BATON ROUGE â The Senate Education Committee voted 5-1 Wednesday to advance a bill that requires mandatory kindergarten and school attendance for Louisiana children beginning at age 5.
âWe have about 2,800 kids who do not attend kindergarten in the state of Louisiana,â Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, the author of the bill author and the committeeâs chairman. âEarly childhood education is a necessity. A brain is developed most in the ages from birth to 5 years of age and this bill will give us an opportunity to take advantage of that.â
Senate Bill 10 will require each city, parish and local school board to offer full-day kindergarten instruction to any child who turns 5 before Sept. 30 of the calendar year in which the school year begins. Children younger than 5 may enter kindergarten if they are evaluated and identified as gifted by the Louisiana Department of Education.