Senate Bill No. 34–Committee on Human
Resources and Facilities

 

(On Behalf of the Legislative Committee on
Education (NRS 218.5352))

 

Prefiled January 30, 2003

____________

 

Referred to Committee on Human Resources and Facilities

 

SUMMARY—Revises provisions governing pupils in public schools. (BDR 34‑639)

 

FISCAL NOTE:  Effect on Local Government: Yes.

                           Effect on the State: Yes.

 

CONTAINS UNFUNDED MANDATE (§ 1)

(Not Requested by Affected Local Government)

 

~

 

EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.

 

AN ACT relating to pupils; revising provisions governing admission of certain pupils to kindergarten and the first grade; requiring the boards of trustees of school districts to administer developmental screening tests to determine early admission to kindergarten and the first grade; clarifying that a pupil may be retained more than once in the same grade under certain circumstances; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

1-1  Section 1.  NRS 392.040 is hereby amended to read as follows:

1-2  392.040  1.  Except as otherwise provided by law, each parent,

1-3  custodial parent, guardian or other person in the State of Nevada

1-4  having control or charge of any child between the ages of 7 and 17

1-5  years shall send the child to a public school during all the time the

1-6  public school is in session in the school district in which the child

1-7  resides.

2-1  2.  A child who is 5 years of age on or before September 30 of a

2-2  school year may be admitted to kindergarten at the beginning of that

2-3  school year, and his enrollment must be counted for purposes of

2-4  apportionment. [If] Except as otherwise provided in subsection 7, if

2-5  a child is not 5 years of age on or before September 30 of a school

2-6  year, the child must not be admitted to kindergarten.

2-7  3.  Except as otherwise provided in [subsection 4,] subsections

2-8  4, 7 and 8, a child who is 6 years of age on or before September 30

2-9  of a school year must:

2-10      (a) If he has not completed kindergarten, be admitted to

2-11  kindergarten at the beginning of that school year; or

2-12      (b) If he has completed kindergarten, be admitted to the first

2-13  grade at the beginning of that school year,

2-14  and his enrollment must be counted for purposes of apportionment.

2-15  [If] Except as otherwise provided in subsections 7 and 8, if a child

2-16  is not 6 years of age on or before September 30 of a school year, the

2-17  child must not be admitted to the first grade until the beginning of

2-18  the school year following his sixth birthday.

2-19      4.  The parents, custodial parent, guardian or other person

2-20  within the State of Nevada having control or charge of a child who

2-21  is 6 years of age on or before September 30 of a school year may

2-22  elect for the child not to attend kindergarten or the first grade during

2-23  that year. The parents, custodial parent, guardian or other person

2-24  who makes such an election shall file with the board of trustees of

2-25  the appropriate school district a waiver in a form prescribed by the

2-26  board.

2-27      5.  Whenever a child who is 6 years of age is enrolled in a

2-28  public school, each parent, custodial parent, guardian or other

2-29  person in the State of Nevada having control or charge of the child

2-30  shall send him to the public school during all the time the school is

2-31  in session. This requirement for attendance does not apply to any

2-32  child under the age of 7 years who has not yet been enrolled or has

2-33  been formally withdrawn from enrollment in public school.

2-34      6.  A child who is 7 years of age on or before September 30 of a

2-35  school year must:

2-36      (a) If he has completed kindergarten and the first grade, be

2-37  admitted to the second grade.

2-38      (b) If he has completed kindergarten, be admitted to the first

2-39  grade.

2-40      (c) If the parents, custodial parent, guardian or other person in

2-41  the State of Nevada having control or charge of the child waived the

2-42  child’s attendance from kindergarten pursuant to subsection 4,

2-43  undergo an assessment by the district pursuant to subsection [7] 10

2-44  to determine whether the child is prepared developmentally to be

2-45  admitted to the first grade. If the district determines that the child is

3-1  prepared developmentally, he must be admitted to the first grade. If

3-2  the district determines that the child is not so prepared, he must be

3-3  admitted to kindergarten.

3-4  The enrollment of any child pursuant to this subsection must be

3-5  counted for apportionment purposes.

3-6  7.  The parents, custodial parent, guardian or other person

3-7  having control or charge of a child who will be at least 4 1/2 years

3-8  of age but less than 5 years of age on September 30 of a school

3-9  year may request that the school district administer before the

3-10  beginning of that school year a developmental screening test to the

3-11  child pursuant to subsection 9 to determine whether the child is

3-12  prepared developmentally to be admitted to kindergarten. If the

3-13  results of such a test indicate that a child is prepared

3-14  developmentally to be admitted to kindergarten, the child must be

3-15  admitted to kindergarten. If the child completes kindergarten that

3-16  school year, he must be admitted to the first grade the following

3-17  year and does not need to be admitted pursuant to subsection 8. If

3-18  the child subsequently completes the first grade, he must be

3-19  admitted to the second grade in the following year. If the results of

3-20  the test indicate that a child is not prepared developmentally to be

3-21  admitted to kindergarten, the child must not be enrolled in public

3-22  school until the beginning of the next school year. The enrollment

3-23  of any child pursuant to this subsection must be counted for

3-24  apportionment purposes.

3-25      8.  The parents, custodial parent, guardian or other person

3-26  having control or charge of a child who has not attended

3-27  kindergarten and who will be at least 5 1/2 years of age but less

3-28  than 6 years of age on September 30 of a school year may request

3-29  that the school district administer before the beginning of that

3-30  school year a developmental screening test to the child pursuant to

3-31  subsection 10 to determine whether the child is prepared

3-32  developmentally to be admitted to the first grade. If the results of

3-33  such a test indicate that a child is:

3-34      (a) Prepared developmentally to be admitted to the first grade,

3-35  the child must be admitted to the first grade. If the child completes

3-36  the first grade that school year, he must be admitted to the second

3-37  grade the following year.

3-38      (b) Not prepared developmentally to be admitted to the first

3-39  grade, the child may be admitted to kindergarten pursuant to

3-40  subsection 2.

3-41  The enrollment of any child pursuant to this subsection must be

3-42  counted for apportionment purposes.

3-43      9.  Each school district shall prepare and administer before

3-44  the beginning of each school year a developmental screening test

3-45  to a child whose parents, custodial parent, guardian or other

4-1  person having control or charge of the child has requested such a

4-2  test pursuant to subsection 7 to determine whether the child is

4-3  prepared developmentally to be admitted to kindergarten. The

4-4  results of the test must be made available to the parents, custodial

4-5  parent, guardian or other person within the State of Nevada

4-6  having control or charge of the child.

4-7  10.  Each school district shall prepare and administer before the

4-8  beginning of each school year a developmental screening test to a

4-9  child[:

4-10      (a) Who is 7 years of age on or before September 30 of the next

4-11  school year; and

4-12      (b) Whose parents waived his attendance from kindergarten]

4-13  pursuant to paragraph (c) of subsection [4,] 6 or pursuant to

4-14  subsection 8 to determine whether the child is prepared

4-15  developmentally to be admitted to the first grade.The results of the

4-16  test must be made available to the parents, custodial parent,

4-17  guardian or other person within the State of Nevada having control

4-18  or charge of the child.

4-19      [8.] 11.  A child who becomes a resident of this state after

4-20  completing kindergarten or beginning first grade in another state in

4-21  accordance with the laws of that state may be admitted to the grade

4-22  he was attending or would be attending had he remained a resident

4-23  of the other state regardless of his age, unless the board of trustees

4-24  of the school district determines that the requirements of this section

4-25  are being deliberately circumvented.

4-26      [9.] 12.  As used in this section, “kindergarten” includes:

4-27      (a) A kindergarten established by the board of trustees of a

4-28  school district pursuant to NRS 388.060;

4-29      (b) A kindergarten established by the governing body of a

4-30  charter school; and

4-31      (c) An authorized program of instruction for kindergarten

4-32  offered in a child’s home pursuant to NRS 388.060.

4-33      Sec. 2.  NRS 392.125 is hereby amended to read as follows:

4-34      392.125  1.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4,

4-35  before any pupil enrolled in a public school may be retained in the

4-36  same grade rather than promoted to the next higher grade for the

4-37  succeeding school year, the pupil’s teacher and principal must make

4-38  a reasonable effort to arrange a meeting and to meet with his parents

4-39  or guardian to discuss the reasons and circumstances.

4-40      2.  The teacher and the principal in joint agreement have the

4-41  final authority to retain a pupil in the same grade for the succeeding

4-42  school year.

4-43      3.  [No] Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2 of NRS

4-44  392.033 for the promotion of a pupil to high school, no pupil may

4-45  be retained more than one time in the same grade.

5-1  4.  This section does not apply to the academic retention of

5-2  pupils who are enrolled in a charter school.

5-3  Sec. 3.  On or before January 1, 2004, the board of trustees of

5-4  each school district shall select a developmental screening test

5-5  required to be administered pursuant to subsection 9 of section 1 of

5-6  this act, to determine developmental preparedness for early

5-7  admission to kindergarten.

5-8  Sec. 4.  The provisions of subsection 1 of NRS 354.599 do not

5-9  apply to any additional expenses of a local government that are

5-10  related to the provisions of this act.

5-11      Sec. 5.  1.  This section and sections 2, 3 and 4 of this act

5-12  become effective on July 1, 2003.

5-13      2.  Section 1 of this act becomes effective on July 1, 2003, for

5-14  the purpose of selecting a developmental screening test to determine

5-15  early admission to kindergarten and on January 1, 2004, for all other

5-16  purposes.

 

5-17  H