State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Nebraska > Chapter79 > 79-110379-1103. Early ChildhoodEducation Grant Program; established; administration; priorities; programs;requirements; report; endowment agreement; effect.(1)(a)The State Department of Education shall establish and administer the EarlyChildhood Education Grant Program. Upon the effective date of an endowmentagreement, administration of the Early Childhood Education Grant Program withrespect to programs for children from birth to age three shall transfer tothe board of trustees. If there is no endowment agreement in effect, the departmentshall request proposals in accordance with this section for all early childhoodeducation programs from school districts, individually or in cooperation withother school districts or educational service units, working in cooperationwith existing nonpublic programs which meet the requirements of subsection(2) of section 79-1104. If there is an endowment agreement in effect, theboard of trustees shall administer the Early Childhood Education Grant Programwith respect to programs for children from birth to age three pursuant tosection 79-1104.02 and the department shall continue to administer the EarlyChildhood Education Grant Program with respect to other prekindergarten programspursuant to sections 79-1101 to 79-1104.05. All administrative proceduresof the board of trustees, including, but not limited to, rules, grant applications,and funding mechanisms, shall harmonize with those established by the departmentfor other prekindergarten programs.(b) The first priority shall be for (i) continuation grantsfor programs that received grants in the prior school fiscal year and forwhich the state aid calculation pursuant to the Tax Equity and EducationalOpportunities Support Act does not include early childhood education students,in an amount equal to the amount of such grant, except that if the grant wasa first-year grant the amount shall be reduced by thirty-three percent, (ii)continuation grants for programs for which the state aid calculation pursuantto the act includes early childhood education students, in an amount equalto the amount of the grant for the school fiscal year prior to the first schoolfiscal year for which early childhood education students were included inthe state aid calculation for the school district's local system minus thecalculated state aid amount, and (iii) for school fiscal year 2007-08, continuationgrants for programs for which the state aid calculation pursuant to the actincludes early childhood education students, but such state aid calculationdoes not result in the school district receiving any equalization aid, inan amount equal to the amount of the grant received in school fiscal year2006-07. The calculated state aid amount shall be calculated by multiplyingthe basic funding per formula student for the school district by the formulastudents attributed to the early childhood education programs pursuant tothe Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act.(c) The second priority shall be for new grants and expansiongrants for programs that will serve at-risk children who will be eligibleto attend kindergarten the following school year. New grants may be givenfor up to three years in an amount up to one-half of the total budget of theprogram per year. Expansion grants may be given for one year in an amountup to one-half of the budget for expanding the capacity of the program toserve additional children.(d) The third priority shall be for new grants, expansiongrants, and continuation grants for programs serving children younger thanthose who will be eligible to attend kindergarten the following school year.New grants may be given for up to three years in an amount up to one-halfthe total budget of the program per year. Expansion grants may be given forone year in an amount up to one-half the budget for expanding the capacityof the program to serve additional children. Continuation grants under thispriority may be given annually in an amount up to one-half the total budgetof the program per year minus any continuation grants received under the firstpriority.(e) Programs serving children who will be eligible to attendkindergarten the following school year shall be accounted for separately forgrant purposes from programs serving younger children, but the two types ofprograms may be combined within the same classroom to serve multi-age children.Programs that receive grants for school fiscal years prior to school fiscalyear 2005-06 to serve both children who will be eligible to attend kindergartenthe following school year and younger children shall account for the two typesof programs separately for grant purposes beginning with school year 2005-06and shall be deemed to have received grants prior to school fiscal year 2005-06for each year that grants were received for the types of programs representingthe age groups of the children served.(2) Each program proposal which is approved by the departmentshall include (a) a planning period, (b) an agreement to participate in periodicevaluations of the program to be specified by the department, (c) evidencethat the program will be coordinated or contracted with existing programs,including those listed in subdivision (d) of this subsection and nonpublicprograms which meet the requirements of subsection (2) of section 79-1104,(d) a plan to coordinate and use a combination of local, state, and federalfunding sources, including, but not limited to, programs for children withdisabilities below five years of age funded through the Special EducationAct, the Early Intervention Act, funds available through the flexible fundingprovisions under the Special Education Act, the federal Head Start program,42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq., the federal Even Start Family Literacy Program, 20U.S.C. 6361 et seq., Title I of the federal Improving America's Schools Actof 1994, 20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq., and child care assistance through the Departmentof Health and Human Services, (e) a plan to use sliding fee scales and thefunding sources included in subdivision (d) of this subsection to maximizethe participation of economically and categorically diverse groups and toensure that participating children and families have access to comprehensiveservices, (f) the establishment of an advisory body which includes familiesand community members, (g) the utilization of appropriately qualified staff,(h) an appropriate child-to-staff ratio, (i) appropriate group size, (j) compliancewith minimum health and safety standards, (k) appropriate facility size andequipment, (l) a strong family development and support component recognizingthe central role of parents in their children's development, (m) developmentallyand culturally appropriate curriculum, practices, and assessment, (n) sensitivityto the economic and logistical needs and circumstances of families in theprovision of services, (o) integration of children of diverse social and economiccharacteristics, (p) a sound evaluation component, including at least oneobjective measure of child performance and progress, (q) continuity with programsin kindergarten and elementary grades, (r) instructional hours that are similarto or less than the instructional hours for kindergarten, (s) well-definedlanguage development and early literacy emphasis, including the involvementof parents in family literacy activities, (t) a plan for ongoing professionaldevelopment of staff, and (u) inclusion of children with disabilities as definedin the Special Education Act, all as specified by rules and regulations ofthe department in accordance with sound early childhood educational practice.(3) The department shall make an effort to fund programs widelydistributed across the state in both rural and urban areas.(4) A report evaluating the programs shall be made to theState Board of Education and the Legislature by January 1 of each odd-numberedyear. Up to five percent of the total appropriation for the Early ChildhoodEducation Grant Program may be reserved by the department for evaluation andtechnical assistance for the programs.(5) Early childhood education programs, whetherestablished pursuant to this section or section 79-1104, may beapproved for purposes of the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities SupportAct, expansion grants, and continuation grants on the submission of a continuationplan demonstrating that the program will meet the requirements of subsection (2) of this section anda proposed operating budget demonstrating that the program will receive resourcesfrom other sources equal to or greater than the sum of any grant receivedpursuant to this section for the prior school year plus any calculated stateaid as calculated pursuant to subsection (1) of this section for the priorschool year.(6) The State Board of Education may adopt and promulgaterules and regulations to implement the Early Childhood Education Grant Program,except that if there is an endowment agreement in effect, the board of trusteesshall recommend any rules and regulations relating specifically to the EarlyChildhood Education Grant Program with respect to programs for children frombirth to age three. It is the intent of the Legislature that the rules andregulations for programs for children from birth to age three be consistentto the greatest extent possible with those established for other prekindergartenprograms. SourceLaws 1990, LB 567, § 3; Laws 1991, LB 511, § 70; Laws 1992, LB 245, § 75; Laws 1993, LB 348, § 70; R.S.1943, (1994), § 79-3703; Laws 1996, LB 900, § 785; Laws 1997, LB 346, § 8; Laws 2001, LB 759, § 2; Laws 2005, LB 577, § 5; Laws 2006, LB 1256, § 2; Laws 2007, LB603, § 7; Laws 2008, LB1153, § 3; Laws 2010, LB1071, § 26.Operative Date: July 15, 2010 Cross ReferencesEarly Intervention Act, see section 43-2501.Special Education Act, see section 79-1110.Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act, see section 79-1001.
