HB 46 — An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, in duties and powers of boards of school directors, further providing for kindergartens and providing for pre-kindergarten programs; and, in pupils and attendance, further providing for age limits and temporary residence and for definitions.

PRINTER'S NO.   25

                     THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                         HOUSE BILL
                         No. 46
                                                Session of
                                                  2025

     INTRODUCED BY KHAN, DOUGHERTY, McNEILL, CURRY, N. NELSON,
        NEILSON, PROBST, GIRAL, WARREN, HANBIDGE, KENYATTA, PIELLI,
        SANCHEZ, HILL-EVANS, CIRESI, CEPEDA-FREYTIZ, SHUSTERMAN,
        DONAHUE, FLEMING AND OTTEN, JANUARY 10, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, JANUARY 10, 2025


                                    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," in duties and powers of boards of
 6      school directors, further providing for kindergartens and
 7      providing for pre-kindergarten programs; and, in pupils and
 8      attendance, further providing for age limits and temporary
 9      residence and for definitions.
10      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
11   hereby enacts as follows:
12      Section 1.    Section 503 of the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30,
13   No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended to
14   read:
15      Section 503.    Kindergartens.--(a)   The board of school
16   directors in [any school district may] all school districts
17   shall establish and maintain kindergartens [for children between
18   the ages of four and six years. When established, the].
19   Districts may establish an age policy, and shall not deny
20   kindergarten to a child who is five years of age or older on the
 1   first day of the school year. The kindergartens shall be an
 2   integral part of the elementary school system of the district,
 3   and be kept open for not less than two and one-half hours each
 4   day for the full school term as provided in section 1501.
 5      [The number of kindergartens in any one district shall be
 6   fixed by the board of school directors, and shall be open during
 7   the school year.
 8      If the average attendance in any one kindergarten in any
 9   district is ten or less for the school year, the school
10   directors shall, at the close of the school year, discontinue
11   the same.]
12      (b)   The number of kindergartens in any one district shall be
13   fixed by the board of school directors and shall be open during
14   the school year. Kindergartens shall be available to all
15   children residing in the school district who are of the age
16   fixed under subsection (a).
17      (c)   The board of school directors shall appoint and assign a
18   sufficient number of teachers to such kindergartens, who shall
19   be certified in accordance with the rules and regulations
20   prescribed by the [Council of Basic Education] State Board of
21   Education.
22      Section 2.   The act is amended by adding a section to read:
23      Section 503.1.   Pre-Kindergarten Programs.--(a)   The board of
24   school directors in all school districts shall establish and
25   maintain pre-kindergarten programs. The pre-kindergarten
26   programs shall be an integral part of the elementary school
27   system of the district and be kept open for not less than two
28   and one-half hours each day for the full school term as provided
29   in section 1501.
30      (b)   The number of pre-kindergarten programs in any one

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 1   district shall be fixed by the board of school directors and
 2   shall be open during the school year.
 3      (c)   The board of school directors shall appoint and assign a
 4   sufficient number of teachers to the pre-kindergarten programs
 5   who shall be certified in accordance with the regulations
 6   promulgated by the State Board of Education.
 7      Section 3.   Section 1301 of the act is amended to read:
 8      Section 1301.   Age Limits; Temporary Residence.--Every child,
 9   being a resident of any school district, between the ages of
10   [six (6)] five (5) and twenty-one (21) years, may attend the
11   public schools in his district, subject to the provisions of
12   this act. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
13   contrary, a child who attains the age of twenty-one (21) years
14   during the school term and who has not graduated from high
15   school may continue to attend the public schools in [his] the
16   district free of charge until the end of the school term. The
17   board of school directors of any school district may admit to
18   the schools of the district, with or without the payment of
19   tuition, any non-resident child temporarily residing in the
20   district, and may require the attendance of such non-resident
21   child in the same manner and on the same conditions as it
22   requires the attendance of a resident child.
23      Section 4.   The definition of "compulsory school age" in
24   section 1326 of the act is amended to read:
25      Section 1326.   Definitions.--When used in this article, the
26   following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
27      * * *
28      "Compulsory school age" shall mean the period of a child's
29   life from the time the child's parents elect to have the child
30   enter school and which shall be no later than [six (6)] five (5)

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 1   years of age until the child reaches [eighteen (18)] seventeen
 2   (17) years of age. The term does not include a child who holds a
 3   certificate of graduation from a regularly accredited, licensed,
 4   registered or approved high school.
 5      * * *
 6      Section 5.   The amendment or addition of sections 503, 503.1
 7   and 1301 and the definition of "compulsory school age" in
 8   section 1326 of the act shall apply to the academic year
 9   following the effective date of this section and each academic
10   year thereafter.
11      Section 6.   This act shall take effect in 90 days.




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