2014 New York Laws
EDN - Education
Title 5 - TAXATION AND FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION
Article 73 - APPORTIONMENT OF PUBLIC MONEYS
Part 1 - (3601 - 3613) GENERAL PROVISIONS
3602-EE - Statewide universal full-day pre-kindergarten program.

  3602-ee.  Statewide universal full-day pre-kindergarten program. 1.
  The purpose of the universal full-day  pre-kindergarten  program  is  to
  incentivize   and   fund  state-of-the-art  innovative  pre-kindergarten
  programs and to encourage program creativity through competition.
2. All universal full-day pre-kindergarten programs shall  demonstrate
  quality on the following elements:
(a) curriculum;
(b) learning environment, materials and supplies;
(c) family engagement;
(d) staffing patterns;
(e) teacher education and experience;
(f) facility quality;
(g) physical well-being, health and nutrition; and
(h)   partnerships   with   non-profit,   community   and  educational
  institutions.
3. (a) The universal  full-day  pre-kindergarten  program  shall  make
  awards  to  (i)  consolidated applications submitted by school districts
  which include pre-kindergarten programs offered by  schools,  non-profit
  organizations, community-based organizations, charter schools, libraries
  and/or  museums, which shall demonstrate geographic diversity within the
  area to be served as well as diversity of providers; and (ii) non-profit
  organizations, community-based organizations, charter schools, libraries
  and museums, which may apply individually to the  extent  allowed  under
  paragraph  (b)  of  this  subdivision. Any consolidated application must
  include, but is not limited to, the names of  individual  locations  and
  providers, applicable licenses, facility lease information, and intended
  staffing plans and certifications.
(b)  Prior  to  submission  of  a  consolidated  application, a school
  district shall widely solicit non-profit organizations,  community-based
  organizations, charter schools, libraries and museums located within the
  school  district  to be included in its application. The school district
  shall notify any applicant who has been  denied  for  inclusion  in  the
  consolidated  application no later than two weeks prior to submission of
  such application. Such eligible providers denied for inclusion may apply
  individually as provided in paragraph (a) of this subdivision.
(c) The department shall establish two application periods in  advance
  of a school year.
(d)  Providers  awarded  slots  under  this section that they actually
  utilized would continue to have such slots renewed in  subsequent  years
  provided   the  program  meets  quality  standards  and  all  applicable
  requirements.
4. Programs that provide more stimulation, enhance  child  development
  and demonstrate creative approaches to improve early childhood education
  will have a competitive advantage in the application process.
5.  The  department shall develop a scoring system, which it shall use
  to evaluate which applications shall be funded on  a  competitive  basis
  based  on  merit  and  factors including but not limited to the criteria
  listed  above  and  student  and  community   need.   Upon   review   of
  applications,  if the program is oversubscribed in any region or regions
  of the state, the department shall notify the division  of  the  budget,
  which  shall  develop  a plan for distribution of available slots within
  any oversubscribed region. The subscription for the New York city region
  is three hundred million dollars. The department shall allocate full-day
  pre-kindergarten conversion  slots  and  new  full-day  pre-kindergarten
  slots   based   on  available  funding  and  shall  make  payments  upon
  documentation of eligible expenditures in the base year, which shall  be
  limited  to  the actual number of slots operated and paid on a per-pupil
  basis pursuant to subdivision fourteen of this section.

6. The department shall develop a statewide inspection protocol, which
  shall  provide  for  annual  inspections  of  all   universal   full-day
  pre-kindergarten  providers,  and  shall  develop  a  quality  assurance
  protocol and physical plant review protocol for such reviews.
7.  Statewide  universal full-day pre-kindergarten slots shall only be
  awarded to support programs that provide instruction for at  least  five
  hours  per school day for the full school year and that otherwise comply
  with the rules and requirements pursuant to section  thirty-six  hundred
  two-e of this part except as otherwise provided in this section.
8.  All  teachers  in  the universal full-day pre-kindergarten program
  shall meet the same teacher certification standards applicable to public
  schools. Pre-kindergarten teachers providing  instruction  through  this
  section shall possess:
(a)  a  teaching license or certificate valid for service in the early
  childhood grades; or
(b) a teaching license or certificate for students  with  disabilities
  valid for service in early childhood grades; or
(c) for eligible agencies as defined in paragraph b of subdivision one
  of section thirty-six hundred two-e of this part that are not schools, a
  bachelor's  degree in early childhood education or a related field and a
  written plan to obtain a certification valid for service  in  the  early
  childhood grades as follows:
(i)  for teachers hired on or after the effective date of this section
  as the teacher for  a  universal  full-day  pre-kindergarten  classroom,
  within  three  years  after  commencing  employment,  at which time such
  certification shall be required for employment; and
(ii) for teachers hired by such provider prior to the  effective  date
  of  this  section for other early childhood care and education programs,
  no later than June thirtieth, two thousand seventeen, at which time such
  certification shall be required for employment.
9. The process by which applicants  submit  proposals  to  collaborate
  with  the  school  district  or  individually to the department, and the
  renewal process for such providers, shall take into account  any  record
  of   violations   of   health  and  safety  codes  and/or  licensure  or
  registration requirements. In addition, any agency that is cited  for  a
  violation  classified  as an "imminent danger" by the office of children
  and family services or as a "public health hazard" by the New York  city
  department  of  health  and  mental  hygiene  which  is  not immediately
  corrected and which is not of a life  threatening  or  of  a  grave  and
  serious  nature  shall  be  suspended  from  the program and, upon final
  determination of such violation by the regulating agency,  suspended  or
  terminated from participating in the program under this section based on
  the  severity of the violation. Provided further, that eligible agencies
  with a record of other serious or critical  and/or  repeated  violations
  that  pose a risk to health or safety shall, upon final determination of
  such violations, be suspended or terminated from  participating  in  the
  program  under  this  section,  and  the  office  of children and family
  services  shall  establish  statewide  standards  for  determining  such
  grounds for such suspension or termination based on violations issued by
  the applicable regulatory agency.
10.  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a universal
  full-day pre-kindergarten provider shall be inspected by the department,
  the school district with which it partners, if any, and  its  respective
  licensing,  permitting, regulatory, oversight, registration or enrolling
  agency or entity no fewer than two times per school year, at  least  one
  inspection  of  which  shall  be  performed  by  the  eligible  agency's
  respective licensing, permitting, regulatory, oversight, registration or
  enrolling agency, as applicable.

11. Facilities providing  universal  full-day  pre-kindergarten  under
  this  section  shall  meet all applicable fire safety and building codes
  and any applicable facility requirements of a state or  local  licensing
  or  registering  agency  and  at  all  times shall maintain building and
  classroom  space  in  a  manner that ensures and protects the health and
  safety of  students  in  all  programs  statewide,  notwithstanding  any
  changes in such applicable codes or requirements.
12.  Notwithstanding  paragraph  (a)  of  subdivision  one  of section
  twenty-eight hundred fifty-four of this chapter  and  paragraph  (c)  of
  subdivision  two  of  section  twenty-eight  hundred  fifty-four of this
  chapter, charter schools shall be eligible to participate  in  universal
  full-day pre-kindergarten programs under this section, provided that all
  such  monitoring, programmatic review and operational requirements under
  this section shall be the responsibility of the charter entity and shall
  be consistent with the requirements  under  article  fifty-six  of  this
  chapter.  The  provisions of paragraph (b) of subdivision two of section
  twenty-eight hundred fifty-four of  this  chapter  shall  apply  to  the
  admission    of    pre-kindergarten    students,   except   parents   of
  pre-kindergarten children may submit applications for the  two  thousand
  fourteen--two thousand fifteen school year by a date to be determined by
  the  charter  school  upon  selection  to  participate  in the universal
  full-day pre-kindergarten program. The limitations on the employment  of
  uncertified  teachers  under  paragraph  (a-1)  of  subdivision three of
  section twenty-eight hundred fifty-four of this chapter shall  apply  to
  all teachers from pre-kindergarten through grade twelve.
13. Apportionments under this section shall only be used to supplement
  and  not  supplant current local expenditures of federal, state or local
  funds on pre-kindergarten programs and  the  number  of  slots  in  such
  programs from such sources. Current local expenditures shall include any
  local  expenditures  of federal, state or local funds used to supplement
  or extend  services  provided  directly  or  via  contract  to  eligible
  children  enrolled  in  a universal pre-kindergarten program pursuant to
  section thirty-six hundred two-e of this part.
14. (a) The award  per  pupil  for  an  eligible  entity  pursuant  to
  subdivision three of this section shall equal: (i) for each new full-day
  pre-kindergarten  placement  the lesser of the full-day pre-kindergarten
  per pupil amount or the total approved expenditures per pupil  and  (ii)
  for  each  existing half-day pre-kindergarten placement converted into a
  full-day pre-kindergarten placement  the  lesser  of  (A)  the  positive
  difference  of  the full-day pre-kindergarten per pupil amount minus the
  district's  selected  aid  per  pre-kindergarten   pupil   pursuant   to
  subparagraph (i) of paragraph b of subdivision ten of section thirty-six
  hundred  two-e  of this part or (B) the positive difference of the total
  approved expenditures per pupil minus the district's  selected  aid  per
  pre-kindergarten  pupil  pursuant  to subparagraph (i) of paragraph b of
  subdivision ten of section thirty-six hundred two-e of this  part.  Each
  participating  eligible  entity  pursuant  to  subdivision three of this
  section shall provide its expenses under  this  provision  in  a  format
  prescribed by the commissioner.
(b)  For  the purposes of this section, "full-day pre-kindergarten per
  pupil amount" shall mean (i) for pupils enrolled in programs  where  the
  teacher  of record for such pupil holds a teaching certificate issued by
  the commissioner in  an  appropriate  certificate  title,  ten  thousand
  dollars,  and  (ii) for pupils enrolled in programs where the teacher of
  record for such pupil does not hold a teaching certificate issued by the
  commissioner  in  an  appropriate  certificate  title,  seven   thousand
  dollars.

(c)  For  the purposes of this section, "teacher of record" shall mean
  the teacher who is primarily and directly responsible  for  a  student's
  learning   activities,  as  reported  to  the  department  in  a  manner
  prescribed by the commissioner.
15.  Definitions.  For  the  purpose  of  this  section, the following
  definitions shall apply:
(a) "regions of the state" shall mean:
(i) Capital Region: Includes  Albany,  Columbia,  Greene,  Rensselaer,
  Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren, and Washington counties.
(ii)  Central  New  York  Region:  Includes Cayuga, Cortland, Madison,
  Onondaga and Oswego counties.
(iii) Finger  Lakes  Region:  Includes  Genesee,  Livingston,  Monroe,
  Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates counties.
(iv) Long Island Region: Includes Nassau and Suffolk counties.
(v)  Mid-Hudson  Region:  Includes Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland,
  Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties.
(vi) Mohawk Valley  Region:  Includes  Fulton,  Herkimer,  Montgomery,
  Oneida, Otsego and Schoharie counties.
(vii)  New  York  City Region: Includes Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens
  and Richmond counties.
(viii)  North  Country  Region:  Includes  Clinton,  Essex,  Franklin,
  Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties.
(ix)   Southern  Tier  Region:  Includes  Broome,  Chemung,  Chenango,
  Delaware, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga and Tompkins counties.
(x)  Western  New  York  Region:   Includes   Allegany,   Cattaraugus,
  Chautauqua, Erie and Niagara counties.
(b) "community-based organization" shall mean a provider of child care
  and  early  education,  a  day care provider, early childhood program or
  center, approved preschool special  education  program,  Head  Start  or
  other such community-based organization.
16.  The  authority  of  the  department  to  administer the universal
  full-day pre-kindergarten  program  shall  expire  June  thirtieth,  two
  thousand sixteen; provided that the program shall continue and remain in
  full effect.