Senate Bill 389 Summary

• Public schools and charter schools must offer or contract for a preschool education program for children ages 4 to 5 years old, with no tuition or fees charged.

• The Department of Education must establish standards and requirements for preschool programs including facility standards, academic and health curricula, teacher qualifications, kindergarten readiness assessments, and end-of-year program evaluations.

• Private preschool providers contracted by schools must meet quality standards recognized by a Level 3 or Level 4 Paths to QUALITY program rating.

• Schools with insufficient space may offer preschool in other suitable locations within their geographic boundaries or contract with approved providers in their school corporation boundaries.

• For state tuition support formula purposes, each child enrolled in an approved preschool program counts as 0.5 pupil in Average Daily Membership (ADM) calculations.