S.F. 246 Section 1. Section 256C.3, subsection 3, paragraph h, Code 1 2015, is amended to read as follows: 2 h. Provision for ensuring that children receiving care from 3 other child care arrangements can participate in the preschool 4 program with minimal disruption due to transportation and 5 movement from one site to another. The children participating 6 in the preschool program may be transported by the school 7 district to and from activities associated with the program 8 along with other children. 9 Sec. 2. Section 256C.3, subsection 4, Code 2015, is amended 10 by adding the following new paragraph: 11 NEW PARAGRAPH . e. Development and implementation of a plan 12 for the school district’s preschool program to have sufficient 13 capacity to operate without a waiting list for school budget 14 years beginning on or after July 1, 2018. 15 Sec. 3. Section 256C.4, subsection 1, paragraphs g and h, 16 Code 2015, are amended to read as follows: 17 g. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2011 2015 , and 18 each succeeding fiscal year, of the amount of preschool 19 foundation aid received by a school district for a fiscal year 20 in accordance with section 257.16 , not more than five ten 21 percent may be used by the school district for administering 22 the district’s approved local program. Outreach activities 23 and rent for facilities not owned by the school district are 24 permissive uses of the administrative funds. 25 h. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012 2015 , and 26 each succeeding fiscal year, of the amount of preschool 27 foundation aid received by a school district for a fiscal year 28 in accordance with section 257.16 , not less than ninety-five 29 ninety percent of the per pupil amount shall be passed through 30 to a community-based provider for each pupil enrolled in 31 the district’s approved local program. For the fiscal year 32 beginning July 1, 2011 2015 , and each succeeding fiscal year, 33 not more than five ten percent of the amount of preschool 34 foundation aid passed through to a community-based provider 35 -1- LSB 1517SV (1) 86 md/sc 1/ 8

S.F. 246 may be used by the community-based provider for administrative 1 costs. The costs of outreach activities and rent for 2 facilities not owned by the school district are permissive 3 administrative costs. The costs of transportation involving 4 children participating in the preschool program and other 5 children may be prorated. 6 Sec. 4. Section 256C.4, subsection 2, paragraph b, Code 7 2015, is amended to read as follows: 8 b. The enrollment count of eligible students shall not 9 include a child who is included in the enrollment count 10 determined under section 257.6 or a child who is served by 11 a an existing preschool program already receiving state or 12 federal funds for the purpose of the provision of providing 13 four-year-old preschool programming while the child is being 14 served by the existing program. Such preschool programming 15 However, the enrollment count of eligible students may include 16 a child being served by an existing preschool program if 17 the preschool programming in the existing program has been 18 enhanced as a result of preschool program expansion incentive 19 state aid provided under section 256C.7. For the purposes 20 of this chapter, an “existing preschool program” includes but 21 is not limited to shared visions and other child development 22 assistance programs provided under chapter 256A and section 23 279.51 , special education programs provided under section 24 256B.9 , school ready children grant programs and other programs 25 provided under chapter 256I , and federal head start programs 26 and the services funded by Tit. I of the federal Elementary and 27 Secondary Education Act of 1965. 28 Sec. 5. Section 256C.5, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph 29 1, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows: 30 For the purposes of this section and section 256C.4 chapter, 31 unless the context otherwise requires : 32 Sec. 6. NEW SECTION . 256C.7 Preschool program expansion 33 incentive. 34 1. For the purposes of this section, unless the context 35 -2- LSB 1517SV (1) 86 md/sc 2/ 8

S.F. 246 otherwise requires: 1 a. “Base incentive enrollment” means the average of the 2 actual enrollments of eligible students in the preschool 3 programming provided by a school district on October 1, 2012, 4 October 1, 2013, and October 1, 2014. 5 b. “Incentive enrollment” means the amount by which the 6 actual enrollment of eligible students in the preschool 7 programming provided by a school district on October 1 of 8 the base year exceeds the school district’s base incentive 9 enrollment. 10 c. “Incentive period” means the budget years beginning July 11 1, 2016, July 1, 2017, and July 1, 2018. 12 d. “Incentive state aid” means the product of twenty percent 13 of the regular program state cost per pupil for the budget year 14 multiplied by the school district’s incentive enrollment in the 15 base year. 16 2. a. A preschool program expansion incentive is 17 established in accordance with this section. In order to be 18 eligible for the incentive, a school district must develop and 19 implement a preschool program expansion plan, approved by the 20 department, to expand enrollment of eligible students in the 21 school district’s preschool programming. In addition, the 22 school district shall work with existing preschool program 23 providers to expand hours and otherwise enhance the preschool 24 programming available to the children participating in the 25 programs. The plan’s goal shall be that by the end of the 26 incentive period the district’s preschool programming will 27 be available without a waiting list to each child wanting to 28 enroll in the programming. After completion of the incentive 29 period, the department shall analyze the growth in access 30 to the preschool program and enhancements made in preschool 31 programming as a result of the incentive, including in 32 the programs provided directly by school districts and in 33 those offered in partnership with community providers. The 34 department shall submit a report to the general assembly that 35 -3- LSB 1517SV (1) 86 md/sc 3/ 8

S.F. 246 shall include identification of progress made toward the 1 incentive program’s goals and documentation of collaboration 2 efforts made with input from participating families, early care 3 providers, and community partners. 4 b. The elements addressed in the preschool program expansion 5 plan shall include but are not limited to the following: 6 (1) How the school district will work in collaboration with 7 participating families, early care providers, and community 8 partners, as described in section 256C.3, subsection 3, 9 to provide the preschool programming in as convenient and 10 cost-effective a manner as possible for the families of the 11 four-year-old children who are eligible for the programming. 12 (2) A specification of the roles of the early care providers 13 and community partners in support of the expansion plan. 14 (3) A delineation of the specific steps for expanding hours 15 and otherwise enhancing the preschool programming available to 16 the children participating in the existing preschool programs 17 located in the school district. 18 (4) Identification of specific outcomes and progress 19 measures for the expansion plan. 20 (5) Detailed plans for contacting and soliciting enrollment 21 of eligible students, particularly from low-income families, 22 non-English speaking families, and families from ethnic and 23 racial groups underrepresented in the district’s preschool 24 program enrollment. 25 3. The department of education shall provide required 26 elements and recommend best practices for outreach and program 27 expansion under the incentive, including expansion plan models 28 that school districts may consider in developing their local 29 expansion plans, and including but not limited to submission 30 provisions, annual updates, and documentation of collaboration 31 efforts with and input from participating families, early care 32 providers, and community partners. 33 4. During the incentive period, in addition to the 34 regular preschool foundation aid based on the preschool 35 -4- LSB 1517SV (1) 86 md/sc 4/ 8

S.F. 246 budget enrollment, the school district implementing a 1 preschool expansion plan approved by the department shall 2 receive incentive state aid based on the district’s incentive 3 enrollment. The incentive state aid shall be paid as 4 part of the state aid payments made to school districts in 5 accordance with section 257.16 and shall be subject to the 6 same requirements applicable to preschool foundation aid under 7 section 256C.4, subsection 1, paragraph “d” . 8 5. A school district shall utilize its incentive state aid 9 to defray increases in costs in connection with the school 10 district’s preschool program expansion plan. Such costs shall 11 include but are not limited to renovation and other facility 12 costs connected with expansion, outreach, one-time expenses, 13 and other costs identified as eligible by the department. 14 Sec. 7. Section 257.16, Code 2015, is amended by adding the 15 following new subsection: 16 NEW SUBSECTION . 1A. For the fiscal years in which the 17 preschool program expansion incentive applies in accordance 18 with section 256C.7, the appropriation made in subsection 1 19 shall include the amount necessary to pay incentive state aid 20 in accordance with section 256C.7. This subsection is repealed 21 on July 1, 2019. 22 Sec. 8. STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED. In accordance 23 with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring 24 compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall 25 be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid 26 received by the school district under section 257.16. This 27 specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed 28 to meet all of the state funding-related requirements of 29 section 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding 30 shall be necessary for the full implementation of this Act 31 by and enforcement of this Act against all affected school 32 districts. 33 EXPLANATION 34 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 35 -5- LSB 1517SV (1) 86 md/sc 5/ 8

S.F. 246 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 1 This bill relates to the statewide preschool program for 2 four-year-old children by establishing a preschool program 3 expansion incentive and authorizing state aid for the 4 incentive. The bill also addresses costs allowed under the 5 program. 6 Code section 256C.3, relating to preschool program 7 requirements, is amended to require each school district to 8 implement a plan for the school district’s preschool program to 9 have sufficient capacity to operate without a waiting list for 10 school budget years beginning on or after July 1, 2018. 11 To be eligible for the preschool expansion incentive, 12 a school district must develop and implement a preschool 13 expansion plan, approved by the department, in order to expand 14 enrollment of eligible students in the school district’s 15 preschool programming. Requirements for the plan are 16 provided in the bill, including how the school district will 17 collaborate with participating families, early care providers, 18 and community partners to expand the district’s preschool 19 enrollment. The department of education is to specify other 20 requirements for the plan and for approval of plans by the 21 department. The bill requires the department of education to 22 analyze the enhancements to the preschool program following the 23 incentives period and submit a report to the general assembly. 24 Current law in Code section 256C.4 prohibits inclusion 25 in the preschool program of children already included in a 26 school’s enrollment count for purposes of the school aid 27 foundation formula or children who are served by an existing 28 preschool program already receiving state or federal funds for 29 the purpose of providing four-year-old preschool programming 30 while the child is being served by the existing program. The 31 bill allows inclusion of children participating in an existing 32 program if the preschool programming in the existing program 33 has been enhanced as part of the expansion incentive. 34 The incentive program will operate for the three school 35 -6- LSB 1517SV (1) 86 md/sc 6/ 8

S.F. 246 budget years beginning July 1, 2016, July 1, 2017, and July 1 1, 2018. For those three budget years, a school district is 2 eligible to receive incentive state aid for the increase in 3 the actual enrollment of eligible students in the preschool 4 programming provided by a school district in the immediately 5 preceding school year over the base incentive enrollment. 6 The base incentive enrollment is the average of the actual 7 enrollments of eligible students in the school district’s 8 preschool programming on October 1, 2012, October 1, 2013, 9 and October 1, 2014. The amount of incentive state aid is 10 equal to 20 percent of the regular program state cost per pupil 11 multiplied by the school district’s incentive enrollment in the 12 base year. 13 The incentive state aid is required to be used to defray 14 increases in costs in connection with the school district’s 15 preschool expansion plan. Such costs may include renovation 16 and other facility costs connected with expansion, outreach, 17 one-time expenses, and other costs identified as eligible by 18 the department. 19 The bill also addresses administration and other costs under 20 the preschool program in amendments to Code sections 256C.3 and 21 256C.4. Authorization is provided for a school district to 22 transport the children participating in the preschool program 23 to and from activities associated with the program along with 24 other children. The bill authorizes community-based providers 25 to prorate the costs of transporting children participating in 26 the preschool program. The allowable administrative costs for 27 school districts are increased from 5 to 10 percent. Also, the 28 costs of outreach activities and facility rent are permitted 29 as administrative costs. 30 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code 31 section 25B.3. The bill requires that the state cost of 32 any state mandate included in the bill be paid by a school 33 district from state school foundation aid received by the 34 school district under Code section 257.16. The specification 35 -7- LSB 1517SV (1) 86 md/sc 7/ 8