Dear County Superintendents:

SECOND 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 (P&I) 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 $8,034,000 represents the remaining allocation for the Countywide Planning and Capacity Building Grant for COEs. The California Department of Education (CDE) has split the UPK P&I—Countywide Planning and Capacity Building Grant for COEs into two apportionments. This is due to ensuring accuracy in COE data and formulas for allocations after feedback from COEs that the funding allocation posted on the CDE web page for the LEA planning grant was based in part on enrollment that should be attributed to school districts. This has since been resolved and funds have been reallocated based on the district of residence. The previous apportionment represented the maximum amount that could be released without risking over-payment to COEs.

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 (K) programs. Estimated allocation amounts for COEs can be found on the UPK P&I—Countywide Planning and Capacity Building Grant Funding Results web page 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 (TK), 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 and 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 to 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 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, UPK P&I—Countywide Planning and Capacity Building Grant Program, fiscal year 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 UPK P&I—Countywide Planning and Capacity Building Funding Results web page 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 P&I grant team at: UPKPlanningGrant@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Sarah Neville-Morgan, Deputy Superintendent

Opportunities for All Branch

SNM:sa