Arizona Laws 15-1251. State block grant for early childhood education; evaluation
A. The state block grant for early childhood education program is established in the state board of education. The purpose of the program is to promote improved pupil achievement by providing flexible supplemental funding for early childhood programs, including preschool programs for economically disadvantaged children, and programs that serve all public school pupils statewide who are in kindergarten programs and grades one, two and three.
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 15-1251
- Average daily membership: means the total enrollment of fractional students and full-time students, minus withdrawals, of each school day through the first one hundred days or two hundred days in session, as applicable, for the current year. See Arizona Laws 15-901
- Charter school: means a public school established by contract with the state board of education, the state board for charter schools, a university under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents, a community college district or a group of community college districts pursuant to article 8 of this chapter to provide learning that will improve pupil achievement. See Arizona Laws 15-101
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Fiscal year: means the year beginning July 1 and ending June 30. See Arizona Laws 15-101
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Parent: means the natural or adoptive parent of a child or a person who has custody of a child. See Arizona Laws 15-101
- public school: means any public institution established for the purposes of offering instruction to pupils in programs for preschool children with disabilities, kindergarten programs or any combination of elementary grades or secondary grades one through twelve. See Arizona Laws 15-101
- School district: means a political subdivision of this state with geographic boundaries organized for the purpose of the administration, support and maintenance of the public schools or an accommodation school. See Arizona Laws 15-101
- United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215
B. Funding for the program for each fiscal year shall be allocated based on the number of pupils in kindergarten programs and grades one, two and three in each charter school or school district who were eligible for free lunches during the prior fiscal year under the national school lunch and child nutrition acts (42 United States Code §§ 1751 through 1785). Any charter school or school district that did not determine for the prior fiscal year if its pupils in kindergarten programs and grades one, two and three were eligible for free lunches under the national school lunch and child nutrition acts shall receive funding for the program in the current fiscal year based on the number of its pupils in kindergarten programs and grades one, two and three who would have been eligible for free lunches in the prior fiscal year according to the statewide kindergarten programs and grades one, two and three eligibility average for all school districts and charter schools collectively for the prior fiscal year. Notwithstanding this section, a school district or charter school with an average daily membership of more than six hundred pupils in kindergarten programs and grades one, two and three in the prior fiscal year shall have participated in the national school lunch and child nutrition acts free lunches program in the prior fiscal year to be eligible for program funding in the current fiscal year.
C. A school district or charter school that devotes part or all of its program funding to preschool programs shall comply with all of the following requirements:
1. Restrict the preschool program only to preschool children eligible for free or reduced price lunches under the national school lunch and child nutrition acts.
2. Allow participating pupils to receive preschool services only from a public, federally funded or private child care provider, each of which shall be licensed by the department of health services and each of which, beginning in fiscal year 1999-2000, also shall be accredited by a state board of education approved organization that provides accreditation for preschool programs.
3. Provide all federally funded or private child care providers located within the school district or within ten miles of the charter school with information necessary for them to participate in the program, including names and addresses of children selected for participation and of their parents or guardians.
4. Provide all parents or guardians of children selected for the program with a list of licensed federally funded or private child care providers located within the school district or within ten miles of the charter school and explain to parents or guardians that they may choose to have their child receive services under the program from any provider on the list if that provider agrees to participate.
5. Allow at least fifty per cent of pupils selected for the program to receive preschool services from a federally funded or private child care provider of their parent‘s or guardian‘s own choosing.
6. Allow any eligible child care provider located within the school district or within ten miles of the charter school to participate in the program if it is willing to provide services at a unit cost similar to that paid to other providers in the area under the program.
7. Limit the use of contracts with federally funded and private child care providers to financial agreements pertaining to numbers of children to be served, hours of service to be provided per child, payment rates and other financial aspects of the program.
8. Limit to five per cent the amount of block grant monies that may be used locally for program administration.
9. Pay participating federally funded and private child care providers in a timely manner.
D. The legislative council shall conduct a programmatic evaluation of the state block grant for early childhood education program every three years. For this evaluation, the staff of legislative council shall develop outcome measures to indicate the effectiveness of the early childhood education program. The department of education shall assist the staff of legislative council in collecting any information necessary to complete the evaluation.