House Bill No. 494 amends the Education Code to expand the eligibility criteria for children to enroll in free prekindergarten programs in public schools. The bill introduces a new category of eligibility, allowing children of full-time school district employees to enroll in these programs. This addition is marked as (8) is the child of a full-time employee of the school district.. Additionally, the bill clarifies that children who qualify under certain conditions related to military service or employment with the school district will maintain their eligibility even if their parent leaves the armed forces or is no longer employed by the school district. The bill also makes several adjustments to existing eligibility criteria, including the removal of the previous condition that a child must be the child of a member of the armed forces who is no longer on active duty. This deletion is indicated as or, or (8). The changes are set to take effect starting with the 2025-2026 school year, and the bill will become effective immediately if it receives a two-thirds majority vote in both houses of the legislature; otherwise, it will take effect on September 1, 2025.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: Education Code 29.153 (Education Code 29)