Full-day Kindergarten Funding

Under current law, students who are enrolled in kindergarten are counted as half-day pupils for purposes of school finance. In addition, each school district receives supplemental kindergarten enrollment in the amount of .08 of a full-day pupil for each kindergarten pupil.

For the 2016-17 budget year, the bill increases the supplemental kindergarten enrollment so that each school district can count a kindergarten student as a full-day student. Also, during the 2016-17 budget year, a school district can include in its pupil count all students who are eligible for enrollment in kindergarten, regardless of whether they are actually enrolled. A school district that does not actually provide a full-day kindergarten program during the 2016-17 budget year must use the revenues received from the supplemental kindergarten enrollment and all revenues received for students who are not enrolled in kindergarten to expand its kindergarten facilities.

For the 2017-18 budget year and budget years thereafter, the bill increases the supplemental kindergarten enrollment so that a school district that provides a full-day kindergarten program can count as a full-day student each student who enrolls in the full-day kindergarten program. All other school districts receive the additional .08 of supplemental kindergarten enrollment for each student enrolled in kindergarten. A school district that counts students for a full day of kindergarten is no longer eligible to receive hold-harmless full-day kindergarten funding.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)