Colorado Universal Preschool Update - Feb 28, 2023

When will we know if we have funding for full-day children in the year before they are eligible for kindergarten?

CDEC will monitor applications as the matching process begins to better determine the funding available for families that are eligible for full-day UPK. The week of April 10 has been targeted to assess the number of applications against the total eligible population and to review the number of children that qualified for full-day services. At that point, CDEC will be better positioned to determine if more data is needed or if we can begin to commit to full-day placements.

What "pots" of money that districts formerly received will be used to determine hold harmless? How will Hold-harmless dollars be determined?

Statute indicates there may be variations in funding among school districts during the transition from CPP to UPK. The average base per pupil funding in SY 2022-23 for CPP and preschool students with an IEP is $4,797.91, with a range from $4,529 to $10,333. The average base per pupil funding in SY 2023-24 for 10 hours of UPK is $4,837 and $6,044 for 15 hours.

The hold-harmless provision [4-208(4)(a)-(b)] focuses on district/provider-specific funding levels between school years 2022-23 and 2023-24. The hold-harmless provision only applies if a school district or community-based provider has lower funding through UPK than the amount of funding generated through CPP to serve children in the 2022-23 fiscal year. Restated, the formula looks at how much funding each provider receives in 23-24 for all UPK-eligible children the district/provider serves; and compares it to the amount received in 2022-23 for CPP children served by each district/provider. If the 23-24 amount for a district/provider is lower than the 22-23 amount, then the district/provider will be distributed the difference for one year. CDEC will not know the actual hold-harmless amount for districts and providers if any until UPK Colorado is underway. The hold-harmless provision is only applicable for one year. Hold-harmless funding would be funded from the Preschool Cash Fund, which includes several revenue streams, specifically, Prop EE and the Transfer [4-209(1)(b)(I)] from Total Program.

Is preschool funding tied to the Student October Pupil Count Date?

No, districts no longer have to provide funding for preschoolers who enroll after the pupil count date. CDEC will provide funding for students as they enroll throughout the year. CDEC is in the process of selecting a payment vendor. CDEC expects to make payments to providers throughout the program year, with true-ups based on enrolled students.

How will IDEA and ECEA funding continue to flow to support preschool students with IEPs?

The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, funding model includes total student populations and students living in poverty. The funding model for the Exceptional Children's Educational Act, or ECEA, includes counts of students in Tier A and Tier B from CDE's December Special Education Count. Preschool students with IEPs will continue to be counted in the CDE December Student Count. The funding formulas for both IDEA and ECEA funding will remain the same in FY 23-24 and beyond. Therefore, Administrative Units will continue to receive funding to provide special education and related services for preschool students with IEPs, which augments the general education funds provided through the Preschool Program Cash Fund.

What is the specific process for holding special education spots? How will funding work for districts holding spots since we will have to keep some spots back? On the SPED topic, there should also be an acknowledgment that the IEP determines the hours. It's not simply a choice between 15 and 30.

CDEC recommends school districts put the total number of seats only for eligible 4-year-olds in the system and then leverage the exception process to "hold" seats for students with an IEP. Here's an example: A school has 20 seats in a classroom. The school would hold 10 of those seats for 3-year-olds with IEPs or at least one qualifying factor and submit the remaining 10 seats into the UPK Application Portal for 4-year-olds. If none of the 10 4-year-old students who are matched to that site have an IEP, the district could then decline an appropriate number of the non-IEP matched students based on historical enrollment of students with IEPs, plus any additional information regarding changes to historical trends. This action would create spots for current or future students with IEPs anticipated to need to enroll at that location. The "decline" exceptions include this reason as the number of students who would receive a decline message would be based on how many IEP slots are being held in that classroom, which could be different in each classroom.

We are aware and acknowledge that a student's IEP will determine the appropriate number of hours the student needs in order to meet the special education needs of the child. Although a child may be eligible for a full day (30 hours) of UPK, that may not mirror the requirements of the IEP, and in that case, the IEP will be the determining factor. In addition, any child determined eligible for special education services, and placed in an appropriate educational program by the Administrative Unit, is guaranteed UPK funding as long as the provider is consistent with the child's IEP. If families choose a provider that is not consistent with the child's IEP, the child no longer qualifies for the hours of service related to their IEP status.

While this isn't a first-come, first-served process, it appears that UPK slots are filling faster than perhaps capacity allows. Will there be funding in the fall for families who register late? How can districts highly impacted by poverty assure our families that there is room for them in the fall?

CDEC recommends that school district providers manage these seats as they have in the past. If a district customarily holds a number of seats for new families, that process may continue. Many districts will keep enrollment open only until they are full, and then will be unable to serve new families. We anticipate we will have funding to continue to enroll new students during the school year, and should a child enroll with a participating provider that has space for the child, we would begin to fund that child.