Reenrollment for Good Cause and Extreme Hardship in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT SERVICES
Agency for Workforce Innovation

RULE NO: RULE TITLE
60BB-8.210: Reenrollment for Good Cause and Extreme Hardship in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program

NOTICE OF CHANGE

Notice is hereby given that the following changes have been made to the proposed rule in accordance with subparagraph 120.54(3)(d)1., F.S., published in Vol. 36 No. 12, March 26, 2010 issue of the Florida Administrative Weekly.

Paragraph (5) of the proposed rule has been amended.

See full text of the proposed rule, as revised by the proposed Notice of Change is:

60BB-8.210 Reenrollment for Good Cause and Extreme Hardship and Delayed Enrollment in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program.

(1) Definitions. As used in this rule:

(a) “Delayed enrollment” means recording the initial enrollment of a student in a Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program (VPK) class after VPK instruction has begun.

(b) “Reenrollment” means the enrollment of a student in a new VPK program type (school-year or summer) or with a new VPK provider following the student’s removal or withdrawal from enrollment with a VPK provider after the student has attended a portion of VPK instruction.

(c) “Substantial completion” means a student has been enrolled in a VPK provider’s class for more than 70 percent of the instructional hours for the program type (school-year or summer).

(2) Reenrollment for good cause. A student may be reenrolled for good cause in the same program type (school-year or summer) in which the student was previously enrolled if all the following applies:

(a) The student has not substantially completed the VPK program;

(b) The student has not previously reenrolled for good cause or due to an extreme hardship; and

(c) The student’s parent or guardian completes the Delayed Enrollment and Reenrollment Application (Form AWI-VPK 05), dated April 9, 2010, which is hereby incorporated by reference, and submits it to the early learning coalition as documentation that the student was or is prevented from attending the VPK class. The following are examples of situations which prevent the student from attending the VPK class:

1. The illness of:

a. The student;

b. An individual living in the student’s household;

c. An individual which the student’s parent or guardian is responsible for caring for; or

d. The student’s parent, guardian, sibling, grandparent, step-parent, step-sibling, or step-grandparent.

2. A disagreement between the parent or guardian and the VPK provider or school concerning policies, practices, or procedures at the provider’s or school’s VPK program;

3. A change in the student’s residence;

4. A change in the employment schedule or place of employment of the student’s parent or guardian;

5. The VPK provider’s inability to meet the student’s health or educational needs;

6. The termination of the student’s VPK class before 70 percent of the class instructional hours is delivered;

7. The student is dismissed by a VPK provider for failure to comply with the provider’s attendance policy;

8. The provider’s designation as a low performing provider under Section 1002.67, F.S.;

9. Any condition described as an extreme hardship in (3)(c) below.

(3) Reenrollment for extreme hardship. A student may be reenrolled and reported for funding purposes as one full-time equivalent student, as defined by Section 1002.71(2), F.S., in the summer VPK program, if all the following applies:

(a) The student has not substantially completed the VPK program;

(b) The student has not previously reenrolled due to an extreme hardship or for good cause; and

(c) The student’s parent or guardian completes and submits to the early learning coalition the Delayed Enrollment and Reenrollment Application, and, where documentation is not supplied by the coalition or provider, supporting written documentation of one or more of the following:

1. The illness of the student, as documented in writing by a physician licensed under Chapter 458 or 459, F.S., if the illness would result in the student being absent from more than 30 percent of the number of hours in the program type in which the student is enrolled;

2. The provider’s misconduct or noncompliance which results in the provider’s inability to offer the VPK program, as documented by the early learning coalition;

3. The parent’s or guardian’s inability to meet the basic needs of the student, including, but not limited to, a lack of food, shelter, clothing, or transportation, as documented in writing by a federal, state, or local governmental official;

4. The provider’s inability to meet the student’s educational needs due to the student’s learning or developmental disability as documented by a federal, state, or local governmental official;

5. The provider’s inability to meet the student’s health needs as documented by a physician licensed under Chapter 458 or 459, F.S., or a federal, state, or local governmental official; or

6. Displacement of a student from his or her place of residence or closure of the student’s VPK provider as a result of a state of emergency as declared by a federal, state, or local governmental official.

(4) Additional restrictions on reenrollment.

(a) A VPK student may not be reenrolled except as described in this rule.

(b) This rule shall not be construed to allow a student to be enrolled simultaneously in multiple VPK classes.

(c) If the student is reenrolled with a coalition other than the coalition of the previous enrollment, the parent or guardian shall comply with the enrollment requirement of 60BB-8.201, F.A.C., in addition to the requirements of this rule.

(d) Each early learning coalition shall comply with the eligibility determination and enrollment procedures described in Rule 60BB-8.202, F.A.C., when reenrolling a student, except that the coalition is not required to repeat the face-to-face parent orientation session.

(5) Delayed enrollment.

(a) A VPK student may enroll in a VPK class after instruction has begun. To enroll a student in a VPK class after instruction has begun, the student’s parent or guardian shall complete the Delayed Enrollment and Reenrollment Application, and submit it to the early learning coalition. Alternatively, an early learning coalition may require a parent to complete a Child Eligibility and Enrollment Certificate (Form AWI-VPK 02) as incorporated by reference in paragraph 60BB-8.202(1)(c), F.A.C., which has been modified to include the following provisions:

1. A verbatim reproduction of the Informed Parental Consent section of the Delayed Enrollment and Reenrollment Application;

2. A description of the number of provider’s total remaining VPK instructional hours;

3. Provider class identification number; and

4. A checkbox to be completed by the parent indicating whether the parent has previously participated in a VPK parent orientation session.

(b) The coalition shall ensure that the parent has signed either the Delayed Enrollment and Reenrollment Application or a modified Child Eligibility and Enrollment Certificate before enrolling a student in the VPK program.

(c) Each early learning coalition shall comply with the eligibility determination and enrollment procedures described in Rule 60BB-8.202, F.A.C., when enrolling a student in a VPK class in which instruction has already begun except that the coalition shall not be required to conduct the face-to-face parent orientation session for a parent who indicates on the Delayed Enrollment and Reenrollment Application or the Child Eligibility and Enrollment Certificate that he or she has previously attended an orientation session.

Rulemaking Authority 1002.71(4), 1002.75(2)(a), 1002.75(2)(i), 1002.79(2) FS. Law Implemented 1002.71(4), 1002.75(2)(a), 1002.75(2)(i) FS. History–New_______.