July 2, 2013 (X) Action Required

Due date: July 16, 2013

(X) Informational

MEMORANDUM NO. 029-13M EARLY LEARNING

TO: Educational Service District Superintendents

School District Superintendents
School District Early Learning Contacts
Elementary School Principals
Educational Service District Early Learning Coordinators

FROM: Randy I. Dorn, State Superintendent of Public Instruction

RE: State-funded Full-day Kindergarten Eligibility

CONTACT: Robert Butts, Assistant Superintendent of Early Learning

(360) 725-0420, Bob.Butts@k12.wa.us
Agency TTY: (360) 664-3631

Purpose
This memorandum serves to notify school districts of the schools that are eligible to receive
funding for voluntary, state-funded, full-day kindergarten beginning in the 201314 school
year. The requirements for participation in state-funded full-day kindergarten are also
provided. School districts with eligible schools must notify the Office of Superintendent
of Public Instruction (OSPI) through iGrants by Tuesday, July 16.

Background
On June 30, Governor Inslee signed the 201315 state biennial operating budget that provides
funding for 43.75 percent of kindergarten students in the state to receive full-day kindergarten
in the 201314 and 201415 school years. In the 201213 school year, funding was available
for 22 percent of kindergarten students.

As specified in RCW 28A.150.315, state-funding for full-day kindergarten is being phased in

beginning with schools that have the highest percentage of students qualifying for free and
reduced-price lunches. In addition, once a school receives funding, the school remains eligible
for funding in subsequent years, regardless of changes in the schools percentage of students
who are eligible for free and reduced-price lunches.
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The eligibility list for new schools for the 201314 school year is attached and is also available
online. This list is based on the free and reduced-price lunch eligibility for schools on October
1, 2012, as reported in CEDARS as of May 17, 2013.
Conditions for Receiving Funding
To receive funding, schools and school districts are required to agree to a number of
conditions in RCW 28A.150.315, which include:

1. Provide at least a 180-day and 1,000 instructional hours (as defined in RCW
28A.150.205) school year. However, up to three of these days may be used for the
WaKIDS Family Connection (see WaKIDS section below).
2. Provide a curriculum that offers a rich, varied set of experiences that
assist students in:
a) Developing initial skills in the academic areas of reading, mathematics, and
writing;
b) Developing a variety of communication skills;
c) Having experiences in science, social studies, arts, health and physical
education, and a world language other than English;
d) Acquiring large and small motor skills;
e) Acquiring social and emotional skills including successful participation in learning
activities as an individual and as part of a group; and
f) Learning through hands-on experiences.
3. Establish learning environments that are developmentally appropriate and promote
creativity.
4. Demonstrate strong connections and communication with early learning community
providers.
5. Participate in kindergarten program readiness activities with early learning providers
and parents.
6. Administer the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS)
unless the school district has received a waiver from this requirement.
7. Provide full-day kindergarten to all students who request it.

Notification of OSPI
School districts with eligible schools that want to receive funding for state-funded full-day
kindergarten are required to notify OSPI through iGrants by 5:00 p.m. on July 16, 2013. The
form package is titled: 409 Full-Day Kindergarten. The iGrants form package requires that the
school district agrees to comply with the state-funded full-day kindergarten conditions listed
above.

We also are asking that school districts notify us in the iGrants form package if they do not
want to receive funding for the 201314 school year and to identify why.

If not all eligible schools indicate that they are interested in receiving funding and OSPI
determines that unused funding will likely be available, a second round of notifications will
occur in late-July.

Eligibility in Future Years

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If a school does not have adequate space for full-day kindergarten in the 201314 school year
or chooses not to accept funding for other reasons, the school will be eligible for funding in
subsequent school years based on where it ranks in the annual priority list and the availability
of funding for additional schools. Unless additional funding is provided in the supplemental
operating budget next winter, a new list will not be created until spring 2015 for the 201516
school year.

WaKIDS
Information regarding the administration of the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of
Developing Skills (WaKIDS) is available at www.k12.wa.us/WaKIDS. WaKIDS includes three
components, including a Family Connection that requires teachers to meet with families and
the student at the beginning of the school year. To meet this requirement, school districts may
use up to three days at the beginning of the school year for this purpose.

Teachers are required to attend two days of training prior to initially administering the Whole
Child Assessment component of WaKIDS. Travel expenses and funding for compensation
will be provided to districts for teachers who participate in the training. A list of training
locations and dates is available at: http://www.k12.wa.us/WaKIDS/Events/default.aspx.

While waivers from the WaKIDS requirement were available to state-funded full-day
kindergarten schools in the 201213 school year, they will not be available to newly eligible
schools beginning in the 201314 school year.

More detailed information on WaKIDS will be available in a subsequent OSPI memorandum

set to be issued in mid-July.

Class-size Funding
State-funded full-day kindergarten schools with greater than 50 percent of their students
eligible for free and reduced-price lunch, which includes all of the newly eligible schools, will be
funded at a class size of 20.85 students. This smaller class size is possible because of the
Legislatures high-poverty class-size reduction funding.

Voluntary Kindergarten
The statutory language regarding state-funded full-day kindergarten indicates that the program
is to be voluntary. This has been interpreted to mean that school districts must provide
parents an option of part-day kindergarten. This can be implemented in a number of different
ways, including having a separate part-day class or incorporating the part-day students in the
full-day classroom. Whether the school district provides transportation for these children to
and from school is a local school district decision. If a school district elects to provide mid-day
transportation to accommodate parents accessing part-day classes, such costs will be
allowable to-from transportation expenditures.

In addition, if a school receives state-funding for full-day kindergarten, it must provide full-day
kindergarten to all students in the school (with the exception of parents who have opted-out
their children). Thus, for example, a school cannot receive funding if it only plans to provide
full-day kindergarten in one of three classrooms in the school because of classroom space
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limitations.

Full-day Kindergarten Symposium

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Northwest Educational Service District
189 will be hosting a one-day symposium on full-day kindergarten on August 5, 2013, at the
Lynnwood Conference Center, which is north of Seattle. The symposium is being designed for
school district staff, principals, and kindergarten teachers, and will provide practical strategies
for implementing successful full-day kindergarten programs. To obtain additional information
and register, go to http://www.nwesd.org/startingstrong/preconference.

Educational Service District Full-day Kindergarten Support

The nine Educational Service Districts have identified individuals who are available to provide
assistance to school staff in implementing full-day kindergarten programs. A list of these
contacts is available at: http://www.k12.wa.us/EarlyLearning/Resources.aspx.

Further Information
Resource material for designing and implementing a full-day kindergarten program is available
at http://www.k12.wa.us/EarlyLearning/Resources.aspx.

For questions regarding the content of this memorandum, please contact Robert Butts at
Bob.Butts@k12.wa.us or (360) 725-0420. For questions concerning WaKIDS, contact Kathe
Taylor at Kathe.Taylor@k12.wa.us or (360) 725-6153. The agency TTY number is (360) 664-
3631.

K12 EDUCATION

Alan Burke, Ed.D.

Deputy Superintendent

EARLY LEARNING

Robert Butts
Assistant Superintendent

Attachment: Washington State-Funded Full-Day Kindergarten Eligibility List for the 201314
School Year
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OSPI provides equal access to all programs and services without discrimination based on sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age,
honorably discharged veteran or military status, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental, or
physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability. Questions and complaints of alleged
discrimination should be directed to the Equity and Civil Rights Director at (360) 725-6162 or P.O. Box 47200 Olympia, WA 98504-7200.