Under existing law, a person between 6 and 18 years of age who is not exempted by law is subject to compulsory full-time education. Existing law excludes a child under 6 years of age from the public schools, subject to specified exceptions.

Existing law requires a school district maintaining a kindergarten to admit a child who will have their 5th birthday on or before September 1 of the school year. Existing law also requires a child who will have their 6th birthday on or before September 1 of the school year to be admitted to the first grade of an elementary school. Existing law authorizes a child who has been lawfully admitted to a public school kindergarten or a private school kindergarten in California and who is judged by the administration of the school district to be ready for first-grade work to be admitted to the first grade, as specified.

This bill, beginning with the 2028–29 school year, would require a child to have completed one year of kindergarten before that child may be admitted to the first grade at a public elementary school, except for a child who has been lawfully admitted to a public school kindergarten or a private school kindergarten in California, but has not yet completed one school year, and is judged to be ready for first-grade work, as specified, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program.