2009-2010 NYS Universal Prekindergarten Program
All districts operating a Universal Prekindergarten program must comply with Subpart 151-1 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education. Regulations and other information pertaining to Universal Prekindergarten can be accessed at www.emsc.nysed.gov/nyc/upk.html. Section 3602-e of Education Law defines "eligible students" as resident students who are four years of age on or before December 1st of the year in which they are enrolled or who will otherwise be first eligible to enter public school kindergarten the following school year.
School districts must establish a process to select eligible students to receive universal prekindergarten services on a random selection basis when there are more eligible students than can be served in a given school year.
The applicant district must set aside a minimum of 10% of Universal Prekindergarten funds to be used for collaborating with eligible agencies to provide instruction in UPK classrooms. The applicant district must select collaborating agencies through a competitive process as outlined in Section 151-1.6 of the Regulations of the Commissioner. A variance from this collaboration requirement may be requested if the district can document that they were unable to collaborate due to circumstances outside the control of the district, i.e., unable to identify agencies that can comply with Regulations.
UPK allocations are calculated to fund a specific number of students at a specific amount per student. To receive the full allocation, districts must serve the full number of students indicated. Districts must report the number of four-year-olds enrolled in State-funded prekindergarten (UPK) on the Fall 2009 Basic Education Data System (BEDS) form.
Section 3602-(e) (11) of Education Law provides that “where the district serves fewer children during the current year than in the base year, the school district shall have its apportionment reduced in an amount proportional to such deficiency”. The determination of the need to reduce the 2009-2010 UPK grant payable will be based on the number of UPK children the district reports on the Fall 2009 BEDS data form (October 7, 2009).
This reduction does not apply to school districts that have a fully implemented Universal Prekindergarten program. In order to be fully implemented, a district must meet the following criteria:
1) The program is available to all age-eligible resident four-year- olds, and 2) There is no waiting list (see exceptions on page 9) and
- No eligible child is turned away at any point during the school year.
If the district has a fully implemented UPK program, it must complete the “Notice of Fully Implemented UPK” form on pages 9 and 10.
Special Notes for Districts that Operated a Targeted Prekindergarten (TPK) Program in 2006-2007
Pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 57 of the Laws of 2007, funding for UPK and TPK have been merged. All prekindergarten funding is now designated as UPK. Districts that operated a TPK program in 2006-2007 may choose to operate a program in adherence to UPK regulations or may request one or more variances to operate under the Regulations that applied to the TPK program in 2006-2007. The amount of funding supporting classrooms to which such variances apply may not exceed the amount of TPK grant funds received by the district for the 2006-2007 school year.
Instructions
Be sure to read and complete each of the following parts of the application. Initial payments to districts may be delayed if applications are incomplete.
Application Cover Page and Statement of Assurances
- The Chief School Officer must sign the application cover page in blue ink.
- If a joint application is being submitted, each participating district must submit a separate signed cover page and Statement of Assurances... Also a partnership agreement that specifies the roles and responsibilities of each district must be submitted. Joint applications must clearly designate one district as the fiscal agent.
Program Plan
- A Program Plan is submitted only if an applicant is revising its previous Program Plan.
Variance to Operate a Program in Adherence to TPK Regulations (only applies to programs that had a TPK program in 2006-2007)
- This variance (page 6) should be completed by only districts that operated a TPK program in 2006-2007 and wish to apply for a variance to operate under TPK guidelines in 2009-2010.
- The amount of funding applied to classes under the variance(s) may not exceed the amount of Targeted Prekindergarten grant funds received by the district for the 2006-2007 school year.
Budget-FS-20
- The only information required on the FS-20 budget summary is the grand total. Do not complete blacked-out sections.
- Districts must maintain category-specific information on file, to be available as needed.
- The fiscal agent of a joint application must submit a single budget.
Electronic Submission of Projected Data Form
- Go to the following link http://www.forms2.nysed.gov/emsc/upk/upkapp.cfm
- Please read the instruction page carefully before completing this form.
- All districts must complete and submit this form including districts requesting a TPK variance(s). Data on students and teachers operating under a TPK variance should be included on this form, as TPK is a subset of UPK.
- When a site is operated under contract with an agency provider, enter the total dollar amount of the contract for that site.
- Class, student and teacher counts must be in whole numbers; for example, each half-day or full-day class is counted as 1 class, and a .5 FTE teacher is counted as 1 teacher.
- Check calculations and correct any errors prior to submitting the form.
- Before submitting the projected data information to SED, make a copy of it for your records.
APPLICATION 
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