(1) (a) The department shall develop and the executive director shall establish by rule the quality standards that each preschool provider must meet to receive funding through the Colorado universal preschool program. The quality standards must, at a minimum, address the issues specified in this section and must reflect national and community-informed best practices with regard to school readiness, academic and cognitive development, healthy environments, social-emotional learning, and child and family outcomes. The department and the executive director shall work with families, educators, and program administrators to review and, as necessary, revise the quality standards at least every five years to ensure the standards continue to reflect national best practices and meet the other requirements specified in this section. In developing, reviewing, revising, and adopting the quality standards, the department and the executive director shall consider, at a minimum:
(I) The quality standards established for preschool providers participating in the Colorado preschool program pursuant to article 28 of title 22, as it existed prior to July 1, 2023;
(II) Nationally accepted standards for preschool programs;
(III) The child care licensing requirements established pursuant to part 3 of article 5 of this title 26.5 with which preschool providers are required to comply; and
(IV) The need to ensure the availability of preschool services for eligible children throughout the state while maintaining the quality of the preschool providers.
(b) (I) Except as provided in subsection (1)(b)(II) of this section, the department shall ensure that each preschool provider that participates in the preschool program meets the quality standards established by rule in accordance with this section. The department may work with a local coordinating organization to ensure that a preschool provider meets the quality standards. The department may prohibit a preschool provider that fails to meet one or more of the quality standards from participating in the preschool program.
(II) If necessary to ensure the availability of a mixed delivery system within a community, the department may allow a preschool provider that does not meet the quality standards to participate in the preschool program for a limited time while working toward compliance with the quality standards; except that each preschool provider must meet all quality standards relating to health and safety as a condition of participating in the preschool program.
(2) At a minimum, the quality standards established in rule must include:
(a) The minimum numbers of contact hours of instructional services per school year for universal preschool services for preschool services provided to children three years of age and younger, and for additional preschool services. The minimum number of contact hours of instructional services established in rule for universal preschool services must not be less than three hundred sixty hours per school year.
(b) A requirement that each preschool provider provide eligible children an equal opportunity to enroll and receive preschool services regardless of race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, lack of housing, income level, or disability, as such characteristics and circumstances apply to the child or the child's family;
(c) The maximum allowable educator-to-child ratios and group sizes, aligned with national best practices. The department, by rule, may implement a waiver process to allow a preschool provider that implements a nationally recognized preschool program model to implement the educator-to-child ratios and group sizes that support the instructional practices of the model, so long as the preschool provider meets the national standards for the model or is accredited to provide the model.
(d) Qualifications for preschool teachers. The quality standards must not require preschool teachers to be licensed pursuant to article 60.5 of title 22 and must allow a preschool provider to employ a nonlicensed preschool teacher as long as the teacher meets other qualifications established in department rule. The department shall work with the department of education to ensure that a preschool educator may meet the qualifications for preschool educators by demonstrating compliance with the qualifications for an early childhood teaching license endorsement provided by the department of education.
(e) Requirements for continuing professional development for teachers employed by a preschool provider, which must be focused on improving teacher-child interactions and quality of instruction, including improving fidelity in implementing evidence-based curricula and student outcomes, and may allow for training in developmentally appropriate early numeracy, language, and literacy development, and the science of reading that is appropriate for early childhood education and comparable to the training required for early grade teachers pursuant to the Colorado READ Act, part 12 of article 7 of title 22. The department shall work with the department of education to allow, to the fullest extent possible, a teacher who is licensed by the department of education to use the professional development required to renew the teaching license to also meet the professional development requirements established by the department for teachers employed by a preschool provider.
(f) Standards for preschool services that, at a minimum, are aligned with the Colorado early learning and development guidelines across all early childhood domains approved by the early childhood leadership commission and with the Colorado academic standards adopted by the state board of education pursuant to section 22-7-1005, are culturally inclusive, and are supported by the department in implementation;
(g) Standards for instructional practice that, at a minimum, must ensure that the instructional practice implemented by preschool providers:
(I) Promotes learning through developmentally appropriate practices that include a mix of structured activities and play; and
(II) Increases and supports learning using instructional practices that build on previous learning and include a focus on age-appropriate classroom environments and ongoing informal assessments of learning;
(h) Limitations on the use of, and required procedures for, out-of-school suspension and expulsion in accordance with section 22-33-106.1. In addition, to reduce the use of exclusionary discipline, the standards must reflect best practices in early childhood mental health, including promoting access to early childhood mental health consultation.
(i) Standards for family and community engagement to ensure that the preschool provider engages with parents and neighborhood leaders in a formal and meaningful way, including seeking input for policy and programming decisions;
(j) Requirements for serving children who are dual-language learners, which must, at a minimum, include:
(I) Identifying, screening, and assessing children in their home languages;
(II) Communicating with children's parents in their home languages; and
(III) Using teaching strategies that have been shown to meet the needs of children who are dual-language learners;
(k) Requirements for offering voluntary vision, hearing, dental, and health screenings, and, upon parent request, referrals to appropriate health providers for children who are enrolled by a preschool provider; and
(l) Requirements for providing voluntary developmental screenings, which must, at a minimum, include the use of valid and reliable screening tools that are developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate.
(3) (a) Using the procedures specified in subsection (3)(b) of this section, the department shall create a resource bank of preschool curricula for use by preschool providers. The resource bank may include only curricula that, at a minimum:
(I) Are supported by evidence that use of the curricula improves student outcomes;
(II) Are developmentally appropriate, culturally relevant, and linguistically responsive to communities being served;
(III) Promote literacy, as developmentally appropriate, based on the science of reading by providing language development, including speech sounds, vocabulary, grammar, and use, and providing developmentally appropriate instruction to support children's success in early elementary grades when receiving instruction pursuant to the Colorado READ Act, part 12 of article 7 of title 22, in the areas of phonemic awareness; phonics; vocabulary development; reading fluency, including oral skills; and reading comprehension;
(III.5) Promote developmentally appropriate early numeracy; and
(IV) Are aligned with the Colorado early learning and development guidelines approved by the early childhood leadership commission.
(b) The department shall develop and implement a procedure for identifying the curricula it includes in the resource bank of preschool curricula. At a minimum, the procedure must include:
(I) Soliciting through public notice, accepting, and promptly reviewing curricula from preschool providers and from publishers;
(II) Evaluating the curricula that the department identifies or receives, which evaluation is based on the criteria specified in subsection (3)(a) of this section and any additional criteria specified in department rule;
(III) Providing notice to preschool providers and publishers that submit curricula concerning whether the submitted curricula was included in the resource bank and, if excluded from the resource bank, the reasons for exclusion; and
(IV) Reviewing the resource bank at least every three years to update the resource bank and add curricula when appropriate. In reviewing and updating the resource bank, the department shall, at a minimum, comply with the procedures described in subsections (3)(b)(I) to (3)(b)(III) of this section.
(c) The department shall allow preschool providers and publishers to submit curricula to the department at any time to be reviewed and considered for inclusion in the resource bank, regardless of the schedule for reviewing the resource bank. The department shall review all submitted curricula in accordance with the adopted procedures described in subsection (3)(b) of this section.
(d) The department shall make the resource bank accessible to the public through the department website.
Source: L. 2022: Entire article added, (HB 22-1295), ch. 123, p. 693, � 3, effective July 1. L. 2023: (2)(e) and (3)(a)(III) amended and (3)(a)(III.5) added, (HB 23-1231), ch. 190, p. 950, � 14, effective May 15.
26.5-4-206. Preschool special education services - department collaboration - memorandum of understanding. (1) The department shall collaborate with the department of education through a memorandum of understanding as described in subsection (2) of this section to ensure all children with disabilities are served equitably in the Colorado universal preschool program, ensure access to classrooms that meet the individual needs of children with disabilities based on their individualized education programs, and ensure that preschool providers operate in accordance with federal and state law concerning education for preschool-age children with disabilities. In collaborating pursuant to this section, the department and the department of education shall, at a minimum:
(a) Support local implementation of best practices;
(b) Create training for preschool providers concerning the legal obligations for serving children with disabilities, including the responsibilities and obligations of administrative units specified in IDEA and ECEA; and
(c) Collaborate to ensure preschool services delivered through the preschool program to children with disabilities are delivered in compliance with IDEA and ECEA.
(2) The department and the department of education shall enter into a memorandum of understanding that, at a minimum:
(a) Defines the roles and responsibilities of both departments, administrative units as defined in section 22-20-103, and preschool providers, recognizing that the department of education is the identified agency responsible for compliance with the part B component of IDEA, as described in section 22-20-103 (4)(b);
(b) Describes data collection and sharing responsibilities in accordance with federal requirements and timelines, ensuring that all critical data can be disaggregated, while adhering to requirements for protecting personally identifiable information;
(c) Describes each department's role in helping preschool providers and communities provide inclusive, individualized, meaningful, culturally relevant, linguistically relevant, active, and participatory learning for all children with disabilities, in accordance with each child's individualized education program;
(d) Establishes procedures for holding all preschool providers accountable for providing access and supports for children with disabilities;
(e) Recommends training programs for preschool providers in working with children with disabilities;
(f) With regard to preschool program rules, establishes processes to:
(I) Ensure that preschool program requirements are in compliance with and do not conflict with IDEA and ECEA; and
(II) Ensure preschool program rules address all legal requirements for the provision of preschool services to eligible children with disabilities.
Source: L. 2022: Entire article added, (HB 22-1295), ch. 123, p. 697, � 3, effective July 1.
26.5-4-207. Preschool program evaluation and improvement process - independent evaluator. (1) The department shall develop and implement a process for continuous evaluation and improvement of preschool providers who participate in the Colorado universal preschool program. At a minimum, the process must include a requirement that preschool providers use assessment and continuous improvement strategies that:
(a) Are implemented through a coordinated system that includes the quality standards established in department rule; curriculum; professional development; developmentally appropriate, age-appropriate, and whole-child assessment that may be based on observational assessments of children's development and classroom-based teacher-child interactions; and data collection;
(b) Support both continuous program improvement and the department's independent evaluation of the preschool program as provided in subsection (2) of this section;
(c) Are designed to inform curriculum implementation, professional development, teacher supports, and resource allocation; and
(d) Are appropriate for use with young children and for the purposes for which they are used.
(2) The department shall contract with an independent evaluator to measure the success of the Colorado universal preschool program in improving the overall learning and school readiness of children who receive preschool services through the preschool program. In evaluating the success of the preschool program, the department shall ensure the independent evaluator has access to the necessary data to measure immediate and long-term child outcomes and to provide recommendations to improve teaching and learning, assess professional development inputs and outcomes, and improve teacher-child interactions. The department shall take into account the evaluations and recommendations of the independent evaluator in implementing the process for continuous evaluation and improvement described in subsection (1) of this section.
(3) The department shall communicate the evaluations and recommendations of the independent evaluator to families, communities, preschool providers, local coordinating organizations, the state board of education, and the general assembly, as appropriate, to inform and improve early childhood teaching and education and policy-making related to early childhood education.
(4) The department shall take into account the evaluations and recommendations of the independent evaluator in reviewing and revising the preschool quality standards pursuant to section 26.5-4-205; the plan for recruiting, training, and retaining a high-quality early childhood workforce pursuant to section 26.5-6-101; and the state goals for implementing the preschool program.
Source: L. 2022: Entire article added, (HB 22-1295), ch. 123, p. 699, � 3, effective July 1.
26.5-4-208. Preschool provider funding - per-child rates - local contribution - distribution and use of money - definitions. (1) (a) The department, in accordance with the intent specified in section 26.5-4-202 (3), shall annually establish the per-child rates for universal preschool services, for preschool services for children with disabilities, for preschool services for eligible children who are three years of age or younger as described in section 26.5-4-204 (3)(a)(III) and (3)(a)(IV), and for additional preschool services. In establishing the per-child rates, the department, at a minimum, shall ensure that the per-child rate for preschool services for children with disabilities is at least equal to the greater of the per-child rate for universal preschool services or the state per pupil preschool funding rate for children with disabilities for the 2022-23 budget year, as defined in subsection (6) of this section. The department shall adopt one or more formulas for annually setting the per-child rates, which formulas must, at a minimum, take into account:
(I) The cost of providing preschool services that meet the quality standards established in department rule pursuant to section 26.5-4-205 (2);
(II) The responsibilities of the state and administrative units to meet the special education funding maintenance of effort requirements specified in IDEA;
(III) Variations in the cost of providing preschool services that result from regional differences and circumstances, which may include difficulties in achieving economies of scale in rural areas and in recruiting and retaining preschool educators; and
(IV) Variations in the cost of providing preschool services that result from the characteristics of children, which must include a child's identification as a child in a low-income family, and may include, but need not be limited to, a child's identification as a dual-language learner.
(b) In establishing the formulas described in subsection (1)(a) of this section and annually setting the per-child rates, the department must consider strategies to mitigate the effect of preschool funding on the availability of child care services for infants and toddlers within communities and areas in the state.
(c) In establishing the formula for additional preschool services, in addition to the considerations specified in subsection (1)(a) of this section, the department may consider the amount of local funding available to assist families within a community based on the community plan or available within an area that does not have a local coordinating organization. A preschool provider is prohibited from charging a fee for additional preschool services to a family that participates in the preschool program that exceeds the amount charged to families that do not receive additional preschool services.
(d) In addition to distributing funding based on the per-child rates established pursuant to subsection (1)(a) of this section, the department may by rule distribute funding to achieve a specified purpose, which may include funding for administrative units to provide special education services through the preschool program and funding for measures related to recruiting, training, and retaining preschool educators. The department may choose to distribute funding pursuant to this subsection (1)(d) only after the department allocates the amounts necessary to fund preschool services for eligible children who are three years of age or younger, up to the amounts described in subsection (3)(c) of this section, and to fully fund universal preschool services for all eligible children who enroll.
(e) In establishing the formulas and other distribution amounts, the department shall consult with the rules advisory council, the early childhood leadership commission, and members of the early childhood community, including parents of preschool-age children, preschool educators, preschool providers, early childhood councils, school districts, charter schools, representatives of county departments of human or social services, local coordinating organizations, and individuals with financial expertise in public and private funding sources for early childhood services.
(2) Before finalizing the per-child rates in a fiscal year, the department shall:
(a) (I) Ensure that the per-child rates for universal preschool services, for preschool services for children with disabilities, and for preschool services for eligible children who are three years of age or younger as described in section 26.5-4-204 (3)(a)(III) and (3)(a)(IV) meet or exceed the constitutional compliance rate for the applicable fiscal year, as described in subsection (2)(a)(II) of this section.
(II) For the 2023-24 fiscal year, the constitutional compliance rate is forty percent of the statewide base per pupil funding that the general assembly establishes in section 22-54-104 (5)(a) for the 2023-24 fiscal year. For the 2024-25 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, the constitutional compliance rate is the 2023-24 fiscal year constitutional compliance rate increased annually, beginning in the 2024-25 fiscal year, by the rate of inflation.
(b) Compare the amount of funding that the per-child rates direct toward universal preschool services with the amount of funding the rates direct toward additional preschool services and prepare an analysis of the efficacy of the balance between funding for universal preschool services and additional preschool services in optimizing support for children in low-income families and children who meet qualifying factors while ensuring high-quality universal preschool services. The department shall make the analysis available to the public.
(c) Consider the impact on the level of funding for preschool providers as a result of the per-child rates and the levels of enrollment as compared to previous state fiscal years, including state fiscal years preceding the 2023-24 state fiscal year. The department may consider a specified purpose distribution as described in subsection (1)(d) of this section to reduce any impact on the level of funding for preschool providers.
(3) (a) Beginning in the 2023-24 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, the department, working with local coordinating organizations as provided in each local coordinating organization's coordinator agreement with the department, shall distribute the funding appropriated to the department for preschool services from the preschool programs cash fund and any amount received pursuant to section 26.5-4-209 (2). The department and local coordinating organizations, as applicable, shall base the amounts distributed on the per-child rates and any special purpose distributions established for the applicable fiscal year pursuant to subsection (1) of this section. At the start of each fiscal year, the department, and local coordinating organizations as applicable, shall distribute a portion of the funding to preschool providers based on the numbers and types of eligible children expected to enroll in preschool as estimated in the community plans or as estimated by the department for an area that does not have a local coordinating organization. The department and local coordinating organizations, as applicable, shall continue distributing portions of the funding periodically throughout the school year and shall adjust the amounts distributed based on the actual numbers and types of eligible children enrolled by preschool providers.
(b) The department shall ensure that funding is allocated for preschool services for eligible children who are three years of age or younger, as described in subsection (3)(c) of this section, for children with disabilities, and for all eligible children who enroll in universal preschool services before funding is allocated for additional preschool services or for specified purposes as described in subsection (1)(d) of this section. In allocating funding for additional preschool services for eligible children, the department shall first allocate funding for additional preschool services for eligible children who are in low-income families and meet at least one qualifying factor and then allocate funding for additional preschool services for the remaining eligible children who are in low-income families.
(c) (I) (A) In distributing funding for preschool services pursuant to this section for the 2023-24 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, the department shall ensure that the amount of funding required to provide preschool services to all three-year-old children with disabilities who enroll in the preschool program is annually distributed to the enrolling preschool providers and the amount described in subsection (3)(c)(I)(B) of this section is distributed to provide preschool services for eligible children who are three years of age or younger, as described in section 26.5-4-204 (3)(a)(III) and (3)(a)(IV).
(B) To provide services for eligible children who are three years of age or younger, the department shall annually distribute the amount allotted for the 2022-23 fiscal year to provide preschool services for children three years of age or younger through the Colorado Preschool Program Act, article 28 of title 22, as it existed prior to July 1, 2023, calculated as an amount equal to the number of children three years of age or younger enrolled by each school district for the 2022-23 fiscal year multiplied by the per pupil funding, as described in section 22-54-104 (3) or (3.5), whichever is applicable, for the enrolling school district for the 2022-23 fiscal year.
(II) The department and local coordinating organizations, as applicable, shall distribute the funding for preschool services for children who are three years of age or younger as described in subsection (3)(c)(I)(B) of this section only to preschool providers that are school districts or charter schools for the eligible children who are three years of age and younger whom the school district or charter school enrolls in accordance with the preschool program; except that, in a fiscal year in which the general assembly specifically appropriates an amount to provide preschool services for children three years of age or younger who do not have disabilities that exceeds the amount described in subsection (3)(c)(I)(B) of this section, the department may distribute in accordance with the applicable community plans all or any portion of the excess appropriation amount to community-based preschool providers. A school district may distribute all or a portion of the amount received pursuant to this subsection (3)(c)(II) to a head start agency or community-based preschool provider that provides preschool services pursuant to a contract with the school district.
(III) Notwithstanding any provision of subsection (3)(c)(I) of this section to the contrary, in a fiscal year in which the amount described in subsection (3)(c)(I)(B) of this section to fund preschool services for children who are three years of age or younger is more than is required to fully fund the number of said eligible children who actually enroll for preschool services, the department may distribute the excess amount to fund universal preschool services, additional preschool services, or special purpose distributions in accordance with this section.
(IV) In a fiscal year in which the amount described in subsection (3)(c)(I)(B) of this section to fund preschool services for children who are three years of age or younger is less than is required to fully fund the number of said eligible children who actually enroll for preschool services, the department shall first provide funding for the eligible children with disabilities and eligible children who are in low-income families and meet at least one qualifying factor and then provide funding for the remaining eligible children who are in low-income families. If any amount of the appropriation described in subsection (3)(c)(I)(B) of this section remains, the department, working with the rules advisory council, the local coordinating organizations, and any other interested persons, shall establish the priority for distributing the funding among the remaining eligible children.
(4) Repealed.
(5) A preschool provider that receives funding distributed pursuant to this section shall use the money only to pay the costs of providing preschool services directly to eligible children enrolled by the preschool provider or by a subcontracted preschool provider as authorized for a school district in subsection (3)(c)(II) of this section. Costs of providing preschool services include:
(a) Teacher and paraprofessional salaries and benefits;
(b) The cost of providing to teachers and paraprofessionals any professional development activities associated with the preschool services;
(c) The costs incurred in purchasing supplies and materials used in providing the preschool services;
(d) Any additional costs that a preschool provider would not have incurred but for the services provided in conjunction with the preschool services; and
(e) A reasonable allocation of overhead costs as provided by department rule.
(6) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) District extended high school pupil enrollment has the same meaning as provided in section 22-54-103.
(b) Funded pupil count means the funded pupil count as determined pursuant to article 54 of title 22.
(c) Online pupil enrollment has the same meaning as provided in section 22-54-103.
(d) State average per pupil funding amount means the total of the per pupil funding amounts, as described in section 22-54-104 (3) or (3.5), for all school districts in the state as calculated for the 2022-23 budget year divided by the total number of school districts, then multiplied by fifty percent.
(e) State per pupil preschool funding rate for children with disabilities for the 2022-23 budget year means an amount equal to the state's share percentage of statewide total program funding for all school districts calculated pursuant to the Public School Finance Act of 1994, article 54 of title 22, for the 2022-23 budget year multiplied by the state average per pupil funding amount for the 2022-23 budget year.
Source: L. 2022: Entire article added, (HB 22-1295), ch. 123, p. 700, � 3, effective July 1. L. 2023: (4)(a) and (6)(d) amended, (HB 23-1235), ch. 434, p. 2545, � 8, effective June 7; (1)(d) and (1)(e) amended, (HB 23-1301), ch. 303, p. 1835, � 61, effective August 7. L. 2024: (6)(b) amended, (HB 24-1448), ch. 236, p. 1537, � 62, effective May 23.
Editor's note: Subsection (4)(e) provided for the repeal of subsection (4), effective July 1, 2024. (See L. 2022, p. 700.)