Blue Ribbon Commission Bills to be heard Thursday, October 3
On Thursday, there will be a hearing on two bills, Assembly Bill 465 and Senate Bill 408. These two bills, having bipartisan support, will allow districts to expand Four-Year-Old Kindergarten to a full-day program. Currently, our 4-K programs are half-day programs. Therefore, reimbursement for these students’ education is calculated at half the amount of a full-time student. This change will allow them to attend school for a full-day. Reimbursement also will be for a full-time student.
Read about the Assembly Bill here.
Read about the Senate Bill here.
MMSD is considering a full-day pilot program at one elementary school. Full reimbursement for the students will partially off-set the cost of expanding the program to full-day. Cost of the pilot is estimated to be about $200,000.
How can you help? Please call/email the Republican chairs of the Senate and Assembly Education Committees:
- Thank them for introducing and supporting these bills,
- Urge them to ensure speedy passage of this legislation, so districts can begin planning for implementation,
- Tell them that half-day programs often make it impossible for our families to access the half-day programs because of work conflicts and difficulty arranging half-day care when the child is not in school.
Senator Luther Olsen 266-0751 [email protected]
Representative Joel Kitchens 266-5350 [email protected]
If you are interested in attending the hearing and registering your support for these bills, it will be held in the Capital at 9:00am Thursday (10/3), Room 412 East.
You can also start a message urging support here!
