RELATES TO:
KRS
156.160,
157.226,
157.3175
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
KRS
156.160 authorizes the State Board for
Elementary and Secondary Education to adopt administrative regulations
establishing standards which school districts shall meet in student, program,
service and operational performance;
KRS 157.226 authorizes
preschool programs and related services for handicapped children who are three
(3) or four (4) years of age or who may become age five (5) after October 1 of
the current year and authorizes the State Board for Elementary and Secondary
Education to promulgate administrative regulations regarding the use of funds;
and
KRS
157.3175 authorizes preschool education
programs for four (4) year old children who are at risk of educational failure
and authorizes the State Board for Elementary and Secondary Education to
establish a grant allocation system. This administrative regulation is
necessary to implement those state board duties.
Section 1. Preschool Programs. For the
purposes of this administrative regulation, the term "preschool programs"
refers to the two (2) educational programs established in the
KRS 157.226 and
157.3175
for children below primary school age; the preschool program for handicapped
children and the preschool education program for four (4) year old
children.
Section 2. Funding
Eligibility.
(1) Children eligible to be
counted for funding purposes for the preschool program for four (4) year old
children shall include only those children who are at risk of educational
failure and who meet the criteria set forth in
704
KAR 3:410, Section 1(1).
(2) Children eligible to be counted for
funding purposes for the preschool program for handicapped children shall
include only those children who meet the criteria set forth in 707 KAR
1:150,
Section 1(2).
(3) A child who meets
the eligibility criteria under both subsections (1) and (2) of this section
shall be included in only one (1) of these two (2) groups for purposes of
generating funds under these preschool programs.
(4) Eligible children who are enrolled by
parent choice in other preschool programs providing non-supplemental
educational services through state or federal funds at no cost to parents shall
not be included in the count of eligible children used to generate funds under
these preschool programs.
Section
3. Enrollment Data.
(1) Funds for
districts shall be allotted based on the number of eligible children as defined
in Section 2 of this administrative regulation who are enrolled in the
district's preschool programs on December 1 of the previous year. Program
funding shall be adjusted proportionately when the enrollment on December 1 of
the current year is more than five (5) percent above or below the number of
children served on December 1 of the previous year.
(2) If there are available funds after
districts have been allotted funds to serve all eligible enrolled children
through the state funds appropriated, then the remaining funds may be prorated
to those districts that transport eligible children who are enrolled in Head
Start, up to the amount per child allowed for transportation in Section 5 of
this administrative regulation.
Section 4. Use of Funds.
(1) Appropriations to the local school
district for the preschool programs shall be separate and apart from all other
funds appropriated to the local school district.
(2) Use of the funds appropriated for the
preschool programs shall be limited to activities for the implementation of
these programs, pursuant to
704
KAR 3:410, 707 KAR
1:150, and the district's
application for the preschool programs.
Section 5. Formula.
(1) The Department of Education shall
annually recommend a preschool allocation formula to the State Board for
Elementary and Secondary Education for review and approval. The allocation
formula shall specify the amount of funds to be allocated for each eligible
child.
(2) If the state funds
appropriated are not sufficient, the funding formula shall be adjusted
proportionately.