(1) (a) The state board shall establish, by rule, criteria for each school district to use in determining which children in the school district shall be eligible for participation in the district preschool program, subject to the following requirements:
A child who is three, four, or five years old and meets the criteria specified in subparagraphs (II) to (IV) of this paragraph (a) and any other criteria established by rule may participate in the district preschool program.
No child shall participate in the district preschool program unless the child lacksoverall learning readiness due to significant family risk factors, is in need of language development, including but not limited to the ability to speak English, or is receiving services from the department of human services pursuant to article 5 of title 26, C.R.S., as a neglected or dependent child; except that no child who is three years of age shall participate in the district preschool program unless the child lacks overall learning readiness that is attributable to at least three of the significant family risk factors.
No child shall participate in the district preschool program unless one or both of hisor her parents agree to assume all the parental responsibilities established by the school district pursuant to section 22-28-110 with respect to the program.
Any child qualifying for similar district services under other programs would continue to be eligible only for such services and would be funded under such programs.
(a.5) For purposes of this article, "significant family risk factors" means any of the following:
The child is eligible to receive free or reduced-cost lunch pursuant to the provisionsof the federal "Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act", 42 U.S.C. sec. 1751 et seq.;
Homelessness of the child's family;
An abusive adult residing in the home of the child;
Drug or alcohol abuse in the child's family;
Either parent of the child was less than eighteen years of age and unmarried at thetime of the birth of the child;
The child's parent or guardian has not successfully completed a high school education or its equivalent;
Frequent relocation by the child's family to new residences; or(VIII) Poor social skills of the child.
(b) The department may establish criteria so that any or all of the following may be considered:
The educational background of the child's parents or other family members, includingbut not limited to the number of years of education, attendance record, and academic performance; and
The self-confidence of the child and the ability of the child to take part in socialactivities.
(2) Repealed.
Source: L. 88: Entire article added, p. 827, § 40, effective May 24. L. 88, 1st Ex. Sess.: (2) amended, p. 56, § 7, effective August 11. L. 92: (1)(a)(II) amended and (2) repealed, pp. 490, 493, §§ 6, 13, effective May 26. L. 94: (1)(a)(II) amended, p. 2690, § 218, effective July 1. L. 2001: (1)(a.5) added, p. 210, § 3, effective August 8. L. 2002: IP(1)(a), (1)(a)(I), and (1)(a)(II) amended, p. 1739, § 12, effective June 7. L. 2006: (1)(a) amended, p. 689, § 30, effective April 28; (1)(a)(I) amended, p. 605, § 16, effective August 7. L. 2009: IP(1)(a), (1)(a)(I), (1)(a)(II), and (1)(a)(III) amended, (SB 09-292), ch. 369, p. 1956, § 49, effective August 5.
Editor's note: Amendments to subsection (1)(a) by House Bill 06-1375 and Senate Bill 06-137 were harmonized.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 1994 act amending subsection (1)(a)(II), see section 1 of chapter 345, Session Laws of Colorado 1994. For the legislative declaration contained in the 2001 act enacting subsection (1)(a.5), see section 1 of chapter 85, Session Laws of Colorado 2001.