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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to the school readiness program; 2
amending s. 1002.81, F.S.; revising the definition of 3
the terms "economically disadvantaged" and "single 4
point of entry"; amending s. 1002.82, F.S.; revising 5
requirements for a specified statewide data 6
information program within the school readiness 7
program; amending s. 1002.84, F.S.; revising 8
requirements for the program's uniform waiting list; 9
amending s. 1002.85, F.S.; conforming provisions to 10
changes made by the act; amending s. 1002.87, F.S.; 11
revising the criteria for children to be given 12
priority for participation in the in the program; 13
requiring early learning coalitions to enroll children 14
from the waiting list for the program; amending s. 15
1002.89, F.S.; revising the requirements for 16
determining the school readiness program allocation; 17
providing an effective date. 18
19
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 20
21
Section 1. Subsections (6) an d (13) of section 1002.81, 22
Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 23
1002.81 Definitions. —Consistent with the requirements of 24
45 C.F.R. parts 98 and 99 and as used in this part, the term: 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(6) "Economically disadvantaged" means having a family 26
income that does not exceed 65 percent of the state median 27
income 150 percent of the federal poverty level and includes 28
being a child of a working migratory family as defined by 34 29
C.F.R. s. 200.81(d) or (f) or an agricultural worker who is 30
employed by more than one a gricultural employer during the 31
course of a year, and whose income varies according to weather 32
conditions and market stability. 33
(13) "Single point of entry" means an integrated 34
information system that allows a parent to enroll his or her 35
child in the school readiness program or the Voluntary 36
Prekindergarten Education Program at various locations 37
throughout a county, that may allow a parent to enroll his or 38
her child by telephone or through a website, and that uses a 39
uniform waiting list to track eligible children waiting for 40
enrollment in the school readiness program based on the family 41
household income and the priorities established under s. 42
1002.87. 43
Section 2. Paragraph (f) of subsection (2) of section 44
1002.82, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 45
1002.82 Department of Education; powers and duties. — 46
(2) The department shall: 47
(f) Establish a unified approach to the state's efforts to 48
coordinate a comprehensive early learning program. In support of 49
this effort, the department: 50
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1. Shall adopt specific program support services that 51
address the state's school readiness program, including: 52
a. Statewide data information program requirements that 53
include: 54
(I) Eligibility requirements. 55
(II) Financial reports. 56
(III) Program accountability measures. 57
(IV) Child progress reports. 58
b. Child care resource and referral services. 59
c. A single point of entry and uniform waiting list that 60
tracks children waiting for school readiness program services 61
based on family household income and the prior ities established 62
under s. 1002.87. 63
2. May provide technical assistance and guidance on 64
additional support services to complement the school readiness 65
program, including: 66
a. Warm-Line services. 67
b. Anti-fraud plans. 68
c. Training and support for paren tal involvement in 69
children's early education. 70
d. Family literacy activities and services. 71
Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 1002.84, Florida 72
Statutes, is amended to read: 73
1002.84 Early learning coalitions; school readiness powers 74
and duties.—Each early learning coalition shall: 75
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(2) Establish a uniform waiting list to track eligible 76
children waiting for enrollment in the school readiness program 77
based on family household income and the priorities established 78
under s. 1002.87 and in accordance with rules adopted by the 79
State Board of Education. 80
Section 4. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) and subsection 81
(5) of section 1002.85, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 82
1002.85 Early learning coalition plans. — 83
(2) Each early learning coalition m ust submit a school 84
readiness program plan every 3 years to the department before 85
the expenditure of funds. A coalition may not implement its 86
school readiness program plan until it receives approval from 87
the department. A coalition may not implement any re vision to 88
its school readiness program plan until the coalition submits 89
the revised plan to and receives approval from the department. 90
If the department rejects a plan or revision, the coalition must 91
continue to operate under its previously approved plan. The plan 92
must include, but is not limited to: 93
(b) The coalition's procedures for implementing the 94
requirements of this part, including: 95
1. Single point of entry. 96
2. Uniform waiting list that tracks children waiting for 97
school readiness program servic es based on family household 98
income and the priorities established under s. 1002.87 . 99
3. Eligibility and enrollment processes and local 100
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eligibility priorities for children pursuant to s. 1002.87. 101
4. Parent access and choice. 102
5. Sliding fee scale and p olicies on applying the waiver 103
or reduction of fees in accordance with s. 1002.84(9). 104
6. Use of preassessments and postassessments, as 105
applicable. 106
7. Use of contracted slots, as applicable, based on the 107
results of the assessment required under paragrap h (i). 108
(5) The department shall collect and report data on 109
coalition delivery of early learning programs. Elements shall 110
include, but are not limited to, measures related to progress 111
towards reducing the number of children on the waiting list, the 112
percentage of children served by the program as compared to the 113
number of administrative staff and overhead, the percentage of 114
children served compared to total number of children under the 115
age of 5 years below 65 percent of the state median income 150 116
percent of the federal poverty level , provider payment 117
processes, fraud intervention, child attendance and stability, 118
use of child care resource and referral, and kindergarten 119
readiness outcomes for children in the Voluntary Prekindergarten 120
Education Program or the school readiness program upon entry 121
into kindergarten. The department shall request input from the 122
coalitions and school readiness program providers before 123
finalizing the format and data to be used. The report shall be 124
implemented beginning July 1, 2014, and results of the report 125
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must be included in the annual report under s. 1002.82. 126
Section 5. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) and subsection 127
(3) of section 1002.87, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 128
1002.87 School readiness program; eligibility a nd 129
enrollment.— 130
(1) Each early learning coalition shall give priority for 131
participation in the school readiness program as follows: 132
(c) Subsequent priority shall be given, based on the early 133
learning coalition's local priorities identified under s. 134
1002.85(2)(i), to children who meet the following criteria: 135
1. A child from birth to the beginning of the school year 136
for which the child is eligible for admission to kindergarten in 137
a public school under s. 1003.21(1)(a)2. who is from a working 138
family that is economically disadvantaged, with a household 139
income that is less than 50 percent of the state median income, 140
and may include such child's eligible siblings, beginning with 141
the school year in which the sibling is eligible for admission 142
to kindergarten in a public school under s. 1003.21(1)(a)2. 143
until the beginning of the school year in which the sibling is 144
eligible to begin 6th grade, provided that the first priority 145
for funding an eligible sibling is local revenues available to 146
the coalition for funding direct services. 147
2. A child from birth to the beginning of the school year 148
for which the child is eligible for admission to kindergarten in 149
a public school under s. 1003.21(1)(a)2. who is from a working 150
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family that is economically disadvantaged, with a household 151
income that is greater than 50 percent, but less than 65 152
percent, of the state median income, and may include such 153
child's eligible siblings, beginning with the school year in 154
which the sibling is eligible for admission to kindergarten in a 155
public school under s. 1003.21(1)(a)2. until the beginning of 156
the school year in which the sibling is eligible to begin 6th 157
grade, provided that the first priority for funding an eligible 158
sibling is local revenu es available to the coalition for funding 159
direct services. 160
3.2. A child of a parent who transitions from the work 161
program into employment as described in s. 445.032 from birth to 162
the beginning of the school year for which the child is eligible 163
for admission to kindergarten in a public school under s. 164
1003.21(1)(a)2. 165
4.3. An at-risk child who is at least 9 years of age but 166
younger than 13 years of age. An at -risk child whose sibling is 167
enrolled in the school readiness program within an eligibility 168
priority category listed in paragraphs (a) and (b) and 169
subparagraph 1. shall be given priority over other children who 170
are eligible under this paragraph. 171
5.4. A child who is younger than 13 years of age from a 172
working family that is economically disadvantaged . 173
6.5. A child of a parent who transitions from the work 174
program into employment as described in s. 445.032 who is 175
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younger than 13 years of age. 176
7.6. A child who has special needs, has been determined 177
eligible as a student with a disability, has a curr ent 178
individual education plan with a Florida school district, and is 179
not younger than 3 years of age. A special needs child eligible 180
under this paragraph remains eligible until the child is 181
eligible for admission to kindergarten in a public school under 182
s. 1003.21(1)(a)2. 183
8.7. A child who otherwise meets one of the eligibility 184
criteria in paragraphs (a) and (b) and subparagraphs 1. and 2. 185
but who is also enrolled concurrently in the federal Head Start 186
Program and the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Pr ogram. 187
(3) Contingent upon the availability of funds, a coalition 188
shall enroll eligible children , including those from its waiting 189
list, according to the eligibility priorities and criteria 190
established in subsection (1). 191
Section 6. Paragraph (a) of s ubsection (1) of section 192
1002.89, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 193
1002.89 School readiness program; funding. — 194
(1) DETERMINATION OF EARLY LEARNING COALITION SCHOOL 195
READINESS PROGRAM FUNDING. —Funding for the school readiness 196
program shall be used b y the early learning coalitions in 197
accordance with this part and the General Appropriations Act. 198
(a) School readiness program allocation. —If the annual 199
allocation for the school readiness program is not determined in 200
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the General Appropriations Act or the substantive bill 201
implementing the General Appropriations Act, it shall be 202
determined as follows: 203
1. For each county in the early learning coalition, the 204
total number of unweighted full -time equivalent school readiness 205
children, as adopted by the Early L earning Programs Estimating 206
Conference pursuant to s. 216.136(8), which shall consider the 207
historical trend of children served and population changes for 208
each county, shall be multiplied by the appropriate care level 209
factor to calculate the weighted full -time equivalent school 210
readiness children. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term 211
"care level factor" means the adjustment made based on the 212
relative differences in reimbursement rates associated with the 213
eligible school readiness children pursuant to s. 1002.87. 214
2. The total weighted full -time equivalent school 215
readiness children shall be multiplied by the rate index to 216
calculate the adjusted weighted full -time equivalent school 217
readiness children. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term 218
"rate index" means the adjustment made based on the impact of 219
geographic location on reimbursement rates. 220
3. The school readiness program funds shall be distributed 221
based on each county's proportionate share of the total adjusted 222
weighted full-time equivalent school readiness children. 223
Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 224