Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 6, March 18, 2024
(a) The district board of education shall ensure that the budget of each private provider and local Head Start agency supports and aligns with the children's needs and the actual program costs for the six-hour comprehensive educational program and day, meets the Department's requirements, and aligns with the school district's grade one through 12 daily school calendar, not exceeding the 10-month academic period.
(b) The district board of education shall ensure that procedures for contracting private providers and local Head Start agencies are in place to ensure sound fiscal practices including:
1. The district board of education shall verify for accuracy and efficiency of annual budget planning workbooks submitted by each contracting private provider and local Head Start agency prior to submission to the Department of the school district budget planning workbook.
2. The district board of education shall ensure that compensation for certified teachers and teacher assistants in contracting private provider or local Head Start settings is comparable to compensation for a teacher or teacher assistant employed by the district board of education and is based on equivalent certification and credentials.
i. The district board of education shall ensure that the certified teachers and teacher assistants in contracting private providers and local Head Start agencies receiving the comparable compensation meet comparable work schedule requirements for both student contact time and teacher contract time, including the equivalent number of hours per day and the equivalent number of days per contract year established by the district board of education for its certified teachers and teacher assistants. The work schedule shall also include the same amount of preparation time and lunch time as the district board of education certified teachers and teacher assistants.
3. The district board of education shall monitor at least quarterly the expenditures of each contracting private provider and local Head Start agency and shall recoup any unexpended or misspent funds based on the quarterly expenditure reports, enrollment records, and monthly payments made by the school district.
4. The district board of education shall request regular updates on the status of any corrective action plans or outstanding issues raised as a result of a limited examination or audit report.
5. The district board of education shall establish the procedure by which preschool enrollment and attendance is submitted to the district board of education by the contracting private provider and local Head Start agency and verified by the district board of education.
(c) The district board of education shall verify the credentials and progress toward obtaining the appropriate certification or credentials, where applicable, of all preschool teaching staff in a contracting private provider and local Head Start agency and shall verify that all required background and criminal checks on all employees have been conducted.
