---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION -- SCHOOL COMMITTEES AND SUPERINTENDENTS (Amends the provisions of law relative to eligibility for attendance for kindergarten students.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION -- SCHOOL COMMITTEES AND SUPERINTENDENTS (Amends the provisions of law relative to eligibility for attendance for kindergarten students.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 5544"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5544 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Children and Families", "Cities & Towns", "Dept. of Education (RIDE)", "Education", "Minors"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Cortvriend", "Donovan", "Spears"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2023-02-15"
last_action: "2023-06-19"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4346fd04-3b6a-42aa-b88b-41164202c4e8"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "86e9f91cbc9eaeb344a4c27acd68336f9e8c500b5b7ed72faea56789bdee60d0"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 5544 (2023) — AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION -- SCHOOL COMMITTEES AND SUPERINTENDENTS (Amends the provisions of law relative to eligibility for attendance for kindergarten students.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **5544** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText23/HouseText23/H5544.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **63–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Cortvriend — primary (person)
- Donovan — primary (person)
- Spears — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-02-15** 02/15/2023 Introduced, referred to House Education `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2023-02-24** 02/24/2023 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/01/2023)
- **2023-03-01** 03/01/2023 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2023-03-17** 03/17/2023 Scheduled for consideration (03/22/2023)
- **2023-03-22** 03/22/2023 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-03-31** 03/31/2023 Placed on House Calendar (04/06/2023) `reading-3`
- **2023-04-06** 04/06/2023 House read and passed `passage`
- **2023-06-05** 06/05/2023 Referred to Senate Education `referral-committee`
- **2023-06-05** 06/05/2023 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (06/07/2023)
- **2023-06-07** 06/07/2023 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-06-12** 06/12/2023 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (06/13/2023) `reading-3`
- **2023-06-13** 06/13/2023 Senate passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2023-06-14** 06/14/2023 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-06-19** 06/19/2023 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4346fd04-3b6a-42aa-b88b-41164202c4e8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).