P-12

Prekindergarten through Grade 12 Education


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2013-14 Priority Full-day Prekindergarten and Expanded Half-day Prekindergarten Grant Program for High Need Students


GRANT APPLICATION DOCUMENTS

Application in PDF PDF icon (996KB) | Application in Word Word document icon (422KB)
Appendix 1 - Grant Calculator Excel icon (127KB)
Appendix 2 - Self-Assessment Form Word document icon (122KB)
Appendix 3 - Quality Improvement Action Plan Form Word document icon (65KB)
Appendix 4 - Scoring Rubric Word document icon (77KB)
Appendix 5 - Collaboration Variance Request Word document icon (21KB)
Appendix 6 - Prekindergarten Grant Eligible Districts PDF icon (57KB)
Questions and Answers Summary PDF icon (315KB)
Award List PDF icon (8KB)


RECENT UPDATES

Informational Webinar – This pre-recorded informational webinar from September 19, 2013 reviews the purpose and key aspects of the grant. POSTED September 20, 2013

View this Webinar on Vimeo at:

https://vimeo.com/133781083 External Link Icon


Purpose

The purpose of the Priority Full-day Prekindergarten and Expanded Half-day Prekindergarten Grant Program for High Need Students is to increase the availability of high quality prekindergarten placements for the highest need children and schools within New York State's public school districts. In response to the recommendations of the New NY Education Reform Commission and as recommended by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and enacted in the 2013-14 budget, this competitive grant initiative builds on the foundation established by the allocational Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) program. Grant funds will create new full-day prekindergarten placements, convert existing half-day placements to full-day, or create a limited number of new half-day placements designated for higher need children in lower wealth school districts. This prekindergarten grant program will provide additional resources to significantly enhance program quality by requiring grantees to adopt program quality standards including valid and reliable measures of environmental quality, the quality of teacher-student interactions, and student outcomes.

Studies show that children who participate in high-quality early education programs are far more likely to read at grade level and graduate from high school, and that quality full-day prekindergarten programs in particular are credited with producing significant increases in student performance in math and reading for participating students by the second grade as well as decreasing the rates of grade retention. Research indicates that as much as one-half of the achievement gap is already established before students enter the first grade. Investing in high-quality prekindergarten programs has been demonstrated to have a positive long-term impact on children's life outcomes, narrow the achievement gap between poor and affluent youth, and provide benefits to children and taxpayers that outweigh their cost. High quality prekindergarten programs, especially those that provide full-day services and serve low-income or high need students, will help those students stay on track to graduate from high school and, over the long term, significantly reduce costs for remedial education, social services, health and criminal justice programs.

Project Funding

$25 million will be available to fund grants for the 2013-2014 school year and each school year thereafter subject to the achievement of performance targets and the availability of annual appropriations. Grant funding may be used to establish new full-day placements, convert existing half-day placements to full-day or create a limited number of new half-day placements.

Prekindergarten programs operated under this grant generally must operate 180 days per year, five days per week; however, in the 2013-14 school year, awardees implementing programs must operate a minimum of 90 days. Grant awards for winning school districts will be based on the number of days in which students are to be served. The grant payable will be reduced by 1/180th for each day less than 180 that the program is in operation.

Preference shall be given to proposals establishing full-day placements, while ensuring that a portion of the grants awarded fund the creation of new half-day placements. Priority funding, 75% of all available resources, will be used to fund grants creating new full-day placements or converting existing half-day placements into full-day. The remaining 25% ($6.25 million) will be set aside to fund new half-day placements. If total grant awards for proposals creating new half-day prekindergarten placements are below $6.25 million, any remaining funds will be awarded to proposals creating new full-day prekindergarten placements or converting existing half-day placements into full-day placements. Grant funding must be used to supplement, not supplant, existing prekindergarten programs.

For purposes of this grant, no school district shall receive more than 40% of the total grant funds. Further, no grantee may receive final payment that exceeds the total actual expenditures incurred by the district.

Grant awards under the Priority Full-day Prekindergarten and Expanded Half-day Prekindergarten Grant Program will be based on the number of new placements/conversions and on a school district's selected grant per pupil as set forth in Column J of the 2013-2014 Universal Prekindergarten Allocations List (available at https://www.p12.nysed.gov/upk/) and will be calculated as follows:

  • New Full-day Placements: The applicant's approved number of new full-day placements multiplied by twice the selected UPK grant per pupil amount;
  • Half-day to Full-day Conversions: The applicant's approved number of half-day placements that will be converted to full-day multiplied by the selected UPK grant per pupil amount; and
  • New Half-day Placements: The applicants approved number of new half-day placements multiplied by the selected UPK grant per pupil amount.

The chart below illustrates how the grant award would be calculated for each type of placement if the school district's UPK selected grant per pupil is $2,700, as well as how the grant is adjusted if the program is in operation for less than 180 days.

A.
Type of Placement

B.
Number of Placements

C.
Grant Amount Per Placement

D.
Maximum Grant Amount

E.
Number of Days in Operation

F.
Proration Factor (#days/180)

G.
Adjusted Grant Amount (Col. D X Col. F)

New full-day placements 40 $5400
($2700 X 2)
$216,000 100 56%
(100/180)
$120,960
Conversion of existing half-day to full-day 20 $2700 $54,000 90 50%
(90/180)
$27,000
New half-day placements 18 $2700 $48,600 120 67%
(120/180)
$32,562

Applicants can use the Grant Calculator in Appendix 1 to assist them in determining the maximum grant request based on the number of new full-day, half-day to full-day conversion and/or new half-day placements to be created and the adjusted grant for Year 1 based on the number of days the program will be in operation.

Legislative Authority and Purpose of Grant Funds

Chapter 53, Section 1 of the Laws of 2013 appropriates $25 million for prekindergarten grants to establish new high quality full-day and half-day prekindergarten placements and/or convert existing half-day slots to full-day for the highest need children and schools in public school districts. Preference shall be given to proposals establishing full-day placements, while ensuring that a portion of the grants awarded include the creation of new half-day placements.
Project Period

Initial period: Seven (7) months, from December 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014.

Grantees will have the opportunity to renew funding on an annual basis for the following school year and thereafter subject to the achievement of performance targets and the annual appropriation of funds in the State budget for this purpose. The project period for subsequent awards will be one year from July 1st through June 30th.

Eligible Applicants

A school district is eligible to apply for this grant if it has a Need Resource Index within the top 50 percent of all school districts, as most recently calculated by the State Education Department, or if it is a high-need school district based on the State Education Department's most recent calculation of the Need Resource Category.

A list of eligible districts, as well as the Need Resource Index for each public school district, can be accessed at https://www.p12.nysed.gov/upk/

For purposes of this grant, charter schools are not included in the definition of public schools and are not eligible to apply.

Notice of Intent

To assist SED in planning for the grant review process and expediting the announcement of awards, school districts that intend to submit a proposal are strongly encouraged to send a Notice of Intent via E-Mail to PREKRFP@mail.nysed.gov no later than September 30, 2013.

Application Due Date

Submit 1 original and 2 copies postmarked by October 16, 2013 to:

New York State Education Department
Attn: Full-Day Pre-K Grant
Grants Management
89 Washington Avenue
Room 464 EBA
Albany, NY 12234

Questions and Answers

All questions must be submitted via E-Mail to PREKRFP@mail.nysed.gov by close of business September 13, 2013. A complete list of all Questions and Answers will be posted to https://www.p12.nysed.gov/funding/currentapps.html no later than September 25, 2013.

Questions and Answers
Questions and Answers Summary PDF icon (315KB) is now posted.

Webinar A pre-recorded webinar reviews the purposes and key aspects of the grant. View this webinar on Vimeo at: https://vimeo.com/133781083External Link Icon

Appendices (Separate Documents)

Appendix 1 - Grant Calculator Excel icon (127KB)
Appendix 2 - Self-Assessment Form Word document icon (122KB)
Appendix 3 - Quality Improvement Action Plan Form Word document icon (65KB)
Appendix 4 - Scoring Rubric Word document icon (77KB)
Appendix 5 - Collaboration Variance Request Word document icon (21KB)
Appendix 6 - Prekindergarten Grant Eligible Districts Excel icon (22KB)
Questions and Answers Summary PDF icon (315KB)

Awardees

Award List PDF icon (8KB)

Date Posted

August 29, 2013

The State Education Department does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, religion, creed, disability, marital status, veteran status, national origin, race, gender, genetic predisposition or carrier status, or sexual orientation in its educational programs, services and activities. Portion of any publication designed for distribution can be made available in a variety of formats, including Braille, large print or audiotape, upon request. Inquiries regarding this policy of nondiscrimination should be directed to the Department's Office for Diversity, Ethics, and Access, Room 530, Education Building, Albany, NY 12234.

Last Updated: July 17, 2015