Section 8236 Of Article 7. California State Preschool Programs From California Education Code >> Division 1. >> Title 1. >> Part 6. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 7.
8236
. (a) (1) Each applicant or contracting agency funded pursuant
to Section 8235 shall give first priority to three- or four-year-old
neglected or abused children who are recipients of child protective
services, or who are at risk of being neglected, abused, or exploited
upon written referral from a legal, medical, or social service
agency. If an agency is unable to enroll a child in this first
priority category, the agency shall refer the child's parent or
guardian to local resources and referral services so that services
for the child can be located.
(2) Notwithstanding Section 8263, after children in the first
priority category set forth in paragraph (1) are enrolled, each
agency funded pursuant to Section 8235 shall give priority to
eligible four-year-old children who are not enrolled in a
state-funded transitional kindergarten program before enrolling
eligible three-year-old children. Each agency shall certify to the
Superintendent that enrollment priority is being given to eligible
four-year-old children.
(b) For California state preschool programs operating with funding
that was initially allocated in a prior fiscal year, at least
one-half of the children enrolled at a preschool site shall be
four-year-old children. Any exception to this requirement shall be
approved by the Superintendent. The Superintendent shall inform the
Department of Finance of any exceptions that have been granted and
the reasons for granting the exceptions.
(c) (1) (A) Commencing June 15, 2015, and notwithstanding any
other law, in awarding new funding for the expansion of a California
state preschool program that is appropriated by the Legislature for
that purpose in any fiscal year, the Superintendent, after taking
into account the geographic criteria established pursuant to Section
8279.3 and the data described in subparagraph (B), shall give
priority to applicant agencies that, in expending the expansion
funds, will provide the greatest progress toward achieving access to
full-day, full-year services for all income-eligible four-year-old
children.
(B) In awarding funding pursuant to subparagraph (A) and in order
to promote access for all income-eligible four-year-old children to
at least a part-day California state preschool program, the
department shall take into account the needs assessments submitted to
the department pursuant to Section 8499.5 and any other high-quality
data resources available to the department.
(2) Expansion funding awarded pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
apportioned at the rate described in Section 8265 and as determined
in the annual Budget Act.
(3) A family child care home education network shall be eligible
to apply for expansion funding awarded pursuant to paragraph (1).
(d) This section does not preclude a local educational agency from
subcontracting with an appropriate public or private agency to
operate a California state preschool program and to apply for funds
made available for purposes of this section. If a school district
chooses not to operate or subcontract for a California state
preschool program, the Superintendent shall work with the county
office of education and other eligible agencies to explore possible
opportunities in contracting or alternative subcontracting to provide
a California state preschool program.
(e) This section does not prevent eligible children who are
receiving services from continuing to receive those services in
future years pursuant to this chapter.