S 0960 General Bill, By Bryan
 A Bill to amend Section 59-35-10, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976,
 relating to the establishment of five-year-old kindergarten programs by shcool
 districts, so as to provide that beginning with school year 1996-97, the board
 of trustees of a district shall implement full-day as well as half-day five
 year old kindergarten programs, to provide that parents of children who are
 eligible to attend five-year-old kindergarten may elect at their option either
 the full-day or half-day program to provide certain prior notice to the
 district, and to provide for the manner in which children attending these
 programs shall be counted for purposes of computing average daily membership.

   12/04/95  Senate Prefiled
   12/04/95  Senate Referred to Committee on Education
   01/09/96  Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-73
   01/09/96  Senate Referred to Committee on Education SJ-73

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 59-35-10, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FIVE-YEAR-OLD KINDERGARTEN PROGRAMS BY SCHOOL DISTRICTS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT BEGINNING WITH SCHOOL YEAR 1996-97, THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF A DISTRICT SHALL IMPLEMENT FULL-DAY AS WELL AS HALF-DAY FIVE-YEAR-OLD KINDERGARTEN PROGRAMS, TO PROVIDE THAT PARENTS OF CHILDREN WHO ARE ELIGIBLE TO ATTEND FIVE-YEAR-OLD KINDERGARTEN MAY ELECT AT THEIR OPTION EITHER THE FULL-DAY OR HALF-DAY PROGRAM FOR THEIR CHILDREN, TO REQUIRE PARENTS ELECTING A FULL-DAY PROGRAM TO PROVIDE CERTAIN PRIOR NOTICE TO THE DISTRICT, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE MANNER IN WHICH CHILDREN ATTENDING THESE PROGRAMS SHALL BE COUNTED FOR PURPOSES OF COMPUTING AVERAGE DAILY MEMBERSHIP.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 59-35-10 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-35-10. The board of trustees of each school district shall establish and provide kindergartens for children within its jurisdiction. All children in the five-year-old kindergarten program must be counted in the average daily membership of any public school district when public school funds are to be apportioned to the several school districts. State aid for the five-year-old kindergarten program must be distributed through the formula provided for in the `Education Finance Act'.

Beginning with school year 1996-97, the board of trustees of a district shall implement full-day as well as half-day five-year-old kindergarten programs. Parents of children who are eligible to attend five-year-old kindergarten may elect at their option either the full-day or half-day program for their children. Parents intending to enroll their children in a full-day kindergarten program must notify the district by December first of the year preceding the anticipated enrollment date, except that such notice for the 1996-97 school year only must be provided by April 1, 1996.

A child attending a full-day five-year-old kindergarten program shall be counted twice as much as a child attending a half-day five-year-old kindergarten program for purposes of computing average daily membership and other similar computations involving the number of students attending schools of a particular district."

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.