Menéndez Bill Makes Free Pre-K Universal For Every Four-Year-Old

The text as introduced · 830 words

By: Menéndez
S.B. No. 261

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to providing free prekindergarten for certain children.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 28.02124(a), Education Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(a) Subject to Subsection (c), a parent or guardian may

elect for a student to:

(1) repeat prekindergarten;

(2) enroll in prekindergarten, if the student would

have been eligible to enroll in prekindergarten during the previous

school year under Section 29.153 [ 29.153(b) ] and the student has

not yet enrolled in kindergarten;

(3) repeat kindergarten;

(4) enroll in kindergarten, if the student would have

been eligible to enroll in kindergarten in the previous school year

and has not yet enrolled in first grade; or

(5) for grades one through eight, repeat the grade in

which the student was enrolled during the previous school year.

SECTION 2. Section 29.153(a-1), Education Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(a-1) A district shall offer prekindergarten classes to any

child [ if the district identifies 15 or more children ] who is [ are

eligible under Subsection (b) and are ] at least four years of age.

A school district may offer prekindergarten classes to any child

[ if the district identifies 15 or more eligible children ] who is

[ are ] at least three years of age. A district may not charge tuition

for a prekindergarten class offered under this section.

SECTION 3. Section 29.1543, Education Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 29.1543. EARLY EDUCATION REPORTS. The agency shall

produce and make available to the public on the agency's Internet

website annual district and campus-level reports containing

information from the previous school year on early education in

school districts and open-enrollment charter schools. A report

under this section must contain:

(1) the information required by Section 29.1532(c) to

be reported through the Public Education Information Management

System (PEIMS);

(2) a description of the diagnostic reading

instruments administered in accordance with Section 28.006(c) or

(c-2);

(3) the number of students who were administered a

diagnostic reading instrument administered in accordance with

Section 28.006(c) or (c-2);

(4) the number of students whose scores from a

diagnostic reading instrument administered in accordance with

Section 28.006(c) or (c-2) indicate reading proficiency;

(5) the number of kindergarten students who were

enrolled in a prekindergarten program in the previous school year

in the same district or school as the district or school in which

the student attends kindergarten;

(6) the number and percentage of students who perform

satisfactorily on the third grade reading or mathematics assessment

instrument administered under Section 39.023[ , disaggregated by

whether the student was eligible for free prekindergarten under

Section 29.153 ];

(7) the number of students described by Subdivision

(6) who attended kindergarten in the district, disaggregated by:

(A) whether the student met the kindergarten

readiness standard on the reading instrument adopted under Section

28.006;

(B) whether the student attended prekindergarten

in the district; and

(C) the type of prekindergarten the student

attended, if applicable; and

(8) the information described by Subdivisions (6) and

(7) disaggregated by whether the student is educationally

disadvantaged.

SECTION 4. Sections 48.005(a) and (i), Education Code, are

amended to read as follows:

(a) In this chapter, average daily attendance is:

(1) the quotient of the sum of attendance for each day

of the minimum number of days of instruction as described under

Section 25.081(a) divided by the minimum number of days of

instruction;

(2) for a district that operates under a flexible year

program under Section 29.0821, the quotient of the sum of

attendance for each actual day of instruction as permitted by

Section 29.0821(b)(1) divided by the number of actual days of

instruction as permitted by Section 29.0821(b)(1);

(3) for a district that operates under a flexible

school day program under Section 29.0822, the average daily

attendance as calculated by the commissioner in accordance with

Sections 29.0822(d) and (d-1); or

(4) for a district that operates a prekindergarten

[ half-day program or a full-day ] program under Section 29.153(c) :

(A) for a half-day program , one-half of the

average daily attendance calculated under Subdivision (1) ; or

(B) for a full-day program, the average daily

attendance calculated under Subdivision (1) .

(i) A district or a charter school operating under Chapter

12 that operates a half-day prekindergarten program is eligible to

receive one-half of average daily attendance under Subsection (a)

if the district's or charter school's prekindergarten program

provides at least 32,400 minutes of instructional time to students.

SECTION 5. Sections 29.153(b), (e-1), and (f), Education

Code, are repealed.

SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2026-2027

school year.

SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives

a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as

provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this

Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this

Act takes effect September 1, 2027.