PRINTER'S NO. 978
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
957
Session of
2023
INTRODUCED BY BOYLE, BURGOS, HILL-EVANS, SIEGEL, MADDEN, GIRAL,
SANCHEZ, SCHLOSSBERG, PROBST, HANBIDGE, WARREN, HOWARD,
D. WILLIAMS, FLEMING, NEILSON, DEASY, FREEMAN, N. NELSON AND
SCOTT, APRIL 24, 2023
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, APRIL 24, 2023
AN ACT
Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
act relating to the public school system, including certain
provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
laws relating thereto," in duties and powers of boards of
school directors, further providing for kindergartens and
providing for pre-kindergarten programs; and, in pupils and
attendance, further providing for age limits and temporary
residence and for definitions.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 503 of the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30,
No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended to
read:
Section 503. Kindergartens.--(a) The board of school
directors in [any school district may] all school districts
shall establish and maintain kindergartens [for children between
the ages of four and six years. When established, the].
Districts may establish an age policy, but shall not deny
kindergarten to a child who is five years of age or older on the
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first day of the school year. The kindergartens shall be an
integral part of the elementary school system of the district,
and be kept open for not less than two and one-half hours each
day for the full school term as provided in section 1501.
[The number of kindergartens in any one district shall be
fixed by the board of school directors, and shall be open during
the school year.
If the average attendance in any one kindergarten in any
district is ten or less for the school year, the school
directors shall, at the close of the school year, discontinue
the same.]
(b) The number of kindergartens in any one district shall be
fixed by the board of school directors and shall be open during
the school year. Kindergartens shall be available to all
children residing in the school district who are of the age
fixed under subsection (a).
(c) The board of school directors shall appoint and assign a
sufficient number of teachers to such kindergartens, who shall
be certified in accordance with the rules and regulations
prescribed by the [Council of Basic Education] State Board of
Education.
Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 503.1. Pre-Kindergarten Programs.--(a) The board of
school directors in all school districts shall establish and
maintain pre-kindergarten programs. The pre-kindergarten
programs shall be an integral part of the elementary school
system of the district and be kept open for not less than two
and one-half hours each day for the full school term as provided
in section 1501.
(b) The number of pre-kindergarten programs in any one
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district shall be fixed by the board of school directors and
shall be open during the school year.
(c) The board of school directors shall appoint and assign a
sufficient number of teachers to the pre-kindergarten programs
who shall be certified in accordance with the regulations
promulgated by the State Board of Education.
Section 3. Section 1301 of the act is amended to read:
Section 1301. Age Limits; Temporary Residence.--Every child,
being a resident of any school district, between the ages of
[six (6)] five (5) and twenty-one (21) years, may attend the
public schools in his district, subject to the provisions of
this act. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
contrary, a child who attains the age of twenty-one (21) years
during the school term and who has not graduated from high
school may continue to attend the public schools in [his] the
district free of charge until the end of the school term. The
board of school directors of any school district may admit to
the schools of the district, with or without the payment of
tuition, any non-resident child temporarily residing in the
district, and may require the attendance of such non-resident
child in the same manner and on the same conditions as it
requires the attendance of a resident child.
Section 4. The definition of "compulsory school age" in
section 1326 of the act is amended to read:
Section 1326. Definitions.--When used in this article, the
following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
* * *
"Compulsory school age" shall mean the period of a child's
life from the time the child's parents elect to have the child
enter school and which shall be no later than [six (6)] five (5)
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years of age until the child reaches [eighteen (18)] seventeen
(17) years of age. The term does not include a child who holds a
certificate of graduation from a regularly accredited, licensed,
registered or approved high school.
* * *
Section 5. The amendment or addition of sections 503, 503.1
and 1301 and the definition of "compulsory school age" in
section 1326 of the act shall apply to the academic year
following the effective date of this section and each academic
year thereafter.
Section 6. This act shall take effect in 90 days.
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