Management Bulletin 23-05

Early Education Division

Subject: Part-day California State Preschool Program as an Extended Learning and Care Option

Number: 23-05

Date: April 2023

Expires: Until rescinded

Authority: Assembly Bill (AB) 130 (Chapter 44, Statutes of 2021), as amended by AB 167 (Chapter 252, Statutes of 2021); AB 210 (Chapter 62, Statutes of 2022), AB 185 (Chapter 571, Statutes of 2022); California Education Code (EC) Section 48000(l)

Attention: Executive Directors and Program Directors for Part-day California State Preschool Programs

Purpose

The purpose of this Management Bulletin (MB) is to notify and provide guidance to part-day California State Preschool Program (CSPP) contractors regarding the option to offer extended learning and care services (referred to as wraparound care in statute) for children enrolled in a Transitional Kindergarten (TK) or kindergarten program.

The directives in this MB are mandatory immediately pursuant to the authority set forth in Education Code (EC) section 48000(l)(3).

Policy

As of July 1, 2022, children enrolled in a TK or kindergarten program may be enrolled in part-day CSPP for extended learning and care services during the hours they are not receiving educational services in a TK or kindergarten program if they are eligible for part-day CSPP services pursuant to EC Section 8208(a). This new policy expands the age-eligibility for part-day CSPP; however, this policy does not remove the requirements for families to be eligible for part-day CSPP.

Contractors are required to follow all current laws for eligibility, priority, and certification when enrolling children in CSPP for extended learning and care services.

Part-day CSPPs operating on a local educational agency (LEA) campus may be flexible in the operational hours and enrollment periods to better align with the enrollment for the new school year as specified in the directives section below.

Directives for Implementation

Beginning in the 2022–23 program year, part-day CSPP contractors may enroll children or retain children already enrolled in part-day CSPP, for extended learning and care services if the child is currently enrolled in TK or kindergarten and the family meets the applicable eligibility requirements of part-day CSPP, as stated in EC Section 8208. Being enrolled in TK or kindergarten is not a category of eligibility for part-day CSPP extended learning and care; therefore, families are still required to meet an eligibility criterion to enroll.

Applicability of Current Requirements for CSPP Extended Learning and Care

With the exception for operational and enrollment flexibility for contractors operating on an LEA campus (detailed further below), CSPP contractors are required to follow all current laws in place for part-day CSPP, including eligibility, priority, and certification, that may impact enrolling children in CSPP extended learning and care, including, but not limited to, the following:

1. Part-day CSPP must operate for a minimum of 3 hours and no more than 3 hours and 59 minutes per day.
2. Contractors are required to certify families for part-day CSPP services for less than four hours per day. CSPP families cannot be certified for part-day CSPP services during the same time in which that family’s child is receiving educational services from their TK or kindergarten program. Thus, CSPP part-day hours cannot overlap with the hours of TK or kindergarten.
3. While parents may choose to enroll four-year-old children in full-day or part-day CSPP in lieu of TK, CSPP is not a replacement for kindergarten, and kindergarten-age children may not be enrolled in CSPP in lieu of kindergarten. In order for kindergarten-age children to be eligible for part-day CSPP extended learning and care services, they must be enrolled in a kindergarten program.
4. Contractors are required to follow the current priority order for enrolling children into the CSPP. Priorities for part-day CSPP can be found in EC Section 8210 and MB 23-01.
5. Children enrolled in a TK or kindergarten program that are enrolled in part-day CSPP extended learning and care services must meet the eligibility requirements for CSPP in EC Section 8208(a).
6. Children cannot be enrolled in two separate sessions of part-day CSPP; this means that children enrolled in a TK or kindergarten program are limited to only one part-day CSPP session that is less than a total of four hours.
7. CSPP contractors who utilize CSPP neighborhood school eligibility (EC Section 8217) may not enroll kindergarten-age-eligible children under the CSPP neighborhood school eligibility provisions because kindergarten-age-eligible children do not meet the statutory definition of a three- or four-year-old child.

Contractors implementing CSPP as an extended learning and care option must do so within the current confines of the law and adhere to the current Contract Terms and Conditions (CT&C) of the CSPP contract, including all program quality requirements. This includes administering the Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) for students enrolled 10 or more hours per week.

Note: Extended learning and care was previously an option in full-day CSPP as well. This is no longer the case as of July 1, 2022.

Timeline for Implementation

TK and Kindergarten Children Enrolled in Full-day CSPP Prior to July 1, 2022:
Transitional Kindergarten and kindergarten students who were enrolled in full-day CSPP prior to July 1, 2022, and are still within their 12-month eligibility period must not be disenrolled at this time. Contractors shall not enroll any additional TK and kindergarten students in full-day CSPP going forward or recertify current TK and kindergarten children in full-day CSPP. As families reach their recertification dates contractors must disenroll the family from full-day CSPP and assist the family in finding a part-day CSPP or refer the family to the local Resource and Referral Agency to find another care option.

TK and Kindergarten Children Enrolled in Full-day CSPP on or After July 1, 2022:
Contractors must assist families that were enrolled in full-day CSPP on or after July 1, 2022, to find a part-day CSPP where the child can receive extended learning and care services or another option for extended learning and care that meets the family’s needs, such as the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELO-P), other expanded learning programs, or subsidized childcare programs.

Flexibilities Allowed for CSPP Contractors Operating on LEA Campuses

Pursuant to EC Section 48000(l)(2), CSPPs operating on LEA campuses are allowed flexibility in their operational hours and enrollment periods to better align with the enrollment for the LEA’s new school year.

Operational Hours

Operational hours can be adjusted to offer care both before and after the scheduled TK and kindergarten school day, as long as the total hours are limited to less than four hours. A child may attend a single part-day session that is split into multiple time slots, but a child may not attend multiple part-day sessions.

Example #1: If the TK or kindergarten school day is from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (PM part-day TK or kindergarten)

Example #2: If the TK or kindergarten school day is from 7:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (Full-day TK or kindergarten)

Example #3: If the TK or kindergarten school day is from 8:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. (AM part-day TK or kindergarten)

Contractors operating on an LEA campus must inform families that participation in the entire CSPP portion of the day is expected, as it is not “drop-in” care.

The goal of stacking CSPP with TK is to provide a full day of high-quality instruction as an option for families. It is intended that CSPP services provide a cohesive part-day preschool experience, regardless of whether it is offered before or after TK or kindergarten, or both before and after the regular school day.

CSPP class time should be structured as is typical, and address the preschool learning foundations. To best support children in extended learning and care, the California Department of Education (CDE) recommends that CSPP contractors work with TK and kindergarten teachers to ensure a smooth transition between programs.

Decisions about program schedules, meals, and quiet rest opportunities are a local area decision. While a quiet rest opportunity is a healthy activity for students of this young age, contractors should be aware that this time does not count towards TK or kindergarten instructional minutes, as 180 minutes per day are required by EC Section 46117. As a result, children may need a quiet rest opportunity during CSPP extended care hours.

Note that many LEAs operating CSPP and TK or kindergarten also have other resources available to support additional hours beyond what TK or kindergarten and CSPP extended learning and care provide, including ELO-P and other before and after school extended learning opportunities.

Enrollment Periods

Contractors operating on an LEA campus have flexibility on enrollment dates and may set enrollment periods once every 30 days within the 120-day enrollment allowance, so the contractor can assess the applications received and enroll children based on the applications received during that enrollment period.

For example, rather than continuous rolling enrollment prior to the beginning of the school year, the contractor can set up enrollment periods. At the end of each enrollment period the contractor could assess all applications received during the period and enroll those children in priority order. The process would restart each enrollment period and would not impact the children enrolled during previous enrollment periods.

Documentation

Families choosing to enroll their child in part-day CSPP extended learning and care services must provide all required documents to determine eligibility as well as to determine any priorities for enrollment and any adjustment factors, and their child must be enrolled in TK or kindergarten.

Additionally, for kindergarten-aged children to be enrolled in CSPP, documentation must be provided and saved in the Family Data File documenting that the child is enrolled in kindergarten.

Fiscal Reporting Requirements

Enrollment, Attendance, and Fiscal Reporting within the Child Development Provider Accounting Reporting Information System (CPARIS)

CSPP contractors must follow the directives below when reporting expenditures, the days of enrollment, and days of attendance for children receiving extended learning and care services through part-day CSPP, beyond the TK and kindergarten program.

On the CSPP Enrollment, Attendance, and Fiscal Reports within the CPARIS:

• For children enrolled in full-day CSPP prior to July 1, 2022, report the child’s days of enrollment under the appropriate time-based category (i.e., full-time or full-time-plus) under “Days of Enrollment Certified Children,” based on the number of hours per week the child is enrolled.
• For children enrolled or recertified in CSPP on or after July 1, 2022, report the child’s days of enrollment as “One-half-time,” under “Days of Enrollment Certified Children.”
• Although the child’s certified enrollment is based on the number of hours per week the child is enrolled, contractors will continue to report enrollment for each day the child is enrolled. Contractors should refer to MB 22-01 for more information on how to report days of enrollment beginning January 1, 2022. MB 22-01 can be found at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/mb2201.asp.
• In no case shall the hours of enrollment for the time the child is in the TK or kindergarten program be included under “Days of Enrollment Certified Children” or “Non-Certified Children.”
• All expenses associated with CSPP should be reported in “Reimbursable Expenses.”
• Do not report the expenses associated with the TK or kindergarten program.

Background and Authority

Eligibility criteria for part-day CSPP are set forth in EC Section 8208(a). This section provides that families must be “eligible” for services, but do not have to meet “need” criteria.

Priorities for part-day CSPP are set forth in EC Section 8210. This section provides guidance for the priority order in which families must be enrolled in part-day CSPP.

AB 130 (Chapter 44, Statutes of 2021) as amended by AB 167 (Chapter 252, Statutes of 2021) added subdivision (l) to EC section 48000 to require the Superintendent to authorize California State Preschool Program contracting agencies to offer wraparound childcare services for children enrolled in an education program as a TK or kindergarten pupil, if their families meet the requirements of Section 8208. Assembly Bill 210 (Chapter 62, Statutes of 2022) amended EC Section 48000(l) to specify that wraparound childcare services applied only to part-day CSPP and that services could only be offered up to three hours each instructional day.

AB 185 (Chapter 571, Statutes of 2022) amended EC section 48000 (l) to specify that contracted agencies may only offer services for less than four hours each instructional day within a part-day CSPP for children enrolled in an education program as a TK or kindergarten pupil, if their families meet the requirements of Section 8208. AB 185 also authorized flexibility in operational hours and enrollment cutoff dates for those CSPP programs operating on an LEA campus, to better align with the LEA campus’ schedule and school year.

AB 185 also added subsection (l)(3) to authorize the CDE to implement the changes to subdivision (l) by MB or similar letters of instruction on or before December 31, 2022, which will have the force and effect of regulations until regulations can be filed with the Secretary of State to implement EC Section 48000(l).

EC Section 8281.5 requires LEAs receiving ELO-P funding to offer or partner in offering in-person before school or after-school expanded learning opportunities that, when added to daily instructional minutes, are no fewer than nine hours of combined instructional time and expanded learning opportunities per instructional day which can include, among other programs, part-day CSPP extended learning services.

Pursuant to subsection (l)(3) of EC Section 48000(l), the guidance in this MB is mandatory effective immediately. Contractors should review their policies and procedures to ensure they do not conflict with this MB.

Resources

Contacting your Program Quality Implementation Office Regional Consultant or your Early Education and Nutrition Fiscal Services Analyst

If you have programmatic questions related to this MB, please contact your assigned EED, Program Quality Implementation (PQI) office regional consultant. The EED, PQI regional consultant directory web page can be accessed at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/assignments.asp.

If you have fiscal questions about the information in this email, please contact your assigned CDE Early Education Nutrition and Fiscal Services (EENFS) fiscal analyst. The fiscal analyst directory can be accessed at the following link: https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/cd/faad.asp.