2007-2008 New York State Universal Prekindergarten Program
 

Purpose of Program:

The primary purpose of this grant program is to provide four-year-old children with a universal opportunity to access high-quality prekindergarten programs that prepare them for future school success by developing strong foundational skills in early literacy and numeracy.

Eligible Applicants:

School districts eligible to receive Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) or Targeted Prekindergarten (TPK) funds in the 2006-2007 school year and school districts eligible to receive UPK funds for the first time in 2007-2008. Eligible districts and their allocations are listed on the website: www.emsc.nysed.gov/nyc/upk.html . Two or more eligible districts may submit a joint application.

Application Due Date:

One original and two copies of the application and budget must be postmarked by July 16, 2007 and submitted to:

Grants Management Unit
674 EBA
New York State Education Department
Albany, NY 12234

Attn: Universal Prekindergarten Application

Questions:

Send all questions to EMSCEERI@mail.nysed.gov by June 7 and answers will be posted by June 14 at www.emsc.nysed.gov under Funding Opportunities. Click on Current Funding Opportunities and this application.

Information

The Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) program was established by Section 3602-e of Education Law in 1997. Districts first began offering UPK services in the 1998-1999 school year.

Section 3602-e of Education Law and the UPK regulations (Subpart 151-1), a list of district UPK allocations and number of children to be served, and other helpful information may be accessed on the Statewide Prekindergarten website with the following link: www.emsc.nysed.gov/nyc/upk.html

UPK allocations are calculated to fund a specific number of children at a specific amount per pupil. To receive the full allocation, districts must serve the full number of children indicated. Districts must report the number of four-year-olds enrolled in state funded prekindergarten (UPK) on the electronic Basic Education Data System form on the day designated by the State Education Department. If the district’s UPK is under-enrolled on BEDS day, the total grant award for the district will be prorated proportionately using the per district’s pupil amount(s) on the allocations list.

Section 3602-e of Education Law defines "eligible children" as resident children 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. Districts do not have the authority to apply additional eligibility criteria.

School districts must establish a process to select eligible children to receive universal prekindergarten services on a random selection basis when there are more eligible children 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 UPK classroom instruction. The applicant district must select collaborating agencies through a competitive process as outlined in Subpart 151-1 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 of the control of the district.

For the 2007-2008 school year, two or more districts may form a partnership and submit a joint UPK application. Districts submitting a joint application must:

• Submit a separate cover sheet signed by the chief school officer of each participating district.

• Submit a partnership agreement that describes the roles and responsibilities of each participating district.

• Identify one of the partner districts to serve as the fiscal agent.

• The identified agent shall submit one budget for the joint application that does not exceed the sum of the UPK allocations for each of the participating districts.
   

Special notes for Districts that Operated a Targeted Prekindergarten (TPK) 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 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. Districts that operated a TPK program in 2006-2007 may use the selection process for a Targeted Prekindergarten program for the classrooms for which a TPK variance is being requested.


Instructions


Be sure to read and complete each part 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 districts are submitting a joint application, each participating district must submit a separate cover sheet signed by the Chief School Officer and a partnership agreement that specifies the roles and responsibilities of each district for program implementation and oversight.
   

Universal Prekindergarten Program Plan
 

• The program plan is required for first time applicants and previously funded applicants who are changing their program plan.
   

Request for Variance
 

• Check YES or NO after each variance.

• If NO is checked in each instance, the section is complete.

• If YES is checked for any variance, the corresponding required documentation must be submitted.
  
   

Targeted Prekindergarten (TPK) Variance
 

• This page must be completed if the district operated a TPK program in 2006-2007.

• This page must be omitted if the district did not operate a TPK program in 2006-2007.
   

2007-08 UPK Projected Data Form and Projected Data Summary Form
 

• Please read the instruction page carefully before completing these forms.

• These forms must be completed by all districts including districts requesting a TPK variance. Data on classes and sites with a TPK variance should be included on this page.

• When a site is operated under contract with an agency provider, enter the total dollar amount of the contract for that site.

• Check your calculations and correct any errors.

• Class, pupil and teacher counts are to 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.
   

Budget-FS 20
 

• Enter expenditures under the correct category and budget code.

• Enter the total amount of UPK services contracted with all agencies under CODE 40.

• Joint applicants must choose one fiscal agent and submit a single joint budget.

• Check all calculations carefully as districts are responsible for errors that may result in a reduction of the grant award.

• Leave the project number blank on budget summary form.
   

Application Form (In Word)