Allendale, Dillon 2, Florence 4, Hampton 2, Jasper, Lee, Marion 7, and Orangeburg 3.

(2) With any funds remaining after funding the eight trial districts, the program must be expanded to the remaining plaintiff school districts in Abbeville County School District et al vs. South Carolina and then expanded to eligible children residing in school districts with a poverty index of ninety percent or greater. Priority must be given to implementing the program first in those of the plaintiff districts which participated in the pilot program during the 2006-2007 School Year, then in the plaintiff districts having proportionally the largest population of underserved at-risk four-year-old children.

(3) With any funds remaining after funding the school districts delineated in items (1) and (2), the program must be expanded statewide. The General Assembly, in the annual general appropriations bill, shall set forth the priority schedule, the funding, and the manner in which the program is expanded.

(B) Unexpended funds from the prior fiscal year for this program shall be carried forward and shall remain in the program. In rare instances, students with documented kindergarten readiness barriers, especially reading barriers, may be permitted to enroll for a second year, or at age five, at the discretion of the Department of Education for students being served by a public provider or at the discretion of the Office of South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness for students being served by a private provider."

B.Section 59-156-130(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-156-130. (A) Each child residing in the program's district, who has attained the age of four years on or before September first of the school year and meets the at-risk criteria, is eligible for enrollment in the South Carolina Child Early Reading Development and Education Program for one year."

C.Section 59-156-140(B)(8) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(8) be approved, registered, or licensed by the Department of Social Services, except for public and independent schools; and"

D.Section 59-156-230 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-156-230. The Department of Social Services shall:

(1) maintain a list of all approved public and private providers; and

(2) provide the Department of Education and the Office of First Steps information necessary to carry out the requirements of this chapter.

E. This SECTION takes effect upon approval by the Governor and applies to school years beginning not later than 2021-2022. /