Iowa Code § 256C.4 — IA Code / Title VII / Chapter 256C / Section 256C.4
Funding provisions — enrollment.
Status: in_force

(1) (a) State funding provided under the preschool program shall be based upon the enrollment of eligible students in the preschool programming provided by a school district approved to participate in the preschool program.

(1) (b) A school district approved to participate in the preschool program may authorize expenditures for the district’s preschool programming from any of the revenue sources available to the district from the sources listed in chapter 298A, provided the expenditures are within the uses permitted for the revenue source. In addition, the use of the revenue source for preschool or prekindergarten programming must have been approved prior to any expenditure from the revenue source for the district’s approved local program.

(1) (c) Funding provided under the preschool program is intended to supplement, not supplant, existing public funding for preschool programming.

(1) (d) Preschool foundation aid funding shall not be commingled with the other state aid payments made under section 257.16 to a school district and shall be accounted for by the local school district separately from the other state aid payments. Preschool foundation aid payments made to school districts are miscellaneous income for purposes of chapter 257. A school district shall maintain a separate listing within its budget for preschool foundation aid payments received and expenditures made. A school district shall certify to the department of education that preschool foundation aid funding received by the school district was used to supplement, not supplant, moneys otherwise received and used by the school district for preschool programming.

(1) (e) Preschool foundation aid funding shall not be used for the costs of constructing a facility in connection with an approved local program. Preschool foundation aid funding may be used by approved local programs and community providers for any purpose determined by the board of directors of the school district to meet standards for high-quality preschool instruction and for purposes that directly or indirectly benefit students enrolled in the approved local program, including but not limited to professional development for preschool teachers, instructional equipment and supplies, material and equipment designed to develop pupils’ large and small motor skills, translation services, playground equipment and repair costs, food and beverages used by children in the approved local program, safety equipment, facility rental fees, and for other direct costs that enhance the approved local program, including by contracting with community partners for any such services. Preschool foundation aid funding may be used by approved local programs for the costs of transportation involving children participating in the preschool program. The costs of transporting other children associated with the preschool program or transported as provided in section 256C.3, subsection 3, paragraph “h”, may be prorated by the school district. Preschool foundation aid funding received by an approved local program that remains unexpended and unobligated at the end of a fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 2017, shall be used to build the approved local program’s preschool program capacity in the next succeeding fiscal year excluding that portion of such unexpended and unobligated funding that the school district authorizes for transfer for deposit in the school district’s flexibility account established under section 298A.2, subsection 2, if the statutory requirements for the use of such funding are met. For purposes of determining whether a school district has authority to transfer preschool foundation aid funding for deposit in the school district’s flexibility account established under section 298A.2, subsection 2, the school district must have provided preschool programming during the fiscal year for which funding remains unexpended and unobligated to all eligible students for whom a timely application for enrollment was submitted.

(1) (f) The receipt of funding by a school district for the purposes of this chapter, the need for additional funding for the purposes of this chapter, or the enrollment count of eligible students under this chapter shall not be considered to be unusual circumstances, create an unusual need for additional funds, or qualify under any other circumstances that may be used by the school budget review committee to grant supplemental aid to or establish a modified supplemental amount for a school district under section 257.31.

(1) (g) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015, and each succeeding fiscal year, of the amount of preschool foundation aid received by a school district for a fiscal year in accordance with section 257.16, not more than five percent may be used by the school district for administering the district’s approved local program. Outreach activities and rent for facilities not owned by the school district are permissive uses of the administrative funds.

(1) (h) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015, and each succeeding fiscal year, of the amount of preschool foundation aid received by a school district for a fiscal year in accordance with section 257.16, not less than ninety-five percent of the per pupil amount shall be passed through to a community-based provider for each pupil enrolled in the district’s approved local program. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015, and each succeeding fiscal year, not more than ten percent of the amount of preschool foundation aid passed through to a community-based provider may be used by the community-based provider for administrative costs. The costs of outreach activities and rent for facilities not owned by the school district are permissive administrative costs. The costs of transportation involving children participating in the preschool program and other children may be prorated.

(2) (a) To be included as an eligible student in the enrollment count of the preschool programming provided by a school district approved to participate in the preschool program, a child must be four years of age by September 15 in the base year and attending the school district’s approved local program.

(2) (b) The enrollment count of eligible students shall not include a child who is included in the enrollment count determined under section 257.6 or a child who is served by a program already receiving state or federal funds for the purpose of the provision of four-year-old preschool programming while the child is being served by the program. Such preschool programming includes but is not limited to child development assistance programs provided under chapter 256A, special education programs provided under section 256B.9, school ready children grant programs and other programs provided under chapter 256I, and federal head start programs and the services funded by Tit. I of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

2007 Acts, ch 148, §4; 2008 Acts, ch 1181, §68, 74; 2010 Acts, ch 1031, §305; 2012 Acts, ch 1138, §23, 42; 2013 Acts, ch 121, §10, 42, 103, 108; 2015 Acts, ch 140, §31, 58, 59; 2016 Acts, ch 1132, §8; 2017 Acts, ch 153, §13 – 15; 2017 Acts, ch 154, §1