Kindergarten Entrance Law

TO: Superintendents
FROM: Jayma Ferguson, Director, Division of Prime Time /Reading First
Suzanne Siamas, Consultant, Division of Prime Time
DATE: February 2, 2007

Kindergarten registration is in full swing in many school corporations, and parents and educators are calling with questions regarding the kindergarten entrance law in Indiana. There still seems to be some confusion in the enrollment date for kindergarten for the 2007-2008 school year. The state date for kindergarten enrollment is currently August 1. I hope this memorandum will assist you as you answer questions about the kindergarten entrance law at the local level.

I.C. 20-33-2-7 establishes a statewide entrance eligibility date for public school kindergarten. A student residing in Indiana must be at least five years of age on or before August 1 in order to enroll in public school kindergarten. This law further requires that each school corporation have an appeal process for parents requesting early entrance.

All districts should review the district’s appeal process annually and submit the attached form detailing any changes to the Department. Guidelines issued by the Indiana Department of Education are attached.
School corporations deal with entrance issues and the appeal process in a variety of ways. For example, many school corporations will allow children to be enrolled in kindergarten who will be five years of age by a specific date such as September 1, space permitting. It is important to remember that these school corporations are not changing the entrance date but are creating criteria for the appeal process for early entrance into kindergarten. Other corporations interview the parents and the child and come to a joint decision as to the child's best placement. When issues other than age are considered, what is in the best educational interest of the individual child should drive the decision.

The opinion of the Department of Education is that school corporations cannot require a parent to assume a cost as part of the school corporation's early admission appeal process. Such a cost would be inconsistent with the General Assembly's creation of a right intended for access by all parents similarly situated.

In addition to providing guidelines for a local parent appeal process, the 1991 legislation required the
Department of Education to develop criteria (that follows) for school corporations to use in adopting assessment procedures for kindergarten or first grade placement of children coming to school for the first time under compulsory attendance laws (during the school year of their seventh birthday).

This law does not require a child to be six years of age on or before August 1 to be eligible for first grade; it does not establish a statewide entrance eligibility date for first grade at all. School corporations have the authority and responsibility to enroll a student in the appropriate grade based on educational factors [I.C. 20-33-2-7 (b)].

Another area of confusion concerns the terms mandatory and required as pertaining to kindergarten attendance. Even though it is not mandatory that parents enroll their children into kindergarten, once a child is enrolled in kindergarten, the child is required to adhere to all state statutes, including attendance guidelines. Kindergarten students are included in the funding formula distribution for the 180-day instructional school year. The compulsory attendance law requires students to attend school the number of days schools are in session. Because kindergarten programs are funded on the basis of 180 student instructional days and because of the compulsory attendance law, the kindergarten program must include 180 student instructional days. The Indiana State Board of Education and the Indiana Department of Education, pursuant to their respective authority to grant waivers under extraordinary circumstances, permit full day every other day programs that operate for 90 full student instructional days. Kindergarten students are entitled to the opportunity for 180 instructional days. Therefore, activities such as, but not limited to, individual screenings and home visits that do not provide instruction to a full class of kindergarten students do not constitute an instructional day.

School corporations should schedule parent-teacher conferences and student release for professional development to ensure that neither the morning nor the afternoon kindergarten session is affected disproportionately. A policy for weather and emergency-related delays that ensures that neither the morning nor the afternoon kindergarten session is affected disproportionately should also be implemented.
If the state legislature makes any changes pertaining to the status of kindergarten, whether it is the cut off date or implementation of full day kindergarten, the Department of Education will contact you.

Thank you for the important role you play in ensuring that a child's first school experience is a positive and rewarding one. Please contact us at 317-232-9124 should you have any questions regarding this information.