Senate File 136 - Introduced SENATE FILE 136 BY QUIRMBACH , DOTZLER , BOULTON , DVORSKY , TAYLOR , BOWMAN , KINNEY , HART , JOCHUM , LYKAM , BISIGNANO , MATHIS , RAGAN , BOLKCOM , PETERSEN , McCOY , and HOGG A BILL FOR An Act relating to the state preschool program by establishing 1 a preschool expansion incentive, authorizing state aid for 2 the incentive, and addressing program costs. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 1504XS (5) 87 md/sc
S.F. 136 Section 1. Section 256C.3, subsection 4, Code 2017, is 1 amended by adding the following new paragraph: 2 NEW PARAGRAPH . e. Development and implementation of a plan 3 for the school district’s preschool program to have sufficient 4 capacity to operate without a waiting list for school budget 5 years beginning on or after July 1, 2021. 6 Sec. 2. Section 256C.4, subsection 1, paragraphs g and h, 7 Code 2017, are amended to read as follows: 8 g. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015 2017 , and 9 each succeeding fiscal year, of the amount of preschool 10 foundation aid received by a school district for a fiscal year 11 in accordance with section 257.16 , not more than five ten 12 percent may be used by the school district for administering 13 the district’s approved local program. Outreach activities 14 and rent for facilities not owned by the school district are 15 permissive uses of the administrative funds. 16 h. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015 2017 , and 17 each succeeding fiscal year, of the amount of preschool 18 foundation aid received by a school district for a fiscal year 19 in accordance with section 257.16 , not less than ninety-five 20 ninety percent of the per pupil amount shall be passed through 21 to a community-based provider for each pupil enrolled in 22 the district’s approved local program. For the fiscal year 23 beginning July 1, 2015 2017 , and each succeeding fiscal year, 24 not more than ten percent of the amount of preschool foundation 25 aid passed through to a community-based provider may be used by 26 the community-based provider for administrative costs. The 27 costs of outreach activities and rent for facilities not owned 28 by the school district are permissive administrative costs. 29 The costs of transportation involving children participating in 30 the preschool program and other children may be prorated. 31 Sec. 3. Section 256C.4, subsection 2, paragraph b, Code 32 2017, is amended to read as follows: 33 b. The enrollment count of eligible students shall not 34 include a child who is included in the enrollment count 35 -1- LSB 1504XS (5) 87 md/sc 1/ 7
S.F. 136 determined under section 257.6 or a child who is served by 1 a an existing preschool program already receiving state or 2 federal funds for the purpose of the provision of providing 3 four-year-old preschool programming while the child is being 4 served by the existing program. Such preschool programming 5 However, the enrollment count of eligible students may include 6 a child being served by an existing preschool program if 7 the preschool programming in the existing program has been 8 enhanced as a result of preschool program expansion incentive 9 state aid provided under section 256C.7. For the purposes 10 of this chapter, an “existing preschool program” includes but 11 is not limited to shared visions and other child development 12 assistance programs provided under chapter 256A and section 13 279.51 , special education programs provided under section 14 256B.9 , school ready children grant programs and other programs 15 provided under chapter 256I , and federal head start programs 16 and the services funded by Tit. I of the federal Elementary and 17 Secondary Education Act of 1965. 18 Sec. 4. Section 256C.5, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph 19 1, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows: 20 For the purposes of this section and section 256C.4 chapter, 21 unless the context otherwise requires : 22 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION . 256C.7 Preschool program expansion 23 incentive. 24 1. For the purposes of this section, unless the context 25 otherwise requires: 26 a. “Base incentive enrollment” means the average of the 27 actual enrollments of eligible students in the preschool 28 programming provided by a school district on October 1, 2014, 29 October 1, 2015, and October 1, 2016. 30 b. “Incentive enrollment” means the amount by which the 31 actual enrollment of eligible students in the preschool 32 programming provided by a school district on October 1 of 33 the base year exceeds the school district’s base incentive 34 enrollment. 35 -2- LSB 1504XS (5) 87 md/sc 2/ 7
S.F. 136 c. “Incentive period” means the budget years beginning July 1 1, 2018, July 1, 2019, and July 1, 2020. 2 d. “Incentive state aid” means the product of ten percent of 3 the regular program state cost per pupil for the budget year 4 multiplied by the school district’s incentive enrollment in the 5 base year. 6 2. a. A preschool program expansion incentive is 7 established in accordance with this section. In order to be 8 eligible for the incentive, a school district must develop and 9 implement a preschool program expansion plan, approved by the 10 department, to expand enrollment of eligible students in the 11 school district’s preschool programming. In addition, the 12 school district shall work with existing preschool program 13 providers to expand hours and otherwise enhance the preschool 14 programming available to the children participating in the 15 programs. The plan’s goal shall be that by the end of the 16 incentive period the district’s preschool programming will 17 be available without a waiting list to each child wanting to 18 enroll in the programming. After completion of the incentive 19 period, the department shall analyze the growth in access 20 to the preschool program and enhancements made in preschool 21 programming as a result of the incentive, including in 22 the programs provided directly by school districts and in 23 those offered in partnership with community providers. The 24 department shall submit a report to the general assembly that 25 shall include identification of progress made toward the 26 incentive program’s goals and documentation of collaboration 27 efforts made with input from participating families, early care 28 providers, and community partners. 29 b. The elements addressed in the preschool program expansion 30 plan shall include but are not limited to the following: 31 (1) How the school district will work in collaboration with 32 participating families, early care providers, and community 33 partners, as described in section 256C.3, subsection 3, 34 to provide the preschool programming in as convenient and 35 -3- LSB 1504XS (5) 87 md/sc 3/ 7
S.F. 136 cost-effective a manner as possible for the families of the 1 four-year-old children who are eligible for the programming. 2 (2) A specification of the roles of the early care providers 3 and community partners in support of the expansion plan. 4 (3) A delineation of the specific steps for expanding hours 5 and otherwise enhancing the preschool programming available to 6 the children participating in the existing preschool programs 7 located in the school district. 8 (4) Identification of specific outcomes and progress 9 measures for the expansion plan. 10 (5) Detailed plans for contacting and soliciting enrollment 11 of eligible students, particularly from low-income families, 12 non-English speaking families, and families from ethnic and 13 racial groups underrepresented in the district’s preschool 14 program enrollment. 15 3. The department of education shall provide required 16 elements and recommend best practices for outreach and program 17 expansion under the incentive, including expansion plan models 18 that school districts may consider in developing their local 19 expansion plans, and including but not limited to submission 20 provisions, annual updates, and documentation of collaboration 21 efforts with and input from participating families, early care 22 providers, and community partners. 23 4. During the incentive period, in addition to the 24 regular preschool foundation aid based on the preschool 25 budget enrollment, the school district implementing a 26 preschool expansion plan approved by the department shall 27 receive incentive state aid based on the district’s incentive 28 enrollment. The incentive state aid shall be paid as 29 part of the state aid payments made to school districts in 30 accordance with section 257.16 and shall be subject to the 31 same requirements applicable to preschool foundation aid under 32 section 256C.4, subsection 1, paragraph “d” . 33 5. A school district shall utilize its incentive state aid 34 to defray increases in costs in connection with the school 35 -4- LSB 1504XS (5) 87 md/sc 4/ 7
S.F. 136 district’s preschool program expansion plan. Such costs shall 1 include but are not limited to renovation and other facility 2 costs connected with expansion, outreach, one-time expenses, 3 and other costs identified as eligible by the department. 4 Sec. 6. Section 257.16, Code 2017, is amended by adding the 5 following new subsection: 6 NEW SUBSECTION . 1A. For the fiscal years in which the 7 preschool program expansion incentive applies in accordance 8 with section 256C.7, the appropriation made in subsection 1 9 shall include the amount necessary to pay incentive state aid 10 in accordance with section 256C.7. This subsection is repealed 11 on July 1, 2022. 12 Sec. 7. STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED. In accordance 13 with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring 14 compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall 15 be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid 16 received by the school district under section 257.16. This 17 specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed 18 to meet all of the state funding-related requirements of 19 section 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding 20 shall be necessary for the full implementation of this Act 21 by and enforcement of this Act against all affected school 22 districts. 23 EXPLANATION 24 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 25 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 26 This bill relates to the statewide preschool program for 27 four-year-old children by establishing a preschool program 28 expansion incentive and authorizing state aid for the 29 incentive. The bill also addresses costs allowed under the 30 program. 31 Code section 256C.3, relating to preschool program 32 requirements, is amended to require each school district to 33 implement a plan for the school district’s preschool program to 34 have sufficient capacity to operate without a waiting list for 35 -5- LSB 1504XS (5) 87 md/sc 5/ 7
S.F. 136 school budget years beginning on or after July 1, 2021. 1 To be eligible for the preschool expansion incentive, 2 a school district must develop and implement a preschool 3 expansion plan, approved by the department, in order to expand 4 enrollment of eligible students in the school district’s 5 preschool programming. Requirements for the plan are 6 provided in the bill, including how the school district will 7 collaborate with participating families, early care providers, 8 and community partners to expand the district’s preschool 9 enrollment. The department of education is to specify other 10 requirements for the plan and for approval of plans by the 11 department. The bill requires the department of education to 12 analyze the enhancements to the preschool program following the 13 incentives period and submit a report to the general assembly. 14 Current law in Code section 256C.4 prohibits inclusion 15 in the preschool program of children already included in a 16 school’s enrollment count for purposes of the school aid 17 foundation formula or children who are served by an existing 18 preschool program already receiving state or federal funds for 19 the purpose of providing four-year-old preschool programming 20 while the child is being served by the existing program. The 21 bill allows inclusion of children participating in an existing 22 program if the preschool programming in the existing program 23 has been enhanced as part of the expansion incentive. 24 The incentive program will operate for the three school 25 budget years beginning July 1, 2018, July 1, 2019, and July 26 1, 2020. For those three budget years, a school district is 27 eligible to receive incentive state aid for the increase in 28 the actual enrollment of eligible students in the preschool 29 programming provided by a school district in the immediately 30 preceding school year over the base incentive enrollment. 31 The base incentive enrollment is the average of the actual 32 enrollments of eligible students in the school district’s 33 preschool programming on October 1, 2014, October 1, 2015, 34 and October 1, 2016. The amount of incentive state aid is 35 -6- LSB 1504XS (5) 87 md/sc 6/ 7
S.F. 136 equal to 10 percent of the regular program state cost per pupil 1 multiplied by the school district’s incentive enrollment in the 2 base year. 3 The incentive state aid is required to be used to defray 4 increases in costs in connection with the school district’s 5 preschool expansion plan. Such costs may include renovation 6 and other facility costs connected with expansion, outreach, 7 one-time expenses, and other costs identified as eligible by 8 the department. 9 The bill also addresses administrative costs under the 10 preschool program by increasing the allowable administrative 11 costs for school districts from 5 to 10 percent. 12 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code 13 section 25B.3. The bill requires that the state cost of 14 any state mandate included in the bill be paid by a school 15 district from state school foundation aid received by the 16 school district under Code section 257.16. The specification 17 is deemed to constitute state compliance with any state mandate 18 funding-related requirements of Code section 25B.2. The 19 inclusion of this specification is intended to reinstate the 20 requirement of political subdivisions to comply with any state 21 mandates included in the bill. 22 -7- LSB 1504XS (5) 87 md/sc 7/ 7