SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1205        FILED ON: 1/17/2019

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 264

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Sal N. DiDomenico

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to support healthy development among preschoolers.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

 

Sal N. DiDomenico

Middlesex and Suffolk

 

Ruth B. Balser

12th Middlesex

 

Joanne M. Comerford

Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester

1/25/2019

Mike Connolly

26th Middlesex

1/25/2019

Cindy F. Friedman

Fourth Middlesex

1/31/2019

Jack Patrick Lewis

7th Middlesex

1/31/2019

James B. Eldridge

Middlesex and Worcester

1/31/2019

Michael O. Moore

Second Worcester

1/31/2019

Sean Garballey

23rd Middlesex

2/1/2019

Kay Khan

11th Middlesex

2/1/2019

Nick Collins

First Suffolk

2/8/2019

Lindsay N. Sabadosa

1st Hampshire

2/11/2019


SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1205        FILED ON: 1/17/2019

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 264

By Mr. DiDomenico, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 264) of Sal N. DiDomenico, Ruth B. Balser, Joanne M. Comerford, Mike Connolly and other members of the General Court for legislation to support healthy development among preschoolers.  Education.

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

_______________

 

An Act to support healthy development among preschoolers.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Chapter 15D of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting, after section 12, the following section:-

Section 12A. Pursuant to clause (t) of section 2, the department shall develop performance standards for prohibiting or significantly limiting the use of suspension and expulsion in all licensed early education and care programs. The standards shall ensure that expulsion is only used in extraordinary circumstances where there is a serious safety threat that cannot be reduced or eliminated by the provision of reasonable program modifications.

The standards shall include, but not be limited to: (1) benchmarks and goals for supporting children's social, emotional and behavioral development to include reducing the use of exclusion as a disciplinary tool and for eliminating disparities in the use of suspension and expulsion, and facilitating referrals for children with intensive needs; (2) engagement steps to be taken with the child and parent or guardian prior to suspension or expulsion; (3) requirements for communicating disciplinary policies, including suspension and expulsion policies, to staff, families and community partners; (4) pathways for programs to access technical assistance to support ongoing development of staff and teacher skills for supporting children's social, emotional and behavioral development, reducing disparities and limiting the use of suspension and expulsion; and (5) requirements for reporting the use of suspension or expulsion.