Dear County Superintendents:

FIRST APPORTIONMENT FOR THE UNIVERSAL PREKINDERGARTEN PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION COUNTYWIDE PLANNING AND CAPACITY BUILDING GRANT FISCAL YEAR 2021–2022

Section 4 of Assembly Bill (AB) 130 (Chapter 44, Statutes of 2021) as amended by Section 1 of AB 167 (Chapter 252, Statutes of 2021) and codified at California Education Code (EC) 8281.5(c), establishes the Universal PreKindergarten (UPK) Planning & Implementation Grant Program which provides a total of $200 million to local educational agencies (LEAs), including school districts, county offices of education (COEs), and charter schools to support their planning around UPK implementation. Of this amount, $23,985,000 is to be provided to COEs to support countywide planning and capacity building for LEAs in their county as they work to implement UPK. This apportionment of $15,951,000 represents 65 percent of the total allocation for the Countywide Planning and Capacity Building Grant for COEs with the remaining funds to be released subsequently by California Department of Education (CDE.)

Funds are allocated to COEs based on the formula specified in (EC) 8281.5(c)(1)(B), which specifies a minimum base grant of $15,000 for each LEA in their county that operates kindergarten programs. Estimated allocation amounts for county offices can be found on the UPK Planning & Implementation—Countywide Planning and Capacity Building Grant Funding Results web page link at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r2/upkpicountywide2122result.asp.

Conditions for Apportionment

These funds may be used for costs associated with providing countywide planning and capacity building to help LEAs in their county create or expand California State Preschool Programs (CSPPs) or transitional kindergarten, or to establish or strengthen partnerships with other providers of PreKindergarten education within the county, including Head Start programs, to ensure that high-quality options are available for four-year-old children countywide. Allowable costs include, but are not necessarily limited to, planning costs, hiring and recruitment costs, staff training and professional development, classroom materials, and supplies. Funds must be utilized by the COE in a manner consistent with this letter and with statute. EC 8281.5(c)(3)(B) requires each COE receiving these funds to develop a plan. The plan shall address how the COE will provide support and build capacity across LEAs in the county to implement UPK. The plan will describe how all children in their county will have access to full-day learning programs the year before kindergarten that meet the needs of parents, including through partnerships with the LEA’s expanded learning offerings, the After School Education and Safety Program, CSPP, Head Start programs, and other community-based early learning programs. COEs must submit this plan for consideration by their governing board or body at a public meeting on or before June 30, 2022.

To support the development of the plan, the CDE has created an optional template for COEs to use as a guide to develop their plans. The template includes recommended questions for COE consideration and required planning questions to support COEs in developing plans that address how they will support LEAs in their county to plan and implement UPK in a way that meets community and family needs. The template is available for download on the CDE website link at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/gs/em/documents/upkcoetemplate.docx.

In addition, EC 8281.5(c)(3)(A) requires each COE receiving this apportionment to provide program data to the CDE at the CDE’s request, including, but not limited to, recipient information, and participation in overall program evaluation. Some of the data COEs will be required to submit is outlined in the planning template. Additional requests for data, including expenditure data, will be outlined in a future communication.

Accounting and Payment Information

A warrant will be mailed approximately three weeks from the date of this letter. For standardized account code structure codes, use Resource Code 6057, California Universal PreKindergarten Planning & Implementation—Countywide Planning and Capacity Building Grant Program, FY 2021–22, and Revenue Code 8590, All Other State Revenue.

In addition to this notice, County Superintendents were notified of this apportionment by an email sent to their CDEfisc email address. The links to this letter and the accompanying apportionment schedule are posted on the CDE web page link at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r2/upkpicountywide2122result.asp.

For questions regarding programmatic requirements, use of funds, and expenditure reporting, please contact the UPK Planning & Implementation grant team via email at UPKPlanningGrant@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Sarah Neville-Morgan, Deputy Superintendent
Opportunities for All Branch

SNM:sa