(1) An eligible applicant receiving funds under section 32d shall submit an application, in a form and manner prescribed by the department, by a date specified by the department in the immediately preceding fiscal year. An eligible applicant is not required to amend the applicant’s current accounting cycle or adopt this state‘s fiscal year accounting cycle in accounting for financial transactions under this section. The application must include all of the following:

    (a) The estimated total number of children in the community who meet the criteria of section 32d and the total number of age-eligible children in the community, as provided to the applicant by the department utilizing the most recent population data available from the American Community Survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau. The department shall ensure that it provides updated American Community Survey population data at least once every 3 years.

    (b) The estimated number of children in the community who meet the criteria of section 32d and are being served exclusively by Head Start programs operating in the community.

    (c) The number of children whom the applicant has the capacity to serve who meet the criteria of section 32d including a verification of physical facility and staff resources capacity.

    (2) After notification of funding allocations, an applicant receiving funds under section 32d shall also submit an implementation plan for approval, in a form and manner prescribed by the department, by a date specified by the department, that details how the applicant complies with the program components established by the department under section 32d.

    (3) The initial allocation to each eligible applicant under section 32d is the lesser of the following:

    (a) The sum of the number of children served in a school-day program in the preceding school year multiplied by $9,608.00, the number of children served in a GSRP extended program in the preceding school year multiplied by $11,530.00, and the number of children served in a GSRP/Head Start blended program or a part-day program in the preceding school year multiplied by $4,804.00.

    (b) The sum of the number of children the applicant has the capacity to serve in the current school year in a school-day program multiplied by $9,608.00, the number of children served in a GSRP extended program the applicant has the capacity to serve in the current school year multiplied by $11,530.00, and the number of children served in a GSRP/Head Start blended program or a part-day program the applicant has the capacity to serve in the current school year multiplied by $4,804.00.

    (4) If funds remain after the allocations under subsection (3), the department shall distribute the remaining funds to each intermediate district or consortium of intermediate districts that serves less than the state percentage benchmark determined under subsection (5). The department shall distribute these remaining funds to each eligible applicant based upon each applicant’s proportionate share of the remaining unserved children necessary to meet the statewide percentage benchmark in intermediate districts or consortia of intermediate districts serving less than the statewide percentage benchmark. When all applicants have been given the opportunity to reach the statewide percentage benchmark, the statewide percentage benchmark may be reset, as determined by the department, until greater equity of opportunity to serve eligible children across all intermediate school districts has been achieved.

    (5) For the purposes of subsection (4), the department shall calculate a percentage of children served by each intermediate district or consortium of intermediate districts by adding the number of children served in the immediately preceding year by that intermediate district or consortium with the number of eligible children under section 32d served exclusively by Head Start, as reported in a form and manner prescribed by the department, within the intermediate district or consortia service area and dividing that total by the total number of children within the intermediate district or consortium of intermediate districts who meet the criteria of section 32d as determined by the department utilizing the most recent population data available from the American Community Survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau. The department shall compare the resulting percentage of eligible children served to a statewide percentage benchmark to determine if the intermediate district or consortium is eligible for additional funds under subsection (4). The statewide percentage benchmark is 100%.

    (6) If, taking into account the total amount to be allocated to the applicant as calculated under this section, an applicant determines that it is able to include additional eligible children in the great start readiness program without additional funds under section 32d, the applicant may include additional eligible children but does not receive additional funding under section 32d for those children.

    (7) The department shall review the program components under section 32d and under this section at least biennially. The department also shall convene a committee of internal and external stakeholders at least once every 5 years to ensure that the funding structure under this section reflects current system needs under section 32d.

    (8) As used in this section, “GSRP/Head Start blended program”, “GSRP extended program”, “part-day program”, and “school-day program” mean those terms as defined in section 32d.