The Florida Senate
BILL ANALYSIS AND FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
(This document is based on the provisions contained in the legislation as of the latest date listed below.)
Prepared By: The Professional Staff of the Appropriations Committee on Education
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1026
INTRODUCER: Appropriations Committee on Education; Education Pre-K -12 Committee; and Senator
Grall and others
SUBJECT: Early Learning
DATE: February 12, 2024 REVISED:
ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR REFERENCE ACTION
1. Sabitsch Bouck ED Fav/CS
2. Gray Elwell AED Fav/CS
3. FP
Please see Section IX. for Additional Information:
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE - Substantial Changes
I. Summary:
CS/CS/SB 1026 provides programmatic and administrative changes to support the Voluntary
Prekindergarten (VPK) and the School Readiness (SR) programs, as well as, additional support
to struggling students entering kindergarten. The bill also modifies training requirements for
licensed child care facility personnel. Specifically, the bill:
 Requires in-person training on cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
 Allows additional VPK instructors to qualify to be a lead instructor in the summer VPK
program.
 Sets guardrails for use of progress monitoring and the use of electronic devices in VPK
classrooms the SR program.
 Modifies specific areas related to VPK performance standards and accountability including
the calculation methodology and timing issuance of the performance metric.
 Revises early learning standards domains to replace “self-regulation” with “executive
functioning.”
 Allows early learning coalitions (ELCs) to add a law enforcement representation to coalition
boards.
 Modifies allowable uses of School Readiness funding by ELCs.
 Increases the amount of administrative funding allowed for the VPK Program.
 Creates a summer bridge program for VPK students with early literacy deficiencies prior to
entering kindergarten.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1026 Page 2
This bill has a significant negative fiscal impact to state government. See Section V., Fiscal
Impact Statement.
The bill takes effect on July 1, 2024.
II. Present Situation:
Child Care Personnel
Present Situation
The child-care licensing program is a component of the services provided by the Department of
Children and Families (DCF). The program is accountable for the statewide licensure of
Florida’s child-care facilities, specialized child-care facilities for the care of mildly ill children,
large family child-care homes and licensure or registration of family day care homes. The
purpose of the program is to ensure a healthy and safe environment for the children in child-care
settings and to improve the quality of their care. The DCF ensures that licensing requirements are
met through on-going inspections of child-care facilities and homes.1
The DCF also establishes minimum training requirements for child care personnel. The DCF has
adopted the Child Care Facility Handbook to describe these requirements in detail. 2 The
minimum standards for training must ensure that all child care personnel take an approved 40-
clock-hour introductory course in child care covering the following topic areas:
 State and local rules and regulations which govern child care.
 Health, safety, and nutrition.
 Identifying and reporting child abuse and neglect.
 Child development, including typical and atypical language, cognitive, motor, social, and
self-help skills development.
 Observation of developmental behaviors, including using a checklist or other similar
observation tools and techniques to determine the child’s developmental age level.
 Specialized areas, including computer technology for professional and classroom use and
early literacy and language development of children from birth to 5 years of age, as
determined by the DCF, for owner-operators and child care personnel of a child care facility.
 Developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder and Down syndrome, and
early identification, use of available state and local resources, classroom integration, and
positive behavioral supports for children with developmental disabilities.3
The DCF is required to evaluate or contract for an evaluation to determine the status of and
means to improve staff training requirements and testing procedures. The evaluation must be
conducted every two years. The evaluation must include, but is not be limited to, determining:
 The availability, quality, scope, and sources of current staff training.
1
DCF, About Child Care Licensure, https://www.myflfamilies.com/services/child-family/child-care/about-child-care-
licensure (last visited Jan 27, 2024).
2
Florida Department of Children and Families, Child Care Facility Handbook, October 2021, available at
https://www.myflfamilies.com/sites/default/files/2022-12/FacilityHandbook_0.pdf (last visited Feb. 9, 2024).
3
Section. 402.305, F.S.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1026 Page 3
 The need for specialty training.
 Ways to increase in-service training.
 Ways to increase the accessibility, quality, and cost-effectiveness of current and proposed
staff training. 4
The DCF also establishes minimum standards for:
 Sanitary and safety conditions, first aid treatment, emergency procedures, and pediatric
cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The minimum standards must require that at least one staff
person trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, as evidenced by current documentation of
course completion, must be present at all times that children are present.5
 Admissions and recordkeeping. Each year, each child care facility must provide parents of
children enrolled in the facility detailed information regarding:
o The causes, symptoms, and transmission of the influenza virus and the importance of
immunizing their children.
o The potential for a distracted adult to fail to drop off a child at the facility and instead
leave the child in the adult’s vehicle upon arrival at the adult’s destination.6
Florida’s Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Program
The VPK program prepares children for success in school and in life. Implemented in 2005, the
program is a free, high-quality education program available to all four-year-old children residing
in the state.7 Parents of four-year-olds with birthdays from February 2 through September 1 may
wait to enroll their child the following year when they are five.8
The Division of Early Learning (DEL) at the Department of Education (DOE) administers the
VPK program at the state level. Data collected by the DOE show that children who participate in
VPK are better prepared to enter kindergarten ready to learn. Parents can select from one of
several VPK program options available from private and public providers. Providers have
flexibility to structure daily hours per week to meet the required number of instructional hours:
the School-Year Program is 540 instructional hours; the Summer Program is 300 instructional
hours.
VPK Specialized Instructional Services is a program option available for VPK-age children with
current individual educational plans (IEPs). This option allows parents of a VPK-age child to
choose additional therapy services consistent with the child’s IEP in lieu of attending VPK in a
traditional classroom setting.
4
Section. 402.305(2), F.S.
5
Section. 402.305(7), F.S.
6
Section. 402.305(9), F.S.
7
FLA. CONST., Art. IX, s. 1.
8
FDOE, Division of Early Learning, Annual Report 2022-2023, available at:
https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/20628/urlt/2223-DEL-AnnualReport.pdf (last visited Jan. 30, 2024).
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1026 Page 4
In FY 2022-2023, there were 158,408 children enrolled with 6,237 providers in Florida’s VPK
Program, with 97 percent of children enrolled in a school year program and three percent
enrolled in a summer program.9
Summer Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Instructor Requirements
Since the inception of the VPK program, parents have had the option of choosing to have his or
her child attend a school year or a summer VPK program. Since the 2016-2017 VPK program
year, the summer program has seen declining enrollment. The program served over 5,000
children in 2016-2017 and showed a decline that was accelerated by the effects of the national
health crisis (COVID-19) that began in 2020 but has yet to recover and served less than 2,500
children in the 2022-2023 summer program.10
For the summer VPK program, each public school and private prekindergarten provider must
have, for each prekindergarten class, at least one prekindergarten instructor who is a certified
teacher or holds a specified bachelor’s or higher degree in an early education-related field.11 For
the VPK program, the term “certified teacher” means a teacher holding a valid Florida educator
certificate under s. 1012.56 who has the qualifications required by the district school board to
instruct students in the summer VPK program.12
VPK Performance Standards
The DOE is required to develop and adopt performance standards for students in the VPK
Program. The performance standards must address the age-appropriate progress of students in
the development of required capabilities, capacities, and skills; emergent literacy skills grounded
in the science of reading, including oral communication, knowledge of print and letters,
phonemic and phonological awareness, vocabulary and comprehension development, and
foundational background knowledge designed to correlate with the content that students will
encounter in grades K-12; and mathematical thinking and early math skills. The DOE is required
to review standards at least every three years.13
Each private prekindergarten provider and public school is allowed to select or design the
curriculum that the provider or school uses to implement the program, except for a provider or
school that fails to meet the minimum performance requirements included in the state’s
accountability measures. Each private prekindergarten provider’s and public school’s curriculum
must be:
 Developmentally appropriate.
 Designed to prepare a student for early literacy and provide for instruction in early math
skills.
 Develop students’ background knowledge through a content-rich and sequential knowledge
building early literacy curriculum.
9
Id.
10
EDR, Voluntary Prekindergarten Estimating Conference, Jan. 9, 2024, available at:
http://edr.state.fl.us/Content/conferences/vpk/index.cfm (last visited Jan. 30, 2024)
11
See s. 1002.55(4)(a) or (b).
12
Section 1002.61(4), F.S.
13
Section 1002.67, F.S.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1026 Page 5
 Enhance the age-appropriate progress of students in attaining the performance standards
adopted by the DOE.
 Support student learning gains through differentiated instruction that is measured by the
coordinated screening and progress monitoring (CSPM) program.14
The DOE is required to adopt procedures for the review and approval of curricula for use by
private prekindergarten providers and public schools that fail to meet performance standards.15
VPK Program Accountability
VPK program accountability is in a transition period from historical VPK provider kindergarten
readiness rates of which the last rates were released for the 2020-2021 program year. Future
accountability measures will be based on a yet to be calculated VPK performance metric.
Each private prekindergarten provider and public school participating in the VPK Program is
required to participate in the coordinated screening and progress monitoring (CSPM) program.16
The CSPM program results shall be used by the DOE to identify student learning gains, index
development learning outcomes upon program completion, and inform a private prekindergarten
provider’s and public school’s performance metric. The DOE is required to adopt minimum
requirements for those administering the initial and final progress monitoring or screening.
Private prekindergarten providers and public schools are required to provide a student’s
performance results to the student’s parents within seven days after the administration of the
CSPM.17
Each private prekindergarten provider and public school is required to participate in a program
assessment of each voluntary prekindergarten education classroom. The program assessment
measures the quality of teacher-child interactions, including emotional support, classroom
organization, and instructional support for children ages three to five years. The DOE is required
to report the results of the program assessment for each classroom within 14 days after the
observation. Early learning coalitions (ELCs) are responsible for the administration of the
program assessments.18
Beginning with the 2023-2024 program year,19 the DOE is required to adopt a methodology for
calculating each private prekindergarten provider’s and public school provider’s performance
metric, which must be based on a combination of the following:
 Program assessment composite scores which must be weighted at no less than 50 percent.
 Learning gains from the initial and final administration of the CSPM.
 Norm-referenced developmental learning outcomes from the CSPM.20
14
Section 1002.67(2), F.S.
15
Id.
16
Section 1002.68(1), F.S.
17
Id.
18
Section 1002.68(2), F.S.
19
The program year was changed by ch. 2023-240, s. 5, Laws of Fla., and will revert to the 2022-2023 program year on June
30, 2023, unless acted upon by the Legislature.
20
Section 1002.68(4), F.S.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1026 Page 6
The program assessment composite score and performance metric are required to be calculated
for each private prekindergarten or public school site. The scores of the performance metric are
required to produce profiles which include the following designations: “unsatisfactory,”
“emerging proficiency,” “proficient,” “highly proficient,” and “excellent” or comparable
terminology. They may not include letter grades.21
The DOE is required to annually calculate each private prekindergarten provider’s and public
school’s performance metric. Beginning with the 2024-2025 program year, each private
prekindergarten provider or public school will be assigned a designation within 45 days after the
conclusion of the school-year program or the summer program. A private prekindergarten
provider or public school designated “proficient,” “highly proficient,” or “excellent”
demonstrates the provider’s or school’s satisfactory delivery of the VPK program. The
designations are required to be displayed in the early learning provider performance profiles. 22
If a private prekindergarten provider’s or public school’s performance metric or designation falls
below the minimum performance metric or designation, the ELC is required to place the provider
or school on probation. Each provider or school placed on probation is required to submit to the
ELC for approval an improvement plan that includes implementation of and approved
curriculum and an approved staff development plan. A provider placed on probation remains in
that status until the provider has earned a satisfactory performance metric or designation.23
A private prekindergarten provider or public school that remains on probation for two
consecutive years and subsequently fails to meet the minimum performance metric or
designation is subject to removal from eligibility to deliver the VPK program and receive state
funds for the program for a period of at least two years but no more than five years.24 A private
prekindergarten provider or public school may request and receive a good cause exemption in
order to remain eligible for the VPK program based on certain criteria including health and
safety standards. Exemptions are valid for one year but may be renewed.25
Administrative Funding for the VPK Program
Administrative expenditures for the VPK program must be kept to the minimum necessary for
efficient and effective administration of the program.