An emergency petition was filed by Redlands Christian Migrant Association (RCMA) operating at the following locations: Centro Villas Child Development Center, Florida City; LaEstancia Child Development Center, Wimauma; Mira Verde Child Development ...

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
State Board of Education

RULE NO: RULE TITLE
6A-1.099821: Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Provider Kindergarten Readiness Rate

Redlands Christian Migrant Association has filed an Emergency Petition for Waiver from Rule 6A-1.099821, F.A.C., Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Provider Kindergarten Readiness Rate, DOE Agency Case No.: DOE-2010-2050.

An emergency petition was filed by Redlands Christian Migrant Association (RCMA) operating at the following locations: Centro Villas Child Development Center, Florida City; LaEstancia Child Development Center, Wimauma; Mira Verde Child Development Center, LaBelle; Mascotte Child Development Center, Mascotte; Pomona Park Child Development Center, Pomona Park; Wimauma Early Education Center, Wimauma; Krome Child Development Center, LaBelle; and Redlands Child Development Center, Homestead; requesting a waiver from Rule 6A-1.099821, F.A.C., Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Provider Kindergarten Readiness Rate on April 12, 2010. Redlands Christian Migrant Association petitions the Department for a temporary waiver from the requirements of subsection 6A-1.099821(4), F.A.C., beginning on April 13, 2010 through July 1, 2011. The petitioner states that uniformly applying Rule 6A-1.099821, F.A.C., to RCMA will cause the centers to suffer a substantial hardship or result in a violation of principles of fairness that would justify a variance for the provider. The specific facts presented by the Petitioner are: 1) “It is a violation of the principles of fairness to employ the Department of Education’s calculation of its readiness rate to assess a VPK program that serves children deemed limited English proficient in accordance with Section 1003.56, F.S. Based on the Department’s rule each child’s performance on each of the screening measures in English is used to calculate a provider’s readiness rate.” 2) “These children when served by the kindergarten-12 educational system are identified as limited English proficient and provisions are made for alternate instruction and services for these children. B calculating the rate based on a limited English proficient child’s scores in English, the rule creates a substantial hardship to a VPK program that serves this population of students.” 3) “Considering the nature of the services offered by a migrant VPK program to its intended population, penalizing a VPK program so that it may no longer participate in the program may leave this population of children with few VPK options. Other VPK programs may choose not to accept these students due to the way the readiness rate is calculated as providers may not want to jeopardize their ability to participate in the program.” 4) “While the RCMA providers listed above can demonstrate learning gains for all of its students through the use of valid program assessment, many of these children are below the normed baseline at the beginning of their VPK program. Allowing RCMA to show proof of child gains that increase a child’s preparedness for kindergarten meets the purpose of the VPK program.”

A copy of the petition may be obtained by contacting: Lynn Abbott, Agency Clerk at [phone] or email: [e-mail] and may also be obtained from the Department’s website at https://app1.fldoe.org/DOE_Calendar/default.aspx?WhichCalendar=4.