§ 302L-7 Executive office on early learning public prekindergarten program; public preschools. (a) There is established within the early learning system an early childhood education program to be known as the executive office on early learning public prekindergarten program and to be administered by the office pursuant to rules adopted by the office. The program shall:
(1) Be provided through the executive office on early learning, which may partner with the department of education;
(2) Prepare children for school and active participation in society through the use of either of the State's two official languages; and
(3) Provide access to high-quality early childhood education that addresses children's physical, cognitive, linguistic, social, and emotional development.
(b) The program shall serve children in the year prior to the year of kindergarten eligibility, with priority extended to underserved or at-risk children, as defined in section 302L-1. The department of education may grant geographic exceptions for children to attend prekindergarten outside their assigned service area, as the department of education deems appropriate; provided that the department of education shall grant a request for geographic exception to attend a prekindergarten in another service area if the request is based on the employment location of the parent or guardian of the student.
(c) Enrollment in the program shall be voluntary. A child who is enrolled in, or is eligible to attend, a public elementary school, or who is required to attend school pursuant to section 302A-1132, shall not be eligible for enrollment in the program.
(d) The program shall incorporate high-quality standards pursuant to rules adopted by the office. High-quality standards shall be research-based, developmentally-appropriate practices associated with better educational outcomes for children, such as:
(1) Positive teacher-child interactions;
(2) Use of individual child assessments that are used for ongoing instructional planning, based upon all areas of childhood development and learning, including cognitive, linguistic, social, and emotional approaches to learning and health and physical development;
(3) Family engagement; and
(4) Alignment with the Hawaii early learning and development standards, which align with department of education standards, state content and performance standards, and general learner outcomes for grades kindergarten to twelve, to facilitate a seamless and high-quality educational experience for children.
The office shall monitor implementation of the high-quality educational experience for children.
(e) The office shall provide support to incorporate these high-quality standards, including support related to teacher-child interactions, individual child assessments, and family engagement.
(f) The office shall coordinate with other agencies and programs to facilitate comprehensive services for early childhood education.
(g) The office shall collect data to:
(1) Evaluate the services provided;
(2) Inform policy; and
(3) Make any improvements to the program.
(h) The department of education and any public charter school existing pursuant to chapter 302D, may use available classrooms for public preschool programs statewide. The office shall give priority to public charter schools that serve high populations of underserved or at-risk children. Preschool classrooms established pursuant to this section shall be in addition to any classrooms used for the pre-plus program established pursuant to section 302L-1.7.
(i) The office shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 necessary to carry out the purposes of this section, including compliance with all applicable state and federal laws. [L 2015, c 109, §2]
Section: Previous 302l-1 302l-1.5 302l-1.6 302l-1.7 302l-2 302l-3 302l-3.5 302l-4 302l-5 302l-6 302l-7Last modified: October 27, 2016