PRINTER'S NO. 3154
No. 2344 Session of 1998
INTRODUCED BY C. WILLIAMS, BELARDI, CARONE, M. COHEN, DERMODY,
HORSEY, JAMES, JOSEPHS, MANDERINO, MELIO AND ROBINSON,
MARCH 12, 1998
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, MARCH 12, 1998
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
2 act relating to the public school system, including certain
3 provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
4 schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
5 laws relating thereto," regulating kindergarten attendance.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Section 503 of the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30,
9 No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, amended
10 September 21, 1959 (P.L.925, No. 373) and October 21, 1965
11 (P.L.601, No.312), is amended to read:
12 Section 503. Kindergartens.--The board of school directors
13 in any school district [may] shall establish and maintain
14 kindergartens for children between the ages of four and six
15 years. When established, the kindergartens shall be an integral
16 part of the elementary school system of the district, and be
17 kept open for [not less than two and one-half hours each day]
18 the full school day for the full school term as provided in
19 section 1501.
1 The number of kindergartens in any one district shall be
2 fixed by the board of school directors, and shall be open during
3 the school year.
4 [If the average attendance in any one kindergarten in any
5 district is ten or less for the school year, the school
6 directors shall, at the close of the school year, discontinue
7 the same.]
8 The board of school directors shall appoint and assign a
9 sufficient number of teachers to such kindergartens, who shall
10 be certified in accordance with the rules and regulations
11 prescribed by the Council of Basic Education.
12 Section 2. Sections 1301 and 1326 of the act are amended to
13 read:
14 Section 1301. Age Limits; Temporary Residence.--Every child,
15 being a resident of any school district, between the ages of
16 [six (6)] five (5) and twenty-one (21) years, may attend the
17 public schools in his district, subject to the provisions of
18 this act. The board of school directors of any school district
19 may admit to the schools of the district, with or without the
20 payment of tuition, any non-resident child temporarily residing
21 in the district, and may require the attendance of such non-
22 resident child in the same manner and on the same conditions as
23 it requires the attendance of a resident child.
24 Section 1326. Definitions.--The term "compulsory school
25 age," as hereinafter used, shall mean the period of a child's
26 life from the time the child's parents elect to have the child
27 enter school, which shall be not later than at the age of [eight
28 (8)] five (5) years, until the age of seventeen (17) years. The
29 term shall not include any child who holds a certificate of
30 graduation from a regularly accredited senior high school.
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1 The term "migratory child," wherever used in this subdivision
2 of this article, shall include any child domiciled temporarily
3 in any school district for the purpose of seasonal employment,
4 but not acquiring residence therein, and any child accompanying
5 his parent or guardian who is so domiciled.
6 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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