Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A. Registered and CCAP-certified family child
care homes may apply for academic approval from the LDE.
B. Family child care homes meeting the
performance and academic standards of the early childhood care and education
network regarding kindergarten readiness as provided in this bulletin shall
receive academic approval from the LDE. Academic approval includes verification
by the LDE that the family child care home meets the required performance and
academic standards.
C. Initial
Academic Approval for an Applicant for a Family Child Care Home
1. In order to obtain initial academic
approval as a family child care home, a family child care home applying for a
new academic approval must:
a. submit a
signed copy of the current program partner assurances for family child care
homes to the LDE, thereby agreeing to comply with the provisions of this
bulletin, which include:
i. membership in the
corresponding community network, as provided in Chapter 3;
ii. participation in the early childhood care
and education accountability system, as provided in Chapter 5; and
iii. participation in the coordinated
enrollment process, as provided in Chapter 7.
2. An applicant for a new family child care
home academic approval who has held a family child care home academic approval
and received a corrective action plan as provided in
§313 at any time during the current or
preceding fiscal year shall not be allowed to apply for academic approval for
the fiscal year in which the family child care home received a corrective
action plan and the following fiscal year.
D. Renewal of Academic Approval for Family
Child Care Homes
1. Academic approval will be
renewed annually for a family child care home that:
a. has current academic approval;
b. is in compliance with the provisions of
this Part;
c. has not received two
unsatisfactory performance ratings within any consecutive three school years;
and
d. has submitted a signed copy
of the current annual program partner assurances for family child care homes to
the LDE, thereby certifying that:
i. the
family child care home shall comply with the provisions of this Part, which
include:
(a). membership in the corresponding
community network, as provided in Chapter 3;
(b). participation in the early childhood
care and education accountability system, as provided in Chapter 5;
and
(c). participation in the
coordinated enrollment process, as provided in Chapter 7; and
ii. the family child care provider
must:
(a). have an early childhood ancillary
certificate or other traditional teaching certificate issued by BESE;
or
(b). be in the process of
completing training that will lead to an early childhood ancillary certificate
and will have obtained an early childhood ancillary certificate issued by BESE
within 24 months of the date when academic approval is granted.
2. To renew
academic approval, family child care homes must annually submit a signed copy
of annual program partner assurances for family child care homes to the LDE
prior to July 1, or as requested, whichever occurs earlier.
E. A family child care home that
has academic approval terminated may not apply for academic approval for the
fiscal year in which academic approval was terminated or for the following
fiscal year.
F. Academic approval
will be valid for the fiscal year, July 1-June 30, for which granted.
G. Academic approval is granted to a specific
provider and a specific location and is not transferable. If a family child
care home changes owners or location, provider is considered a new operation,
and academic approval for the new owner or location must be obtained prior to
beginning operations under new ownership or at the new location.
H. Upon a change of ownership or change of
location, academic approval granted to the original owner or at the original
location becomes null and void.
I.
Renewal. Prior to July 1 of each year, the LDE shall send notice to each family
child care home that has academic approval regarding:
1. renewal of academic approval for the
family child care home;
2. notice
of the family child care home failure to comply with specific requirements in
Subsection B of this Section and specific corrective actions that must be taken
by a specified date in order for academic approval to be renewed; or
3. if a family child care home receives the
notice outlined in Subparagraph J.2.a of this Section within the academic year
and has not provided the required certifications and completed the stated
corrective actions, the LDE may terminate the family child care home academic
approval as provided in Subparagraph J.2.c of this Section and send notice of
termination of the family child care home academic approval.
J. Denial, Termination, or Refusal
to Renew Academic Approval
1. The LDE may
deny, terminate, or refuse to renew academic approval for one or more of the
following:
a. violations of any provisions of
this Part;
b. failure to comply in
a timely manner with a corrective action plan provided by the LDE;
c. any act of fraud, such as the submission
of false or altered documents or information;
d. failure to timely submit a signed copy of
the annual program partner assurances;
e. two unsatisfactory performance ratings
within any consecutive three school years; or
f. failure to participate in the early
childhood site improvement planning process, as required by
§512 of this Part.
2. Notice
a. If a family child care home is in
violation of any provision of this Part, the LDE shall notify the family child
care home in writing and may specify in a corrective action plan any corrective
actions, required to retain academic approval.
b. Within 30 calendar days of receiving such
notice, the family child care home must submit certification in writing to the
LDE that:
i. corrective actions specified in
the corrective action plan have been taken or are in the process of being taken
in compliance with the schedule provided in the corrective action plan;
and
ii. the family child care home
will remain in compliance with the corrective action plan and all applicable
regulations.
c. If the
family child care home does not respond in a timely or satisfactory manner to
the notice and corrective action plan or adhere to the implementation schedule
required in the corrective action plan, the LDE may terminate or refuse to
renew the family child care home academic approval.
d. The LDE shall provide written notice of a
denial, termination, or refusal to renew academic approval to the family child
care home.
e. The denial,
termination, or refusal to renew a family child care home academic approval
shall be effective upon the date if notice of the denial, termination, or
refusal to renew.
K. Appeal Procedure
1. BESE shall have the authority to grant an
appeal of the denial, termination, or refusal to renew academic approval for a
family child care home.
2. The
appeal procedure shall address unforeseen and aberrant factors impacting family
child care homes or issues that arise when the literal application of the
academic approval regulations does not consider certain unforeseen and unusual
circumstances.
3. A family child
care home may request an appeal of the denial, termination, or refusal to renew
an academic approval by submitting a written request for an appeal to the LDE
within 15 calendar days of the notice of the denial, termination, or refusal to
renew an academic approval.
4. All
appeal requests must clearly outline the specific reasons for requesting the
appeal and the reasons why the appeal should be granted and must include any
necessary supporting documentation.
5. The LDE shall review all timely-submitted
appeal requests and make recommendations to BESE during the first
regularly-scheduled BESE meeting following receipt of the appeal requests, or
during the second regularly-scheduled BESE meeting if an appeal request is
received within 14 working days of the next regularly-scheduled BESE meeting.
Within this interval, the LDE shall notify the family child care home of the
LDE recommendation and allow the family child care home to respond in writing.
The department recommendation and the family child care home response must be
submitted to BESE for final disposition.
6. A family child care home that appeals the
termination or refusal to renew academic approval shall retain academic
approval during the appeal process.
L. Voluntary Termination or Non-Renewal of
Academic Approval
1. The family child care
home may voluntarily terminate academic approval at any point during the fiscal
year in which the academic approval is valid.
a. Voluntary termination of academic approval
must be reported in writing according to the process developed by the
LDE.
2. The family child
care home may voluntarily decline to renew academic approval during the renewal
period for the next fiscal year.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
Promulgated in accordance with
R.S.
17:407.21 et
seq.
