Provides relative to early learning centers. (gov sig) (OR INCREASE GF EX See Note)

Senate Bill 240 amends Louisiana's early childhood education licensure framework by requiring all public prekindergarten programs, in addition to existing nonpublic programs, to be licensed as early learning centers, and creates a new Type IV early learning center license category for prekindergarten programs attached to schools. The bill modifies R.S. 17:24.8, 407.33, 407.34, 407.35, 407.36, 407.40, and 407.42 and enacts new provisions creating the Type IV license designation and establishing its associated regulatory framework. Specifically, the legislation eliminates prior exemptions from licensure that applied to prekindergarten programs at public day schools and Louisiana Montessori-accredited schools, instead subjecting all such programs to the early learning center licensing regime while creating the Type IV category as a specialized license for school-attached programs.

Type IV early learning centers attached to schools receive tailored regulatory treatment that distinguishes them from Type I, II, and III licenses. Type IV centers are exempt from the requirement that early learning center employees receive training in recognition and prevention of shaken baby syndrome, and their employees need not undergo separate criminal background checks and state central registry checks if they have already complied with the criminal history and registry check requirements applicable to school employees under R.S. 17:15. Additionally, Type IV early learning centers are inspected by the Louisiana Department of Health under rules and regulations applicable to schools rather than under the full suite of early learning center regulations. The practical effect is that public schools operating prekindergarten programs gain a streamlined regulatory pathway while remaining subject to child safety and welfare minimum standards and the early learning center licensing requirement.

The bill operates within Louisiana's comprehensive early childhood education regulatory structure codified in Title 17 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes, Part X-B. It works in conjunction with existing requirements under R.S. 17:407.41 regarding child safety and welfare minimum standards, which continue to apply to all prekindergarten programs regardless of license type. The legislation also enhances representation of Type IV early learning centers in the state's advisory and policy structures by adding representatives selected by the state superintendent of education to the Advisory Council on Early Childhood Care and Education and appointing representatives through the president of the Senate and speaker of the House to the Early Childhood Care and Education Commission, which expands from forty-five to forty-seven members. The effective date is upon gubernatorial signature or the lapse of time for gubernatorial action.