Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 3, March 20, 2024
A. The unified quality rating system consists
of five star ratings that may be awarded to child care facilities based on the
level of quality of early child care and education provided by child care
facilities serving children from birth through age five. The unified quality
rating system is designed to recognize the quality of early care and education
provided, communicate the level of quality, and support improvements of child
care facilities.
1. To be eligible for
participation in the unified quality rating system, a type III early learning
center must:
a. have current academic
approval issued by the department in compliance with
§313 of Bulletin 140- Louisiana
Early Childhood Care and Education Network; and
b. have a valid type III early learning
center license issued by the LDE in compliance with Bulletin 137-
Louisiana Early Learning Center Licensing Regulations.
2. To be eligible for participation
in the unified quality rating system, a family child care home must:
a. have current academic approval issued by
the department in compliance with
§313 of Bulletin 140- Louisiana
Early Childhood Care and Education Network; and
b. be registered and have current
certification for CCAP issued by LDE in compliance with this
Bulletin.
3. A child
care facility is participating in the unified quality rating system if it is
eligible for participation and has notified the LDE of the desire to
participate and willingness to sign the required documents verifying
eligibility for tax credits.
B. A star rating shall be awarded to an
eligible, participating child care facility based on the performance rating the
facility receives on its annual performance profile issued by the LDE as part
of the early childhood care and education accountability system (ECCE
accountability system). The ECCE accountability system was created pursuant to
R.S.
17:407.23(B)(3) and Bulletin
140, and is used to evaluate the performance of publicly-funded early childhood
care and education sites, which include child care facilities and community
networks in preparing children for kindergarten and to assign a performance
profile to each site, which include child care facilities and community
networks.
1. All publicly funded early
childhood care and education sites, which include eligible child care, are
required to participate in the ECCE accountability system pursuant to
§501 of Bulletin 140, and each
publicly-funded site, which includes eligible child care facilities must
receive a performance profile based its performance each school year.
2. Performance profiles for publicly-funded
sites, which include eligible child care facilities, must include a performance
rating as provided in
§509 of Bulletin 140.
3. Performance rating calculations for
publicly-funded sites, which include eligible child care, are made in
accordance with
§503 and
§509 of Bulletin
140.
C. Star Ratings for
Child Care Facilities
1. An eligible,
participating child care facility that earns a performance rating score of 3.00
through 3.74 on its performance profile issued by the LDE shall be awarded a
one star quality rating.
2. An
eligible, participating child care facility that earns a performance rating
score of 3.75 through 4.49 on its performance profile issued by the LDE shall
be awarded a two star quality rating.
3. An eligible, participating child care
facility that earns a performance rating score of 4.50 through 5.24 on its
performance profile issued by the LDE shall be awarded a three star quality
rating.
4. An eligible,
participating child care facility that earns a performance rating score of 5.25
through 5.99 on its performance profile issued by the LDE shall be awarded a
four star quality rating.
5. An
eligible, participating care facility that earns a performance rating score of
6.00 through 7.00 on its performance profile issued by the LDE shall be awarded
a five star quality rating.
D. The state superintendent of education
(state superintendent), in specific instances, may waive compliance with a
requirement if it is determined that the economic or adverse impact is
sufficiently great to make compliance impractical, as long as the health and
well-being of the staff and/or children are not imperiled. If it is determined
that the facility or individual is meeting or exceeding the intent of a
requirement, the requirement may be deemed to be met. The decision to grant or
deny a waiver rests with the sole discretion of the state
superintendent.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
Promulgated in accordance with 45 CFR Part 98 and
R.S.
17:407.26.
