FIRST REGULAR SESSION
94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES DONNELLY (Sponsor), ZWEIFEL, LOW (39), PAGE, YAEGER, BAKER (25), HODGES, DAUS, CORCORAN, LeVOTA, WALSH, OXFORD, STORCH, MEADOWS, MEINERS, WRIGHT-JONES, HARRIS (23), McCLANAHAN, TALBOY, GRILL, LAMPE, NORR, SCAVUZZO, HOLSMAN, FALLERT, ROBINSON, ZIMMERMAN, CURLS, SCHOEMEHL, JOHNSON, BURNETT, RUCKER, DARROUGH, NASHEED, AULL, BOWMAN, LOWE (44), SHIVELY, LIESE, CASEY, QUINN (9), VILLA, WITTE, SWINGER, YOUNG AND BLAND (Co-sponsors).
Read 1st time February 22, 2007 and copies ordered printed.
D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To amend chapter 161, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to the preschool plus grant program.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 161, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 161.715, to read as follows:
161.715. 1. There is hereby established the Missouri Preschool Plus grant program, as a pilot program to serve up to five thousand students with high quality early childhood educational services. The grant program shall be administered by the department of elementary and secondary education. Grants shall run for four years. School districts applying for such grants shall have at least thirty percent of their students eligible for the free or reduced price lunch program. The preschool plus program shall comply with the standards developed under section 161.213. Preschool-age children whose family income is less than two hundred percent of the poverty level shall receive such services free of charge, and a sliding scale of fees based on parental income that provides lower fees for families up to two hundred percent or less of the poverty level shall be established by each grantee.
2. School districts that qualify under subsection 1 of this section to apply for a grant shall be subject to the following additional qualifications:
(1) The school district shall provide a commitment for capital expenses such as, but not limited to, the use of classroom space, rental and utility fees, or purchase of facilities;
(2) The school district shall collect data about short-term and long-term student performance so that the program may be evaluated on quantitative measurements developed by the department of elementary and secondary education. For purposes of this subdivision, "long-term" shall mean through the completion of high school;
(3) The school district shall coordinate its preschool plus program with its nearest Parents As Teachers site to ensure a continuum of care;
(4) The school district may contract with community-based organizations to implement and manage the program and community-based organizations may bid for projects. Community-based programs shall be subject to the same duties and restrictions as school-based programs.
3. The department shall fully fund, minus the local school district contribution as outlined in subdivision (1) of subsection 2 of this section, any selected grantees. Grantees shall be selected based on the following principles:
(1) Preschool plus grantees may use the grant to supplement existing programs, but not supplant them;
(2) As far as possible, grantees shall represent a spectrum of locations, covering rural, suburban, and urban areas.
4. Pursuant to section 23.253, RSMo, of the Missouri Sunset Act:
(1) The provisions of the new program authorized under this section shall automatically sunset six years after the effective date of this section unless reauthorized by an act of the general assembly; and
(2) If such program is reauthorized, the program authorized under this section shall automatically sunset twelve years after the effective date of the reauthorization of this section; and
(3) This section shall terminate on September first of the calendar year immediately following the calendar year in which the program authorized under this section is sunset.
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