House Bill 399— “An Act to Institute Full Day Kindergarten”

HB 399, a bill submitted by Antonio Cabral of New Bedford, says: “Section 1B of chapter 69 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking the words contained in paragraph 20, and inserting in place thereof the following:

The board shall establish the permissible and mandatory ages for school attendance provided that each child be required to attend a full-day educational program at kindergarten age.”

Here is the current MGL Section 1B of chapter 69, paragraph 20:

‘The board shall establish the permissible and mandatory ages for school attendance and shall consider the advisability of raising the minimum age for attendance in the first grade to the national average age for such attendance.”

See sponsors and text of the bill here: http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/185/ht00pdf/ht00399.pdf

An AHEM representative has contacted a staff member at Rep. Cabral’s office to try to clarify the intent of this bill. Rep. Cabral’s office claims that the intent of HB 399 is not to lower the compulsory attendance age to five. Rather, if the bill passes, one academic year of full day kindergarten would be a prerequisite to entering first grade. Should a family choose to keep their child at home until the age of six, that child would enter full day kindergarten and begin grade one the following year at age seven. Should a parent choose to have their child start grade one at age six, the child would be required to attend full day kindergarten at age five.

In January the bill was referred to the committee on Education. The committee had a Public Hearing on Tuesday, October 23, 2007. The chairpersons of this committee are Senator Robert Antonioni (Democrat - Worcester and Middlesex) and Representative Patricia Haddad (Democrat - Fifth Bristol). Contact information for the members of the Joint committee on Education can be found at http://www.mass.gov/legis/comm/j14.htm.

Since in its current form, HB 399 does not appear to affect homeschoolers, AHEM has not taken a position on it. If you wish to voice your opinion about the bill, it would be appropriate to attend the Public Hearing, and/or write letters to the Chairs of the Education committee.