To adopt rules to establish procedures for early learning coalitions related to the Statewide Provider Agreement, the Uniform Attendance Policy, class sizes, and cross-county enrollment in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program.

Agency For Workforce Innovation

RULE NOS.: RULE TITLES:

60BB-8.203 Cross County Enrollment

60BB-8.204 Uniform Attendance Policy for the funding of the VPK Program

60BB-8.301 Voluntary Prekindergarten Uniform Statewide Provider Agreement

60BB-8.400 VPK Program Class Sizes and Composition

PURPOSE AND EFFECT: To adopt rules to establish procedures for early learning coalitions related to the Statewide Provider Agreement, the Uniform Attendance Policy, class sizes, and cross-county enrollment in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program.

SUMMARY: The proposed rules seek to establish procedures for early learning coalitions related to the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program such as the Statewide Provider Agreement, the uniform attendance policy, class sizes, and cross-county enrollment.

SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COST: No Statement of Estimated Regulatory Cost was prepared.

Any person who wishes to provide information regarding the statement of estimated regulatory costs, or to provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.

SPECIFIC AUTHORITY: 120 FS., 1002.79 FS.

LAW IMPLEMENTED: 1002.53 FS., 1002.55 FS., 1002.61 FS., 1002.63 FS., 1002.75 FS.

A HEARING WILL BE HELD AT THE DATE, TIME AND PLACE SHOWN BELOW:

DATE AND TIME: March 13, 2006, 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. or until business is concluded.

PLACE: Agency for Workforce Innovation, Caldwell Building, 107 E. Madison Street, Room B-49, Tallahassee, Florida 32399.

Any person requiring special accommodations to participate in this hearing is asked to advise the agency at least forty-eight (48) hours before the meeting by contacting: Ms. Nicole Cutchin, [phone].

THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Kelley Cramer, Senior Attorney, 107 East Madison Street, MSC 110, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-4128, [phone].

 

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULES IS:

 

60BB-8.203 Cross County Enrollment.

(1) Enrollment permitted in a county other than where the child resides.

(a) An early learning coalition may not prohibit a private prekindergarten provider or public school from enrolling an eligible child in the VPK program on the ground that the child resides in a Florida county other than the Florida county where the provider or school is located.

(b) A provider or school may establish and use admissions criteria governing how the private prekindergarten provider determines whether to admit the child, or how a school district limits the number of children admitted by a particular public school.

(2) Enrollment required with the early learning coalition serving the provider’s or school’s county.

(a) A child must be registered and enrolled for the VPK program with the early learning coalition serving the county within the coalition’s geographic region in which the provider or school is located, regardless in which county the child resides.

(b) If a child is registered for the VPK program in a county served by one coalition but ultimately is admitted into the program by a provider or school located in a county within another coalition’s geographic region, the parent must re-register and enroll the child with the coalition serving the county within the coalition’s geographic region in which the provider or school is located.

(c) Re-registration of a child is ultimately the parent’s responsibility. In order to facilitate the re-registration, each early learning coalition may enter into agreements with other coalitions to provide for the transfer of a child’s registration application and supporting documentation to the appropriate coalition. If a coalition performs the face-to-face parent consultation for a child in accordance with Rule 60BB-8.202, F.A.C., but subsequently transfers the child’s registration to another coalition, the coalition receiving the transferred registration is not required to repeat the face-to-face consultation.

Specific Authority 1002.79 FS. Law Implemented 1002.53(2) FS. History–New____.

 

60BB-8.204 Uniform Attendance Policy for the Funding of the VPK Program.

Each provider or school delivering the VPK program shall be paid in accordance with the following:

(1) Payment for startup period.

(a) A provider or school is paid for each of the 5 instructional days of the startup period if a student attends the VPK program for at least 1 instructional day during the startup period. An instructional day that a student does not attend during the startup period is not recorded as an absence for purposes of calculating the student’s cumulative absences under subsection (2) below. However, in accordance with subsection (7) below, a provider or school is not paid for instructional days after the last instructional day that a student attends the VPK program with the provider or school, if, during the startup period, the student subsequently terminates enrollment from the program or reenrolls with another provider or school.

(b) If a student does not attend at least 1 instructional day during the startup period, regardless of when the student enrolls, the provider or school is not paid for the startup period.

(2) Payment for regular period. The regular period is the instructional days of a VPK prekindergarten class which remain after the startup period (e.g., 175 days of 180-day class schedule).

(a) A provider or school is paid for each instructional day that a student attends the VPK program during the regular period (i.e., instructional days remaining after the startup period).

(b) A provider or school is paid for each instructional day that the student is absent during the regular period until the student’s cumulative absences exceed 15 percent of the total instructional days in the student’s attendance period.  The student’s attendance period is the instructional days in the regular period, counting from the first instructional day that the student attends the program (i.e., instructional days remaining in a VPK prekindergarten class, beginning after the startup period with the first instructional day that the student attends the class).

(c) The provider or school is also paid up to an additional 5 percent of the total instructional days in the student’s attendance period, for each instructional day that the student is absent from the VPK program due to extraordinary circumstances that are documented in accordance with (3) below.

(d) After a student’s cumulative absences exceed 15 percent (or exceed 20 percent as a result of extraordinary circumstances) of the total instructional days in the student’s attendance period, the provider or school is not paid for the student’s subsequent absences.

(e) A provider or school is not paid for instructional days in the regular period before the first instructional day that the student attends the VPK program.

(3) Absences due to extraordinary circumstances.

If a student is absent from the VPK program due to extraordinary circumstances other than a temporary closure as described in subsection (4) below, the provider or school must submit to the early learning coalition or its designee written documentation provided by the student’s parent or guardian which describes the extraordinary circumstances justifying the absence. Examples of extraordinary circumstances include the following:

(a) Hospitalization of the student, parent, or guardian with appropriate documentation;

(b) Illness of the student, parent, or guardian, which requires a home-stay as documented;

(c) Death in the student’s, parent’s, or guardian’s immediate family with appropriate documentation (e.g., obituary, death certificate);

(d) Court ordered visitation with appropriate documentation (e.g., court order); or

(e) The parent’s or guardian’s unforeseen documented military deployment or exercise.

(4) Temporary closure of provider or school.

(a) Circumstances within provider’s or school’s control.

If a provider or school temporarily closes on a scheduled instructional day due to circumstances within the provider’s or school’s control, the provider or school must revise its class schedule to deliver that day’s instruction disrupted by the closure.

(b) Circumstances beyond provider’s or school’s control.

If a provider or school temporarily closes on a scheduled instructional day due to circumstances beyond the provider’s or school’s control, the provider or school is paid for that instructional day, as follows:

1. Before an early learning coalition pays a provider or school for a temporary closure, the provider or school must submit written documentation to the coalition or its designee which demonstrates, and the coalition or its designee must determine, that the closure is temporary and caused by circumstances beyond the provider’s or school’s control. A provider or school is not required to submit documentation of those circumstances, if:

a. The provider or school is located within a county for which the county government, the Governor, or the President of the United States declares that a state of emergency exists in the county; and

b. For the provider’s or school’s scheduled instructional days during the state of emergency, the county, state, or federal governments close offices in the county which are scheduled to be open for services other than essential services.

2. For the first 3 instructional days of the temporary closure, the provider or school is paid as if each enrolled student was in attendance.

3. For the 4th through 10th instructional days of the temporary closure, each day is recorded as an absence for each enrolled student. The provider or school is paid for each student’s absence in accordance with subsections (1) and (2) above, if the student has not exhausted his or her paid absences. If a student has exhausted his or her paid absences, the provider or school is not paid for that student’s absence.

4. If circumstances cause more than one temporary closure, the provider or school may not cumulatively record more than 10 instructional days as:

a. Attendance under subparagraph (4)(b)2.;

b. Absences under subparagraph (4)(b)3.; or

c. A combination of attendance under subparagraph (4)(b)2. and absences under subparagraph (4)(b)3.

5. If a temporary closure, or the cumulative number of instructional days from more than one closure, extends beyond 10 instructional days, the provider or school must revise its class schedule to deliver the instructional days disrupted after the 10th instructional day.

6. If a provider or school does not resume instruction after the closure, the provider or school is not paid for any instructional days described in subparagraph (4)(b)1. or (4)(b)2. above. The coalition or its designee shall assist affected students by making alternative arrangements that mitigate the disruption of instruction, including, but not limited to, re-enrollment of students with other providers or schools.

7. If a student does not resume attendance in the VPK program after the temporary closure, the provider or school is paid for instructional days recorded as attendance under subparagraph (4)(b)2. but, in accordance with subsection (7) below, is not paid for instructional days recorded as absences under subparagraph (4)(b)3.

8. In lieu of payment for one or more of the instructional days recorded as attendance under subparagraph (4)(b)2. or recorded as absences under subparagraph (4)(b)3., the provider or school may revise its class schedule to deliver the instructional days disrupted by the temporary closure.

(5) Recording absences for refused attendance.

If a student arrives at the provider’s or school’s VPK site but the provider or school refuses the student’s attendance for disciplinary or other reasons (e.g., due to tardiness or prohibited attire), the instructional day is recorded as an absence.

(6) Automatic withdrawal for excessive undocumented absences.

(a) If a student is absent from the VPK program for 5 consecutive instructional days, the student is considered withdrawn from the program unless the provider or school submits to the early learning coalition or its designee written documentation provided by the student’s parent or guardian which describes the reasons for the absence. The documentation may describe any reasons for the absence and is not limited to the extraordinary circumstances described in subsection (3) above.  The documentation must be submitted with the attendance roster for the month of the absence.

(b) If a student is withdrawn from the VPK program under paragraph (6)(a) above but subsequently attends the program, the student’s enrollment in the program is resumed, each instructional day that the student did not attend the program is recorded as an absence, and those absences are paid in accordance with subsection (2) above.

(7) Effect of termination from VPK program.

If a student terminates enrollment from the VPK program, whether the termination is voluntary or involuntary (e.g., automatic withdrawal for excessive undocumented absences under subsection (6) above), the provider or school is not paid for any instructional days or paid absences after the last instructional day that the student attends the program.

(8) Effect on provider’s or school’s attendance policy.

In accordance with Section 1002.71(6)(d), F.S., this uniform attendance policy is used for funding purposes only and does not prohibit a private prekindergarten provider or public school from adopting and enforcing the provider’s or school district’s attendance policy.

(9) Reporting absences under Rilya Wilson Act.–This uniform attendance policy governs payments under the VPK program and does not supersede any requirement for reporting absences under the Rilya Wilson Act (Section 39.604, F.S.).

Specific Authority 1002.79 FS. Law Implemented 1002.71(6)(a) FS., 1002.71(6)(c) FS., 1002.71(6)(d) FS. History–New____.

 

60BB-8.301 Voluntary Prekindergarten Uniform Statewide Provider Agreement.

The Agency for Workforce Innovation has prescribed the use of a provider agreement, along with the following procedures, by early learning coalitions for registering private prekindergarten providers and public schools to deliver the VPK program:

(1) Agreement required. As part of the registration process for the VPK program, the coalition shall require each provider or school to execute a provider agreement with the coalition. The coalition must execute agreements with the identical terms and conditions as Form AWI-VPK 20, (Statewide Provider Agreement), version date July 7, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference, and may not alter, delete or change the terms and conditions, except as provided in subsection (3) below. This Form is available at the following internet address: www.floridajobs.org/earlylearning/documents/StatewideProviderAgreementFormAWI-VPK20.pdf. This Form may also be obtained by contacting the Early Learning Coalition that serves the Provider’s county or by calling the Office of Early Learning at 1(866)357-3239.

(2) Funding. A coalition may not submit a provider’s or school’s enrollment to the Agency for Workforce Innovation for purposes of advance payment for services under the VPK program unless the provider or school has executed the provider agreement and the agreement is received by the coalition. In addition, a provider or school shall not be paid for services delivered before the executed agreement is submitted to the coalition.

(3) Amendments. Each amendment to the provider agreement (Form AWI-VPK 20 – Statewide Provider Agreement) must be provided in writing, dated, and signed by both the coalition and the provider or school. Each amendment must also be approved by the Agency for Workforce Innovation, Office of Early Learning.

Specific Authority 1002.79 FS. Law Implemented 1002.55(3)(g) FS., 1002.61(7)(a) FS., 1002.63(8)(a) FS., 1002.75 FS. History–New____.

 

60BB-8.400 VPK Program Class Sizes and Composition.

(1) Blended classes. A private prekindergarten provider or public school may organize its VPK classes as blended classes, teaching students enrolled in the VPK program together with children who are not enrolled in the program. A blended class may include children of any age; however, these multi-age arrangements must not conflict with the provider’s or school’s obligations under Sections 1002.55, 1002.61, and 1002.63, F.S.

(2) Minimum class size. Each VPK class must be composed of at least four students enrolled in the VPK program. To receive the initial advance payment for a VPK class, at least four VPK students must be enrolled for the class. A provider or school does not violate the minimum class size if fewer than four VPK students attend on a particular day. After the initial advance payment for a class, the provider or school does not violate the minimum class size if fewer than four VPK students remain enrolled for the class (e.g., withdrawals). However, if a VPK student’s class is composed of four or fewer VPK students, the provider or school may not dismiss the student unless:

(a) The provider or school documents in writing the student’s noncompliance with the applicable conduct or attendance policies of the provider or school district; and

(b) The provider or school submits the documentation to the early learning coalition or the coalition’s designee not more than three business days after the student is dismissed.

(3) Maximum class size. Each VPK class must not exceed 18 students for the school-year program or 10 students for the summer program. Both VPK students and Non-VPK students are counted toward the 18-student and 10-student maximums. A VPK class may not exceed the maximum class size in enrollment or in daily attendance.

(4) Multi-class groups. A provider or school may teach two or more VPK classes as one group in a single classroom. However, a provider or school must remain in compliance with the appropriate staff-to children ratio, square footage per child, or other state or local requirements. Each VPK class within a multi-class group:

(a) May not exceed 18 students for the school-year program or 10 students for the summer program;

(b) Must have a prekindergarten instructor for each class; and

(c) If the class has 11 or more students, must have a second adult instructor.

Specific Authority 1002.79 FS. Law Implemented 1002.55(3)(e) FS., 1002.61(6) FS., 1002.63(7) FS. History–New____.

 

NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Kelley Cramer, Senior Attorney, 107 East Madison Street, MSC 110, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-4128, [phone].

NAME OF SUPERVISOR OR PERSON WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Sooni Raymaker, Deputy General Counsel, 107 East Madison Street, MSC 110, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-4128, [phone]

DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: January 27, 2006.

DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAW: February 25, 2005.

 

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