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Waiting lists: The State-Funded Preschool program at the district level may not maintain a waiting list of eligible children. Throughout the year, as eligible children are identified, the required preschool program must be provided.

704 KAR 3 :410 Section 5. Enrollment. (1) "Enrollment of a child in the preschool program shall be at the discretion of the parent or legal guardian. Each local school district shall establish and maintain an active recruitment process which systematically assures enrollment of eligible children ... ,,

Eiigibie children include four-year-old at-risk children (eligible for free lunch) and three- and four-year-old children with disabilities. Three-year-old children with disabilities are eligible for preschool program services on their third birthday. Section 4. Interagency Agreements sets forth the conditions for provision of preschool services by contract or c.ooperative agreement with another provider which is an option as preschool classrooms reach cap size and other district alternatives, such as additional classroom space or lead teachers are not available.

Classroom cap size: 704.K.AR 3:410 Section 6. Program Operation (4) "Maximum group size for eligible children shall be twenty (20) children. The staff ratio in the classroom shall consist of one (1) adult for a maximum often (10) children ... Consideration shall be given to increasing the ruiniber of staff or decreasing the grtJup size depending upon the needs of the children, · including the needs of children with msabilities. An adult shall not be left alone with more than ten (IO) preschool children ... "

704 KAR 3 :4 IO Section 7. Personnel (2) " ... A lead teacher shall provide instructional services to a maxi.mum of twenty (20) children ... "

Our December I enrollment figures indicate that 61% of our enrolled children are three-and four­year-olds with disabilities with 39% being our four-year-old at-risk population. Taking this information into consideration when planning classroom configuration, it is possible that most classrooms will have less than the twenty maximum children enrolled. In these tough financial times it will take some creative planning to maintain adherence to these regulations but keep in mind that the purpose of the State-Funded Preschool program is to reduce barriers to learning for these most at-risk of educational failure young children and to guide them in building a strong foundation for school success. ·

Professional Development: 704 KAR 3: 41 O Section 7. Personnel. ( 5) A lead teacher shall participate in the required number of professional development days applicable to certified personnel in the local school district. A teaching ass_istant shall participate annually in a minimum of eighteen (18) hours of professional development. Professional. devel.opment activi.ties shal.l be related to the nature and needs of young children and their families, including those with special. needs. Records shall be kept for all personnel documenting participation in professional development training.

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As stated in the regulation, professional development must be related to the preschool population served by the lead teacher and teacher assistant. The state system of Early Childhood Regional Training Centers (i.e., spring and fall collaborative conferences, state early childhood summer institute) is an excellent source of appropriate professional development opportunities for both teachers and assistants. Blended Head Start and State-Funded Preschool lead teachers may benefit from Head Start sponsored professional development also. Other sources of professional development may be chosen keeping in mind the directive to be responsive to early childhood topics. The district is responsible for assuring that the appropriate professional development opportunities are chosen that will enhance the quality of the preschool program, meet the required number of professional development days, and for maintaining records of professional development.

Keep in mind that scholarships are available for teacher assistants to help·financially in moving through a credentialing system that begins at entry level and proceeds through post-secondary education. Contact Albert Fox at 502/564-8341 for more information about this.program

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----Original Message----From: Thacker, Chris - Exceptional Children Services [mailto:cthacker@KDE.STATE.KY.US] Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2004 9:17 AM To: KYDOSE@LSV.UKY.EDU Subject: E 'Specially' DECS: June 23, 2004 - Volume 1, Number 8

E 'Specially' DECS A weekly email update from the Division of Exceptional Children Services to Directors of Special Education on current issues, information and events. June 23, 2004 - Volume 1, Number 8

Question of the Week: (Fron, 'KDE's preschool staff) If an out- of- district child attends Head Start, who is responsible for providing services if there is not a non-residential agreement between the district - Head Start, district of residence, or the district of the Head Start program?

Answer: The first question would be to ask if there is an agreement between districts for non-residential children of school age? Often, this question comes up from our Preschool Coordinators as a separate issue - but if an agreement is in place for older children - that agreement will hold for preschool age children also.

Second·question, are the districts interested in having a discussion about agreeing who could serve (and ultimately "co·unt" this child) this particular child?

The district of residence should be involved as the primary contact, and as you have stated, allow/agree/discuss having the services provided in the Head Start setting if there is no district-to-district agreements. From your question, it would seem that if all this fails, Head Start is responsible for the services.

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The Question of the Week will be an on-going feature ofE 'Specially' DECS. If you have a special education question that you believe would be of general interest to other Directors of Special Education, email your suggestion to Sammie Lambert at slambert@kde.state.ky.us