PURPOSE: The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (department) is authorized by the Early Childhood Development Education and Care Fund to administer a program of competitive grants to governmental entities, public schools, or private agencies for voluntary, early childhood development, education, and care programs serving children in every region of the state not yet enrolled in kindergarten. This rule sets forth the general provisions governing those programs.

1. (1) The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (department) is authorized to establish procedures for the implementation of the Missouri Preschool Program

2. (MPP) including:

   1. (A) Grants or contracts may be provided for—

      1. 1. Start-up funds for necessary materi-

als, supplies, equipment, and facilities;

1. 2. Ongoing costs associated with the

implementation of a sliding parental fee schedule based on income; and

1. 3. Grants or contracts may be for up to

a maximum of five (5) years, with decreasing amounts in the last three (3) years;

1. (B) Grant and contract applications shall, at a minimum, include:

   1. 1. A funding plan which demonstrates

funding from a variety of sources including parental fees and a method of sustaining the program when the grant ends;

1. 2. A child development, education, and

care plan that is appropriate to meet the needs of children;

1. 3. The identity of any partner agencies

or contractual service providers;

1. 4. Documentation of community input

into program development;

1. 5. Demonstration of financial and pro-

grammatic accountability on an annual basis; and

1. 6. The establishment of a parent adviso-

ry committee within each program;

1. (C) Governmental entities, public schools, or private agencies may apply in a competitive bid process to provide preschool education.

   1. 1. Religious entities are not eligible to

apply to the department for funds based on the Missouri Constitution article IX, section 8.

1. 2. All contractors/grantees applying

must have the appropriate child care license granted from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), Section SECONDARY EDUCATION

for Child Care Regulation and continue to maintain it throughout the entire contract period and all renewal periods.

1. 3. The contractor must provide

preschool services to age-eligible children. Only age-eligible children should be served in the MPP classroom.

1. 4. Contractors/grantees must serve a

minimum of ten (10) age-eligible children per classroom and have no more than twenty (20) age-eligible children in a classroom.

1. 5. Lead teachers and teacher assistants

must meet the teacher qualifications. Classrooms with ten (10) children must have a lead teacher. A teacher assistant is required if more than ten (10) children are enrolled in the MPP classroom.

1. 6. The contractor/grantees cannot

decrease a program’s current license capacity for any age group in order to increase the license capacity of age-eligible children for the purpose of receiving MPP funds.

1. 7. The program must adopt one (1) of

the department-approved curriculum models. Lead teachers and teacher assistants in the MPP classrooms must be trained in and implement the curriculum in the classroom.

1. 8. The program must implement a slid-

ing scale fee to ensure all families, regardless of income, have an opportunity to participate.

1. 9. The program must obtain Missouri

Accreditation (MoA) or the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Accreditation.

1. 10. Staff evaluations must be completed

and documented annually.

1. 11. Lead teachers and teacher assistants

must participate in continuous professional development associated with the selected curriculum model.

1. 12. The contractor must maintain

records and fiscal information.

1. 13. The MPP funds cannot be used to

supplant or replace any existing preschool program or staff.

1. 14. Private agency contractors who

failed to meet the requirements of a previously awarded MPP bid will not be eligible for application for five (5) years after the year in which they defaulted.

1. 15. The contractor must ensure an annu-

al health and nutrition screening and a developmental screening for MPP children.

1. 16. The program must offer no less than

two (2) parent-teacher conferences annually;

1. (D) Program Development Requirements.

   1. 1. The contractor must agree and under-

stand that the department must have complete and total approval authority of the contractor’s activity plan or any part thereof and must have the expressed right to modify, change, or delete all or any part of the plan at any time.

1. 2. The contractor may be required to

develop and submit a new or revised activity plan at other times throughout the contract period as well as for each renewal period, if the contract is renewed for additional periods. The contractor must prepare and submit all such future activity plans within a time frame stipulated by the department.

1. 3. Community involvement. A commu-

nity advisory committee must assist in planning the Preschool Program for age-eligible children and in completing the Community Needs Assessment.

1. 4. Community-based planning. Strong

community commitment, leadership, and planning are critical to the success of the programs and services offered under the MPP.

1. A. Step I—Administration. The con-

tractor appoints an administrator who has both leadership ability and a strong commitment to early childhood education, especially preschool education. This administrator must be able to—

1. (I) Be knowledgeable and respect-

ful of preschool opportunities within the community;

1. (II) Set goals and coordinate imple-

mentation timetables;

1. (III) Analyze the results of the pro-

grams;

1. (IV) Exercise sufficient authority

within a collaborative framework to accomplish the desired results;

1. (V) Be knowledgeable about busi-

ness practices necessary to successfully sustain the program; and

1. (VI) Report regularly to the

Community Advisory Committee and should be prepared to manage a program organizational structure consisting of several different types of operation.

1. B. Step II—Community Advisory

Committee. The Community Advisory Committee, whose membership of citizens representing a variety of community organizations, is established. Primary responsibilities of the Community Advisory Committee are to—

1. (I) Assist in gathering information

needed to complete the Community Needs Assessment;

1. (II) Make recommendations on the

goals and objectives of the MPP;

1. (III) Assist on options for coordi-

nating programs and services among community, school, and other preschool programs;

1. (IV) Assist in the Invitation For Bid

1. (IFB) process; and

   1. (V) Serve as a resource.
   2. C. Step III—Program Design. Based

on the community needs assessment, the program will be designed to meet the needs of each community.

1. 5. Teacher qualifications. All preschool

programs funded by the MPP must utilize teachers and teacher assistants who have one (1) of the following minimum qualifications at the time the program begins operation. These qualifications must be maintained throughout the contract period.

1. A. Lead teacher—

   1. (I) Early Childhood Teacher

Certification;

1. (II) Early Childhood Special

Education Teacher Certificate; or

1. (III) A four- (4-) year college

degree in child development.

1. B. Teacher assistant, at a minimum—

   1. (I) Child Development Associate;
   2. (II) Two- (2-) Year Associate

Degree in Child Care/Education; or

1. (III) Sixty (60) college hours with

a minimum of three (3) college credit hours in early childhood, child development, or child/family related courses and experience working in a program with young children and their families.

1. 6. Curriculum models. Preschool pro-

grams must implement a nationally recognized preschool curriculum model that is approved by the department. The lead teacher and teacher assistant involved in the MPP must be trained in the curriculum model. It is also highly recommended that the director/program administrator be trained in the chosen curriculum model. All curriculum trainings must be provided by the curriculum source. Programs must contact the source to schedule trainings. Any training not scheduled through the source will not be funded and will not meet the requirement. The selected preschool curriculum models meet the following criteria:

1. A. Based on valid research;
2. B. Have positive evaluation results;
3. C. Provide ongoing professional

development; and

1. D. Developmentally appropriate for

age-eligible children.

1. 7. Accreditation. Programs are required

to obtain accreditation from either the MoA or the NAEYC. The program must be accredited prior to the beginning of year four (4) operation. MPP operating in a center will be required to accredit the entire center including the infant/toddler classrooms and school age classrooms.

1. 8. Plans for program activities.

   1. A. Parent advisory committee plan.

An advisory committee of parents with children in the MPP classrooms must meet at least twice annually. The plan should include the roles of the members, selection procedure, replacement procedure, number of members, and frequency of meetings.

1. B. Funding plan. The plan must

demonstrate funding from a variety of sources including parental fees. A sliding scale fee schedule based on family income is required for families whose income does not exceed one hundred eighty-five percent (185%) of the federal poverty level. Information must include how program growth issues will be addressed such as recruitment methods.

1. C. Child development, education, and

care plan. The plan should describe how the preschool program will be designed and how it will meet the needs of age-eligible children as identified from the Community Needs Assessment.

1. D. Professional development plan.

Professional development opportunities include college-credit courses, followup/advanced training of the selected curriculum model provided only by the approved curriculum source, professional conferences, seminars, consultants, and the departmentrequired meetings. MPP funds only support professional development opportunities that are in addition to the DHSS required clock hours for child care providers. The plan should include a list of the specific professional development opportunities to be provided. Evidence of continuous professional development associated with the selected curriculum model must be included each year in the plan. Professional development opportunities should reflect the general philosophy of the selected curriculum model.

1. E. Parent education/involvement/com-

munication plan. The plan must address how parents will be informed about their child’s development, opportunities to be involved in the preschool program, and how the preschool program will communicate with parents on an ongoing basis. Preschool programs are strongly recommended to collaborate with the district’s Parents as Teachers program for parent education. Parent involvement could include serving on the Parent Advisory Committee, classroom volunteer, forming a preschool parent organization, etc. Communication with parents could include newsletters, parent-teacher conferences, phone calls, etc.

1. F. Community set-aside plan. The

community set aside is a portion of the award that may be designated to provide professional development opportunities for licensed early care and education providers within the contractor’s community. These licensed 5 CSR 20-600

providers must be caring for age-eligible children.

1. (E) Funding.

   1. 1. Funds may be requested for costs

associated with expenses necessary to implement a quality preschool program.

1. 2. These may include the following:

   1. A. Initial staff training on a selected

curriculum model;

1. B. Minor remodeling associated with

licensing requirements;

1. C. Appropriate equipment;
2. D. Necessary furniture; and
3. E. Appropriate staffing.
4. 3. Payments will not be made until the

program has met contractual requirement; the program is licensed from the DHSS, Section for Child Care Regulation; and a copy of the licensed certificate is submitted to the department.

1. 4. Subject to appropriations and the

phased reduction, subsequent contract amounts may be reduced.

AUTHORITY: sections 161.092 and 313.835, RSMo Supp. 2012.* Original rule filed Aug. 30, 2012, effective March 30, 2013. *Original authority: 161.092, RSMo 1963, amended 1973, 2002, 2003 and 313.835, RSMo 1991, amended 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2012.