1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; modifying eligibility for 
  1.3             first-grade preparedness; appropriating money for the 
  1.4             first-grade preparedness program; amending Minnesota 
  1.5             Statutes 1996, section 124.2613, subdivision 3; 
  1.6             repealing Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 124.2613, 
  1.7             subdivision 8. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 124.2613, 
  1.10  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 3.  [QUALIFYING SCHOOL SITE.] (a) The commissioner 
  1.12  shall rank all school sites with kindergarten programs that do 
  1.13  not exclusively serve students under section 120.17.  The 
  1.14  ranking must be from highest to lowest based on the site's free 
  1.15  and reduced lunch count as a percent of the fall enrollment 
  1.16  using the preceding October 1 enrollment data.  For each school 
  1.17  site, the percentage used to calculate the ranking must be the 
  1.18  greater of (1) the percent of the fall kindergarten enrollment 
  1.19  receiving free and reduced lunch, or (2) the percent of the 
  1.20  total fall enrollment receiving free and reduced lunch.  The 
  1.21  list of ranked sites must be separated into the following 
  1.22  geographic areas:  Minneapolis district, St. Paul district, 
  1.23  suburban Twin Cities districts in the seven-county metropolitan 
  1.24  area, and school districts in greater Minnesota. 
  1.25     (b) The commissioner shall establish a process and 
  1.26  timelines to qualify school sites for the next school year.  
  2.1   School sites must be qualified in each geographic area from the 
  2.2   list of ranked sites until the estimated revenue available for 
  2.3   this program has been allocated.  The total estimated revenue of 
  2.4   $3,500,000 must be distributed to qualified school sites in each 
  2.5   geographic area as follows:  25 percent for Minneapolis sites, 
  2.6   25 percent for St. Paul sites, 25 percent for suburban Twin 
  2.7   Cities sites, and 25 percent for greater Minnesota with 25 
  2.8   percent or more of the enrollment receiving free and reduced 
  2.9   lunch. 
  2.10     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATIONS.] 
  2.11     Subdivision 1.  [DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN, FAMILIES, AND 
  2.12  LEARNING.] The sums indicated in this section are appropriated 
  2.13  from the general fund to the department of children, families, 
  2.14  and learning for the fiscal years designated. 
  2.15     Subd. 2.  [FIRST-GRADE PREPAREDNESS.] For the first-grade 
  2.16  preparedness program under section 124.2613: 
  2.17       $60,700,000    .....     1998 
  2.18       $60,700,000    .....     1999 
  2.19     Sec. 3.  [REPEALER.] 
  2.20     Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 124.2613, subdivision 8, 
  2.21  is repealed.