View Bill Status
View Bill Text
View Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact
S1046..........................................................by EDUCATION
EDUCATION - Amends existing law relating to education to revise provisions
relating to school age for purposes of enrollment in first grade.
01/25 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
01/26 Rpt prt - to Educ
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-ninth Legislature First Regular Session - 2007
IN THE SENATE
SENATE BILL NO. 1046
BY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO EDUCATION; AMENDING SECTION 33-201, IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE PROVI-
3 SIONS RELATING TO SCHOOL AGE FOR PURPOSES OF ENROLLMENT IN FIRST GRADE AND
4 TO MAKE A TECHNICAL CORRECTION.
5 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
6 SECTION 1. That Section 33-201, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
7 amended to read as follows:
8 33-201. SCHOOL AGE. The services of the public schools of this state are
9 extended to any acceptable person of school age. "School age" is defined as
10 including all persons resident of the state, between the ages of five (5) and
11 twenty-one (21) years. For the purposes of this section, the age of five (5)
12 years shall be attained when the fifth anniversary of birth occurs on or
13 before the first day of September of the school year in which the child is to
14 enroll in kindergarten. For a child enrolling in the first grade, the age of
15 six (6) years must be reached on or before the first day of September of the
16 school year in which the child is to enroll. Any child of the age of five (5)
17 years who has completed a private kindergarten in this state or another state
18 or a public out-of-state kindergarten for the required four hundred fifty
19 (450) hours but has not reached the "school age" requirement in Idaho shall be
20 allowed to enter the first grade.
21 For resident children with disabilities who qualify for special education
22 and related services under the federal individuals with disabilities education
23 act (IDEA) and subsequent amendments thereto, and applicable state and federal
24 regulations, "school age" shall begin at the attainment of age three (3) years
25 and shall continue through the semester of school in which the student attains
26 the age of twenty-one (21) years.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 16648
In current Idaho Code a child who has not reached six years of
age by September 1, but who has attended 450 hours of private
kindergarten in Idaho is not allowed to attend first grade in
Idaho's public school system. A child under the mandatory age
limit who has attended a private kindergarten in another state is
eligible to attend public first grade. This legislation would
correct this inequity so that Idaho residents are not
discriminated against.
FISCAL IMPACT
The net fiscal impact would be slightly positive. Any cost
increase associated with having a small proportion of 5 year olds
attend full-day 1st grade, rather than half-day kindergarten, as
their first year of public school, would be more than made up
for, over the long-term, by the fact that such children would
attend public schools for 12 years instead of 13.
Contact
Name: Senator Joyce Broadsword
Phone: 208-332-1338
Rep. Mary Lou Shepherd
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1046