Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S296 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1546 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 296
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Edward J. Kennedy
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to universal prekindergarten access.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Edward J. KennedyFirst MiddlesexPatrick M. O'ConnorFirst Plymouth and Norfolk2/10/2023James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/22/2023 1 of 5
16	16	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1546 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
17	17	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 296
18	18	By Mr. Kennedy, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 296) of Edward J. Kennedy,
19	19	Patrick M. O'Connor and James B. Eldridge for legislation relative to universal prekindergarten
20	20	access. Education.
21	21	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
22	22	SEE SENATE, NO. 288 OF 2021-2022.]
23	23	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
24	24	_______________
25	25	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
26	26	(2023-2024)
27	27	_______________
28	28	An Act relative to universal prekindergarten access.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
30	30	of the same, as follows:
31	31	1 SECTION 1. Chapter 15D of the general laws, as appearing in the 2020 official edition,
32	32	2is hereby amended by inserting after section 13 the following section:-
33	33	3 Section 13A. (a) The department of early education and care, in consultation with the
34	34	4department of elementary and secondary education, shall develop and administer the High
35	35	5Quality Pre-Kindergarten Expansion grant program to support the phased development of high
36	36	6quality, district-wide, full-day pre-kindergarten programs for children between the ages of 2
37	37	7years and 9 months and the age a child becomes eligible for kindergarten in the school district
38	38	8where he or she resides. The grants shall be used to bring to scale a high quality, mixed delivery
39	39	9early education system in order to reduce the achievement gap and improve third grade reading
40	40	10scores. 2 of 5
41	41	11 (b) The departments shall establish requirements for grant applicants which shall include,
42	42	12but not be limited to the following: (1) a tracking system for preschool students in the program
43	43	13using the state student identifier system; (2) a child to instructor ratio of no more than 10 to 1; (3)
44	44	14tactics to engage families in the enrollment process and implementation of the plan required
45	45	15under subsection (c), and methods to ensure a high level of enrollment by families with 3 and 4
46	46	16year olds; (4) teacher qualification and evaluation system requirements, and on-going
47	47	17professional development requirements; (5) a full school-day program ; (6) a class size of no
48	48	18more than 20 preschool students; (7) inclusion of children with disabilities; (8) instructional staff
49	49	19salaries and benefits comparable to the corresponding district salaries and benefits for
50	50	20kindergarten to high school staff; (9) developmentally and linguistically appropriate instruction;
51	51	21(10) evidenced based curricula; (11) a learning environment aligned with the state early learning
52	52	22and development standards; (12) on-site access to comprehensive services for children, or
53	53	23convenient access to such services off site; (13) partnership with, and promotion of, community
54	54	24service providers for families to support children’s learning and development; (14) evidenced
55	55	25based health and safety standards; (15) a timetable for phasing-in of facilities, staff
56	56	26development, and other systems to achieve district-wide implementation; (16) program
57	57	27evaluation and data collection systems to ensure continuous improvement; (17) a description of
58	58	28the physical structures for the education of the students; (18) a plan to improve or sustain, as
59	59	29appropriate, the development of literacy skills from preschool through third grade.
60	60	30 Among proposals satisfying the requirements of this subsection, priority in grant awards
61	61	31shall be given first to districts that have received grants through the department’s commonwealth
62	62	32preschool partnership or the federal preschool expansion grants initiative. The department shall
63	63	33also develop and publish a metric for prioritizing the awarding of grants to qualified applicants 3 of 5
64	64	34based on: their accountability level as determined by the department of elementary and
65	65	35secondary education; their third grade reading proficiency scores; and their percentage of
66	66	36students qualifying as economically disadvantaged. Nothing herein shall require the department
67	67	37to award a grant to a district, regardless of priority status, that it has determined does not meet
68	68	38one or more of the requirements of this subsection.
69	69	39 (c) Each recipient of the grant shall establish a plan to implement the requirements set
70	70	40forth in subsection (b) and any other requirements as may be prescribed by the board of early
71	71	41education and care. Each superintendent shall appoint a local governing council to implement
72	72	42and oversee all aspects of the plan; provided however, that the superintendent may utilize a pre-
73	73	43existing council for this purpose. Districts shall provide on a quarterly basis reports to the
74	74	44department of early education and care on all aspects of the plan. The district and the local
75	75	45council shall implement the plan as approved within the period of time approved by the
76	76	46department. Failure to satisfactorily implement the plan within the approved period of time shall
77	77	47result in the termination of the plan and reversion of the grant funds to the department.
78	78	48 (d) The board of early education and care shall promulgate regulations to implement the
79	79	49provisions of this act within six months of the effective date including guidelines for membership
80	80	50to local governing councils in each recipient district and evaluation criteria required in the
81	81	51quarterly reports. A grant awarded pursuant to this subsection shall require that recipients
82	82	52undertake ongoing evaluations of the implementation of the plan and all its aspects.
83	83	53 The department of early education and care shall, subject to appropriation, establish a
84	84	54dedicated team to provide support, technical assistance, and oversight of programs established
85	85	55under this section. The department shall annually evaluate the effectiveness of programs 4 of 5
86	86	56established under this section, both for feedback and accountability for grant recipients and to
87	87	57inform the replication of such programs throughout the commonwealth.
88	88	58 SECTION 2. Chapter 70 of the general laws, as appearing in the 2020 official edition, is
89	89	59hereby amended by adding after Section 2 the following section:-
90	90	60 “Section 2A. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context
91	91	61clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
92	92	62 “Boards”, the board of elementary and secondary education and the board of early
93	93	63education and care.
94	94	64 “Departments”, the department of elementary and secondary education and the
95	95	65department of early education and care.
96	96	66 “Early education”, full-day education and care programming for pre-school and
97	97	67kindergarten-aged students.
98	98	68 (b) School districts in the Commonwealth may, by December 31, 2024, submit to the
99	99	69departments a plan to provide for ongoing access to age-appropriate early education for all
100	100	70students residing within the district. Such a plan shall include, where relevant and feasible, the
101	101	71use, expansion, and quality improvement of any previously existing public and private early
102	102	72education delivery systems, including those programs developed and implemented pursuant to
103	103	73section 13A of chapter 15D. No plan submitted to the departments pursuant to this section shall
104	104	74include user fees for attendance.
105	105	75 The Departments shall promulgate joint regulations to provide for the process of
106	106	76submission, review, and approval of such plans. The departments shall also promulgate joint 5 of 5
107	107	77regulations to provide for monitoring of quality and fidelity of implementation of a district’s plan
108	108	78and a process of probationary status and potential revocation of approval in the event of poor
109	109	79implementation. The departments shall provide notice of said regulations to the clerks of the
110	110	80House and Senate, the chairs of the joint committee on education, and the chairs of the joint
111	111	81committee on ways and means, at least 90 days before approval by the boards.
112	112	82 Districts who do not submit such a plan by the aforementioned date may submit a plan
113	113	83after said date. However, any such district may be prioritized after districts whose plans were
114	114	84received by said date.
115	115	85 (c) For all districts whose plan has been approved by the department, the following
116	116	86definition shall replace the corresponding definition in section 2 of this chapter, while all non-
117	117	87corresponding definitions in said section 2 shall continue to apply:-
118	118	88 “Pre-school enrollment”, the number of students enrolled in pre-school programs;
119	119	89provided, however, that in any district in which pre-school students funded by the district attend
120	120	90school for a full day, the foundation pre-school enrollment used to calculate the foundation
121	121	91enrollment, staff, and budget amounts described in this section shall be two times the number
122	122	92that would be otherwise used for said calculations.
123	123	93 SECTION 3. Section 2 of said chapter 70, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by
124	124	94inserting after the word “students”, in line 425, the following words:- “, to the extent that
125	125	95kindergarten and pre-school students in a district are attending a half-day program. If a district is
126	126	96operating approved full-day pre-school or kindergarten programs, students in such full-day
127	127	97programs shall be counted at one hundred percent of the preceding year’s actual number of low-
128	128	98income kindergarten and pre-school students.”