April 27, 2023

Dear County and District Superintendents, and Charter School Administrators:

Apportionment for the Universal Prekindergarten Planning and Implementation Grant Fiscal Year 2022–2023

This apportionment, in the amount of $276 million is released to local educational agencies (LEAs) from funds appropriated by Section 7 of Assembly Bill 181 (Chapter 52 Statutes of 2022) and codified at California Education Code (EC) Section 8281.5, to support planning around access to prekindergarten (pre-K) programs. This apportionment is part of the 2022–23 Universal PreKindergarten (UPK) Planning and Implementation (P&I) Grant Program which provides a total of $300 million, comprised of the UPK P&I Grants for school districts and charter schools and the UPK P&I—Countywide Planning and Capacity Building Grant for county offices of education (COEs). For the purposes of the 2022–23 UPK P&I Grant, LEAs include school districts and charter schools. A separate apportionment will allocate the funds for the Countywide Planning and Capacity Building Grant for COEs.

Funds for the 2022–23 UPK P&I Grant are allocated based on a formula specified in EC 8281.5(d)(1)(A) and (C). LEAs receive a minimum base grant of $25,000, or $50,000, determined by whether the LEA’s certified kindergarten enrollment in 2021–22 was comprised of 1 to 500 pupils, inclusive, or 501 pupils or more, inclusive, respectively. Of the remaining funds for the UPK P&I Grant, after the base grant components are calculated, 60 percent is allocated to LEAs as enrollment grants based on each LEA’s proportional share of the 2021–22 statewide kindergarten program enrollment (excluding Transitional Kindergarten [TK] enrollment). The remaining 40 percent of funding is allocated to LEAs as supplemental grants based on the LEA’s certified kindergarten enrollment in 2021–22 (excluding TK enrollment) multiplied by the LEA’s unduplicated pupil percentage, as calculated pursuant to EC 42238.02(b) or EC 2574(b), certified as of the second principal apportionment. Both the enrollment and supplemental grant funding components are distributed percent-to-total from funds available for this purpose per EC 8281.5(d)(1)(C).

Total allocation amounts for LEAs, including a breakdown of base, enrollment, and supplemental components, can be found at the California Department of Education (CDE) UPK P&I Funding Results web page: https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r2/upkpi2223result.asp. Please note that 2022–23 UPK P&I Grant funds for COEs identified in these results will be released in a separate apportionment.

Conditions of Apportionment

These funds may be used for costs associated with creating or expanding California State Preschool Programs (CSPPs) or TK programs, or to establish or strengthen partnerships with other providers of pre-K education within the LEA, including Head Start programs, to ensure that high-quality options for pre-K education are available for children four years of age. Allowable costs shall include, but are not necessarily limited to, classroom operating costs, planning costs, hiring and recruitment costs, staff training and professional development, classroom materials, and supplies.

EC 8281.5(d)(3) requires each LEA receiving these funds to:

• Provide program data to the CDE
• Ensure expenditures are consistent with their local plan
• Plan with their county’s local tribes, and CSPP and Head Start program providers in their region
• Plan with their county’s local planning council regarding the UPK Mixed Delivery Grant
• Offer TK to all eligible pupils interested in TK within their attendance area by the 2025–26 school year

LEAs that did not develop the plan required for the 2021–22 UPK P&I Grant are required to develop a plan for how all children in the attendance area of the LEA 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, the CSPP, Head Start programs, and other community-based early learning and care programs. This plan must be presented to the governing board or body for consideration at a public meeting on or before March 30, 2023.

Accounting and Payment Information

A warrant will be mailed approximately three weeks from the date of this letter. For standardized account code structure coding, use Resource Code 6053, UPK P&I Grant Program, fiscal year 2022–23, and Revenue Object Code 8590, All Other State Revenue.

County Superintendents were notified of this apportionment by email sent to their ‘CDEfisc’ email addresses. The CDE requests that the email be forwarded to school districts and charter schools in the county. The links to this letter and the accompanying apportionment schedule are posted on the CDE 2022–23 UPK P&I Funding Results web page:https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r2/upkpi2223result.asp.

For questions regarding programmatic requirement, use of funds, and expenditure reporting, please contact the UPK P&I Grant Team at the following email address: UPKPlanningGrant@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Sarah Neville-Morgan, Deputy Superintendent

Opportunities for All Branch

SNM:sa