21-4-302. Age for registration in first grade and kindergarten; preschool programs.

(a) A pupil may register in the first grade in the public schools of this state in the year in which his sixth birthday falls on or before September 15.

(b) A pupil may register in kindergarten in the public schools of this state in the year in which his fifth birthday falls on or before September 15.

(c) The board of trustees of a school district may permit the enrollment of pupils in a part-time preschool program with a curriculum based on developmentally appropriate practices funded by the district. The school district may:

(i) Contract with a preschool program to operate the preschool. The program may use school district facilities or facilities which are provided by others and may utilize the services of personnel who are not school district personnel and which are provided by others;

(ii) Establish a minimum attendance age for the program, but a pupil must have attained at least his third birthday on or before September 15 of the year in which that pupil enrolls. A pupil who enrolls in such a preschool program shall not be included within the district's average daily membership (ADM) for purposes of receiving state funds or within any other school funding formula for purposes of receiving funds from the state, unless the pupil has attained the minimum age for registration in kindergarten as provided in subsection (b) of this section;

(iii) Provide, or contract with an outside organization to provide, technical assistance, including occasional classroom instruction regardless of the regularity of such occasional classroom instruction, to preschool programs. Technical assistance may be provided to preschool programs on the basis of location, date of application for such assistance by a program, random selection of a program, or family income, home location, eligibility for a federal program or other socioeconomic characteristics which correlate with risk for unsuccessful academic performance of pupils attending the program. No preschool program shall be required to receive such technical assistance. A district shall not receive any additional financial assistance from the state if the district chooses to provide technical assistance to a preschool program under this paragraph.

(d) A program shall not discriminate in enrollment on the basis of sex, race, religion or national origin.

(e) A school district which provides a preschool program under subsection (c) of this section biennially shall assess, through the fourth grade when practical, the school readiness and academic performance of pupils who participate in the program as compared with those who do not participate in the program. The results of any assessment required by this subsection shall be open for public inspection.

(f) Nothing in this section supersedes W.S. 21-2-701 through 21-2-705.