1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to early childhood education; expanding 
  1.3             eligibility for school readiness programs; expanding 
  1.4             services offered by school readiness programs; 
  1.5             appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, 
  1.6             sections 124D.15, subdivisions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 
  1.7             9, 11, and by adding a subdivision; and 124D.16, 
  1.8             subdivisions 1, 2, and by adding a subdivision. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 124D.15, 
  1.11  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.12     Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT; PURPOSE.] A district or a 
  1.13  group of districts may establish a school readiness program that 
  1.14  provides a continuum of flexible services for eligible children. 
  1.15  The purpose of a school readiness program is to provide all 
  1.16  eligible children adequate opportunities to participate in child 
  1.17  development programs that enable the children to enter school 
  1.18  with the necessary skills and behavior and family stability and 
  1.19  support to progress and flourish. 
  1.20     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 124D.15, 
  1.21  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.22     Subd. 2.  [CHILD ELIGIBILITY.] (a) A child is eligible to 
  1.23  may participate in a school readiness program offered by through 
  1.24  the resident district or another district if the child is:  
  1.25     (1) at least 3-1/2 years old but has not entered 
  1.26  kindergarten; and 
  1.27     (2) the child receives developmental screening under 
  2.1   section 121A.17 within 90 days of enrolling in the program or 
  2.2   the child's fourth birthday.; and 
  2.3      (b) a child (2) younger than 3-1/2 years old may 
  2.4   participate in a school readiness program if the district or 
  2.5   group of districts that establishes the program determines that 
  2.6   the program can more effectively accomplish its purpose by 
  2.7   including children younger than 3-1/2 years old or sponsors such 
  2.8   a program. 
  2.9      Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 124D.15, 
  2.10  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  2.11     Subd. 3.  [PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY COMPONENTS.] A school 
  2.12  readiness program must include the following: 
  2.13     (1) a comprehensive plan to anticipate and meet the needs 
  2.14  of participating families by coordinating existing social 
  2.15  services, child care, and other community programs and by 
  2.16  fostering collaboration among agencies or other community-based 
  2.17  organizations and programs that provide a full range of 
  2.18  flexible, family-focused services to families with young 
  2.19  children; 
  2.20     (2) a development and learning component to help children 
  2.21  develop appropriate social, cognitive, and physical skills, and 
  2.22  emotional well-being; 
  2.23     (3) health referral services to address children's medical, 
  2.24  dental, mental health, and nutritional needs; 
  2.25     (4) a nutrition component to meet children's daily 
  2.26  nutritional needs; 
  2.27     (5) parents' family involvement and education in meeting 
  2.28  children's educational, health, social service, and other needs; 
  2.29     (6) community outreach to ensure participation by families 
  2.30  who represent the racial, cultural, and economic diversity of 
  2.31  the community; 
  2.32     (7) community-based staff and program resources, including 
  2.33  interpreters, that reflect the racial and ethnic characteristics 
  2.34  of the children participating in the program; and 
  2.35     (8) a literacy component to ensure that the literacy needs 
  2.36  of parents are addressed through referral to and cooperation 
  3.1   with adult basic education programs and other adult literacy 
  3.2   programs. 
  3.3      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 124D.15, 
  3.4   subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  3.5      Subd. 4.  [PROGRAM GOALS.] School readiness programs are 
  3.6   encouraged to: 
  3.7      (1) prepare an individualized service plan to meet each 
  3.8   child's developmental and learning needs; 
  3.9      (2) provide parent education to increase parents' 
  3.10  knowledge, understanding, skills, and experience in child 
  3.11  development and learning; 
  3.12     (3) foster substantial parent involvement that may include 
  3.13  having parents develop curriculum or serve as a paid or 
  3.14  volunteer educator, resource person, or other staff; 
  3.15     (4) identify the needs of families in the content of the 
  3.16  child's school readiness and family literacy; 
  3.17     (5) expand collaboration with public organizations, 
  3.18  businesses, nonprofit organizations, or other private 
  3.19  organizations to develop a coordinated system of flexible, 
  3.20  family-focused services available to anticipate and meet the 
  3.21  full range of needs of all eligible children and their families; 
  3.22     (6) coordinate treatment and follow-up services for 
  3.23  children's identified physical and mental health problems; 
  3.24     (7) offer transportation for eligible children and their 
  3.25  families for whom other forms of transportation are unavailable 
  3.26  or would constitute an excessive financial burden; 
  3.27     (8) (2) make substantial outreach efforts to assure 
  3.28  significant participation by families with the greatest needs, 
  3.29  including those families whose income level does not exceed the 
  3.30  most recent update of the poverty guidelines required by 
  3.31  sections 652 and 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act 
  3.32  of 1981 (Public Law Number 97-35); 
  3.33     (9) use community-based, trained home visitors serving as 
  3.34  paraprofessionals to provide social support, referrals, parent 
  3.35  education, and other services; 
  3.36     (10) create community-based family resource centers and 
  4.1   interdisciplinary teams; and 
  4.2      (11) enhance the quality of family or center-based child 
  4.3   care programs by providing supplementary services and resources, 
  4.4   staff training, and assistance with children with special needs. 
  4.5      (3) identify the needs of families in the context of the 
  4.6   child's school readiness and family literacy; 
  4.7      (4) enhance the quality of family or center-based child 
  4.8   care programs by providing outreach, supplementary services and 
  4.9   resources, staff training, and assistance with children with 
  4.10  special needs; 
  4.11     (5) prepare individualized learning plan to meet each 
  4.12  child's developmental and learning needs to ensure progress 
  4.13  toward school readiness; 
  4.14     (6) foster substantial parent involvement that may include 
  4.15  having parents serve as paid or volunteer educators, resource 
  4.16  persons, or other staff; and 
  4.17     (7) provide parent education to increase parents' 
  4.18  knowledge, understanding, skills, and experience in child 
  4.19  development and learning. 
  4.20     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 124D.15, is 
  4.21  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  4.22     Subd. 4a.  [STRATEGIES FOR ACHIEVING GOALS.] School 
  4.23  readiness programs are encouraged to: 
  4.24     (1) offer transportation for eligible children and their 
  4.25  families for whom other forms of transportation are unavailable 
  4.26  or would constitute an excessive financial burden; 
  4.27     (2) use community-based, trained home visitors serving as 
  4.28  paraprofessionals to provide social support, referrals, parent 
  4.29  education, and other services; 
  4.30     (3) create community-based family resource centers and 
  4.31  interdisciplinary teams; and 
  4.32     (4) coordinate treatment and follow-up services for 
  4.33  children's identified physical and mental health problems. 
  4.34     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 124D.15, 
  4.35  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  4.36     Subd. 5.  [SERVICES WITH NEW OR EXISTING PROVIDERS.] A 
  5.1   district is encouraged to may contract with a public, private, 
  5.2   or nonprofit organization to provide eligible children 
  5.3   developmentally appropriate services that meet the program 
  5.4   requirements in subdivision 3.  In the alternative, A district 
  5.5   may provide quality enhancement grants to reach a school 
  5.6   readiness level of quality under subdivision 11.  A district may 
  5.7   pay tuition or fees to place an eligible child in an existing 
  5.8   program.  A district may establish a new program where no 
  5.9   existing, reasonably accessible program meets the program 
  5.10  requirements in subdivision 3.  Services may be provided in a 
  5.11  site-based program or in the home of the child or a combination 
  5.12  of both.  The district may not restrict participation to 
  5.13  district residents.  
  5.14     Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 124D.15, 
  5.15  subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
  5.16     Subd. 6.  [COORDINATION WITH OTHER PROVIDERS.] (a) The 
  5.17  district must coordinate the school readiness program with 
  5.18  existing community-based social services providers, Head Start, 
  5.19  child care, and others and foster collaboration among agencies 
  5.20  and other community-based organizations and programs that 
  5.21  provide flexible, family-focused services to families with 
  5.22  children.  The district must actively encourage greater sharing 
  5.23  of information, responsibility, and accountability among service 
  5.24  providers and facilitate children's transition between 
  5.25  programs and to kindergarten.  
  5.26     (b) To the extent possible, resources must follow the 
  5.27  children so that children receive appropriate services in a 
  5.28  stable environment and are not moved from one program location 
  5.29  to another.  Where geographically feasible, the district must 
  5.30  actively promote colocating of services for children and their 
  5.31  families. 
  5.32     Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 124D.15, 
  5.33  subdivision 7, is amended to read: 
  5.34     Subd. 7.  [ADVISORY COUNCIL.] Each school readiness program 
  5.35  must have an advisory council composed of members of existing 
  5.36  early education-related boards, parents of participating 
  6.1   children, child care providers, representatives from Head Start 
  6.2   and early childhood family education if those programs are 
  6.3   offered in the district, culturally specific service 
  6.4   organizations, the local business community, health services 
  6.5   providers, local resource and referral agencies, and 
  6.6   representatives of early childhood service providers, and the 
  6.7   K-12 system, and may include other community-based 
  6.8   organizations.  The council must advise the board in creating 
  6.9   and administering the program and must monitor the progress of 
  6.10  the program in preparing children for future school success.  
  6.11  The council must ensure that children at greatest risk receive 
  6.12  appropriate services.  If the board is unable to appoint to the 
  6.13  advisory council members of existing early education-related 
  6.14  boards, it must appoint parents of children enrolled in the 
  6.15  program who represent the racial, cultural, and economic 
  6.16  diversity of the district and representatives of early childhood 
  6.17  service providers as representatives to an existing advisory 
  6.18  council. 
  6.19     Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 124D.15, 
  6.20  subdivision 8, is amended to read: 
  6.21     Subd. 8.  [PRIORITIZING SERVICES.] (a) The district must 
  6.22  give greatest priority to providing services to eligible 
  6.23  children identified, through a means such as the early childhood 
  6.24  screening process, as being developmentally disadvantaged or 
  6.25  experiencing risk factors that could impede their school 
  6.26  readiness. 
  6.27     (b) As available funding increases substantially over the 
  6.28  fiscal year 2000 level, emphasis shall be given to strengthening 
  6.29  services for children birth to age 3-1/2 and the quality of 
  6.30  child care. 
  6.31     Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 124D.15, 
  6.32  subdivision 9, is amended to read: 
  6.33     Subd. 9.  [CHILD RECORDS.] (a) A record of a child's 
  6.34  performance, progress, and development must be maintained in the 
  6.35  child's cumulative record while enrolled in the school readiness 
  6.36  program.  The cumulative record must be used for the purpose of 
  7.1   planning activities to suit individual needs and shall become 
  7.2   part of the child's permanent record.  The cumulative record is 
  7.3   private data under chapter 13.  Information in the record may be 
  7.4   disseminated to an educator or service provider only to the 
  7.5   extent that that person has a need to know the information.  
  7.6      (b) An educator or service provider may transmit 
  7.7   information in the child's cumulative record to an educator or 
  7.8   service provider in another program for young children when the 
  7.9   child applies to enroll in that other program, including 
  7.10  kindergarten. 
  7.11     Sec. 11.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 124D.15, 
  7.12  subdivision 11, is amended to read: 
  7.13     Subd. 11.  [DISTRICT STANDARDS.] The board of the district 
  7.14  must develop standards for the school readiness program that 
  7.15  reflect the eligibility criteria program components in 
  7.16  subdivision 3.  The board must consider including in the 
  7.17  standards the program characteristics in subdivision 4. 
  7.18     Sec. 12.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 124D.16, 
  7.19  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  7.20     Subdivision 1.  [PROGRAM REVIEW AND APPROVAL.] A school 
  7.21  district shall biennially by May 1 submit to the commissioners 
  7.22  of children, families, and learning and health the program plan 
  7.23  required under this subdivision.  As determined by the 
  7.24  commissioners, one-half of the districts shall first submit the 
  7.25  plan by May 1 of the 2000-2001 school year and one-half of the 
  7.26  districts shall first submit the plan by May 1 of the 2001-2002 
  7.27  school year.  The program plan must include: 
  7.28     (1) a community needs assessment of children who have not 
  7.29  yet entered kindergarten; 
  7.30     (2) a description of the services to be provided, including 
  7.31  services for children birth to age 3-1/2; 
  7.32     (2) (3) a plan to ensure children at greatest risk receive 
  7.33  appropriate services; 
  7.34     (3) (4) a description of procedures and methods to be used 
  7.35  to coordinate public and private resources to maximize use of 
  7.36  existing community resources, including school districts, child 
  8.1   care, Head Start, health care facilities services, government 
  8.2   agencies, neighborhood organizations, and other resources 
  8.3   knowledgeable in early childhood development; 
  8.4      (4) (5) comments about the district's proposed program by 
  8.5   the advisory council required by section 124D.15, subdivision 7; 
  8.6   and 
  8.7      (5) (6) agreements with all participating service providers.
  8.8      Each commissioner may review and comment on the program, 
  8.9   and make recommendations to the commissioner of children, 
  8.10  families, and learning, within 30 days of receiving the plan. 
  8.11     Sec. 13.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 124D.16, is 
  8.12  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  8.13     Subd. 1a.  [EVALUATION.] The commissioner, in consultation 
  8.14  with early childhood teachers, elementary school classroom 
  8.15  teachers, child care providers, Head Start teachers, parent 
  8.16  educators, and teacher educators, shall develop an evaluation 
  8.17  for qualifying school districts to use in documenting results of 
  8.18  their school readiness programs.  The evaluation must use 
  8.19  empirical and qualitative methods to gather information on the 
  8.20  following:  progress toward ensuring that every child entering 
  8.21  kindergarten has the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed 
  8.22  in school; an assessment of enrolling students by their teacher; 
  8.23  and measures of parental satisfaction and involvement.  The 
  8.24  commissioner shall assist a school district with its evaluation 
  8.25  at the request of the district. 
  8.26     Sec. 14.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 124D.16, 
  8.27  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  8.28     Subd. 2.  [AMOUNT OF AID.] (a) A district is eligible to 
  8.29  receive school readiness aid if the program plan as required by 
  8.30  subdivision 1 has been approved by the commissioner. 
  8.31     (b) For fiscal year 1998 and thereafter, a district must 
  8.32  receive school readiness aid equal to: 
  8.33     (1) the number of eligible four-year-old children in the 
  8.34  district on October 1 for the previous school year times the 
  8.35  ratio of 50 percent of the total school readiness aid for that 
  8.36  year to the total number of eligible four-year-old children 
  9.1   reported to the commissioner for that the previous school year; 
  9.2   plus 
  9.3      (2) the number of pupils enrolled in the school district 
  9.4   from families eligible for the free or reduced school lunch 
  9.5   program for the second previous year times the ratio of 50 
  9.6   percent of the total school readiness aid for that year to the 
  9.7   total number of pupils in the state from families eligible for 
  9.8   the free or reduced school lunch program for the second previous 
  9.9   year. 
  9.10     Sec. 15.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  9.11     $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  9.12  commissioner of children, families, and learning for the fiscal 
  9.13  biennium ending June 30, 2003, for purposes of the school 
  9.14  readiness program under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.15.