Request By:
Gary K. Frazier
Assistant Superintendent for Instruction
Floyd County Board of Education
Prestonsburg, Kentucky 41653
Opinion
Opinion By: Chris Gorman, Attorney General; Lynne Schroering, Assistant Attorney General
You have written our office for advice on whether your school district may enroll in kindergarten a child who will be 5 years old on October 17.
As a result of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), the primary school program replaces the traditional kindergarten, first, second and third grade. A school district must examine KRS 158.030(1) in determining which children are eligible to attend the primary school program. KRS 158.030(1) provides in part:
Any child who is five (5) years of age, or may become five (5) years of age by October 1, may enter a primary school program, as defined in subsection (2) of this section.
It is the opinion of our office that KRS 158.030(1) requires that a child must reach the age of five years old by October 1 before a local school district may enroll the child in the primary school program. This is consistent with our opinion in OAG 82-408 wherein we held that a child who turns six years old after the October 1 deadline could not be enrolled in first grade. Our office stated that "strict adherence" to this age requirement is called for in interpreting KRS 158.030(1). OAG 82-408. The attendance regulation enacted by the Department of Education (702 KAR 7:050 Section 1) is consistent with the October 1 age requirement.
704 KAR 5:050 contains regulations governing the public school kindergarten program. It is unclear why the Department of Education refers to the "kindergarten" program in this regulation and not the "primary school" program as referred to in KRS 158.030. This kindergarten regulation also refers to the October 1 birth date requirement for five year olds and provides in pertinent part:
Any child who is five (5) years of age or who may become five (5) years of age by October 1 of the school year in which the child seeks to enroll, shall be permitted to enroll in a public school kindergarten.
704 KAR 5:050 Section 4(1).
In summary, your school district may not enroll in the primary school program a child who will not be five years old until after October 1.