CA Educ Code § 8210 (2021)
2021 California Code|Education Code - EDC|TITLE 1 - GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS|DIVISION 1 - GENERAL EDUCATION CODE PROVISIONS|PART 6 - EDUCATION PROGRAMS STATE MASTER PLANS|CHAPTER 2 - Early Education Act|ARTICLE 2 - Program Administration|Section 8210.

8210.  (a) Each applicant or contracting agency shall give priority for part-day programs according to the following:(1) The first priority for services shall be given to three-year-old or four-year-old children who are recipients of child protective services or who are at risk of being neglected, abused, or exploited and for whom there is a written referral from a legal, medical, or social service agency. If an agency is unable to enroll a child in this first priority category, the agency shall refer the child’s parent or guardian to local resources and referral services so that services for the child can be located.(2) (A) The second priority for services shall be given to eligible four-year-old children who are not enrolled in a state-funded transitional kindergarten program.(B) Within this priority category, eligible children with the lowest income according to the income ranking on the most recent schedule of income ceiling eligibility table, as published by the Superintendent at the time of enrollment, shall be enrolled first.(i) If two or more families have the same income ranking according to the most recent schedule of income ceiling eligibility table, a child with exceptional needs shall be enrolled first.(ii) If there are no families with a child with exceptional needs, the child that has been on the waiting list for the longest time shall be admitted first.(3) The third priority shall be given to eligible three-year-old children. Enrollment determinations within this priority category shall be made pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2).(4) The fourth priority, after all otherwise eligible children have been enrolled, shall be children from families whose income is no more than 15 percent above the eligibility income threshold, as described in Section 8213. Within this priority category, priority shall be given to four-year-old children before three-year-old children.(5) The fifth priority, after all otherwise eligible children have been enrolled, shall be a child with exceptional needs whose family’s income is above the income eligibility threshold, as described in Section 8213. Within this priority category, priority shall be given to four-year-old children before three-year-old children.(6) After all otherwise eligible children have been enrolled in the first through fifth priority categories, as described in paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, a California preschool program site operating within the attendance boundaries of a qualified free and reduced priced meals school, in accordance with Section 8217, may enroll any four-year-old children whose families reside within the attendance boundary of the qualified elementary school. These children shall, to the extent possible, be enrolled by lowest to highest income according to the most recent schedule of income ceiling eligibility table.(b) For purposes of determining order of enrollment, public assistance grants shall be counted as income.(c) The Superintendent shall set criteria for, and may grant specific waivers of, the priorities established in this section for agencies that wish to serve specific populations, including children with exceptional needs or children of prisoners. These new waivers shall not include proposals to avoid appropriate fee schedules or admit ineligible families, but may include proposals to accept members of special populations in other than strict income order, as long as appropriate fees are paid.(Repealed and added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 116, Sec. 25. (AB 131) Effective July 23, 2021.)