New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 6A - EDUCATION › Chapter 13A - ELEMENTS OF HIGH QUALITY PRESCHOOL PROGRAMS › Subchapter 9 - SCHOOL DISTRICT CONTRACTS WITH PRIVATE PROVIDERS AND LOCAL HEAD START AGENCIES FOR PROVIDING PRESCHOOL SERVICES › Section 6A:13A-9.3 - Renewal or non-renewal of a preschool program contract

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) The
				district board of education, contracting private provider or local Head Start
				agency, and the Department shall use the following process for renewal or
				non-renewal of a private provider or local Head Start agency preschool program
				contract:
1. For all private provider or
				local Head Start agency contract renewals or non-renewals:
i. The school district shall notify any
				contracting private provider or local Head Start agency in writing on or before
				May 1 of each contract year of the school district's intent to renew the
				preschool program contract for an additional one-year term. The school district
				shall also notify any private provider or local Head Start agency, the
				Department's Division of Early Childhood Education, and the Department of
				Children and Families' Office of Licensing, in writing, on or before May 1 of
				each contract year of the school district's intent to not renew the preschool
				program contract for an additional one-year term. Any school district
				notification of non-renewal shall follow the protocol established by the
				Department's Division of Early Childhood Education and detail justifiable
				reason(s) for non-renewal of the preschool program contract.
ii. Any change(s) in configuration of the way
				preschool children are served within the school district's mixed delivery
				system shall be described in the school district's preschool program plan
				and/or annual update or modifications and shall be submitted to the
				Department's Division of Early Childhood Education for consideration prior to
				notification of non-renewal to contracting private provider(s) and/or local
				Head Start agency(ies).
iii. The
				contracting private provider or local Head Start agency shall notify the school
				district in writing within 30 days of receipt of the school district's renewal
				notice of the private provider's or local Head Start agency's acceptance or
				rejection of the offer to renew the preschool program contract for one
				year.
iv. The private provider or
				local Head Start agency may dispute the non-renewal of the preschool program
				contract received in writing from the school district by notifying the school
				district and the Department in writing within 10 business days of receipt of
				the notice of non-renewal.
v. The
				Department may request additional information from either party.
vi. The Department shall affirm or deny the
				appropriateness of the non-renewal decision in writing to the school district
				and the contracting private provider or local Head Start agency.
vii. The non-renewal decision may be appealed
				to the Commissioner pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:3, Controversies and Disputes.
viii. The school district's
				three-year preschool program plan and annual update(s) shall be amended
				accordingly, based on the changes in the classroom configuration.