HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/CS/HB 1353 Early Learning
SPONSOR(S): Education & Employment Committee, PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee, Snyder
TIED BILLS: None. IDEN./SIM. BILLS: CS/CS/SB 1026
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Choice & Innovation Subcommittee 15 Y, 0 N Blalock Sleap
2) PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee 12 Y, 0 N, As CS Bailey Potvin
3) Education & Employment Committee 19 Y, 0 N, As CS Blalock Hassell
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
The bill provides programmatic and administrative changes to support the Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) and
School Readiness (SR) programs.
The bill requires the training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation for licensed child care facility personnel, to be
provided in-person.
The bill allows a credentialed VPK instructor to be a lead instructor in the summer VPK program if the instructor has
completed the early literacy micro-credential program.
The bill prohibits a VPK provider from allowing a student to view an electronic screen for more than 10 percent of
the day. Additionally, in the SR program, the bill prohibits a SR program provider fr om allowing screen time for a
child from birth to 3 years of age and limits screen time to no more than 10 percent of the day for a student 4 years
of age or older.
The bill changes the program year the Department of Education is required to adopt a metho dology for calculating
the VPK performance metric to the 2023-2024 program year and the program year to issue the performance metric
to VPK programs to the 2024-2025 program year. The bill also republishes reverted provisions of law relating to
VPK program accountability.
The bill modifies the health and safety standards under which a VPK provider cannot be granted a good cause
exemption from two or more Class II violations to three or more of the same Class II violations within the past 2
years.
The bill revises the early learning standards domains to replace “self-regulation” with “executive functioning.”
The bill allows Early Learning Coalitions (ELCs) to add law enforcement representation to coalition boards.
The bill revises the criteria for a child with special needs to receive priority for participation in the SR program and
authorizes additional forms of documentation to determine eligibility. The bill also expands eligibility of a child with
special needs to infants and toddlers, rather than just a child who is at least 3 years old, and extends the use of the
funds to before school, after school, and summer SR programs. The bill provides that a SR program provider is
eligible for funding through the special needs differential allocation to imple ment the special needs rate if specified
quality and training criteria are met.
Finally, the bill modifies the allowable uses of SR funding by ELCs to improve the quality of child care and provides
a date by which all training and professional development must be aligned with the early learning professional
development standards and career pathways.
The bill does not have a fiscal impact.
The bill takes effect on July 1, 2024.
FULL ANALYSIS
This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives .
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 I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Present Situation
Child Care Licensing
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 2
years. The evaluation must include, but is not be limited to, determining:
 The availability, quality, scope, and sources of current staff training.
 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
1 Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), About Child Care Licensure, https://www.myflfamilies.co m/services/child-
family/child-care/about-child-care-licensure (last visited Feb. 22, 2024).
2 DCF, Child Care Facility Handbook (2021), available at https://www.myflfamilies.com/sites/default/files/2022-
12/FacilityHandbook_0.pdf. The handbook is intended to be used in conjunction with ss. 402.26 - 402.319, F.S., and incorporated by
reference in rule 65C - 22.001, F.A.C.
3 Section. 402.305, F.S.
4 Section. 402.305(2), F.S.
5 Section. 402.305(7), F.S.
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  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
The DCF requires licensed child care facilities to prohibit the use of electronic media for children under
two years of age in their schedule of planned activities. Electronic media may only be used for
educational purposes or physical activity for children 2 years of age and older for no more than 1 to 2
hours per day.7
Florida’s Voluntary Prekindergarten Program
The Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) program prepares children for success in school and in life. 8
Implemented in 2005, VPK is a free, high-quality, education program available to all 4-year-old children
residing in the state.9 A child remains eligible until the child is admitted to kindergarten, or unless he or
she will have attained the age of 6 years by February 1 of any school year.10 Parents of 4-year-olds
with birthdays from February 2 through September 1 may wait to enroll their child the following year
when they are 5.11
The Division of Early Learning (DEL) in the Department of Education (DOE) administers the VPK
program at the state level. Data collected by the DOE shows 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. 12
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.13
In fiscal year 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 3 percent enrolled in a
summer program.14
Summer VPK Instructor Requirements
Since the inception of the VPK program, parents have had the option of choosing to enroll his or her
child in either a school year or a summer VPK program. Since the 2016-17 VPK program year, the
summer program has seen declining enrollment. The summer program served over 5,000 students in
the 2016-17 program year but has declined, that was accelerated by the impact of the national health
6 Section. 402.305(9), F.S.
7 DCF, Child Care Facility Handbook , at 18, (2021), available at https://www.myflfamilies.co m/sites/default/files/2022-
12/FacilityHandbook_0.pdf.
8 Florida Department of Education (DOE), Division of Early Learning (DEL), Division of Early Learning, Annual Report 2022-2023
(2023), at 13, available at https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/20628/urlt/2223-DEL-AnnualReport.pdf.
9 Art. IX, s. 1, Fla. Const.
10 Section 1002.53(2), F.S.
11 DOE, DEL, Division of Early Learning, Annual Report 2022-2023 (2023), at 13, available at
https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/20628/urlt/2223-DEL-AnnualReport.pdf.
12 Id.
13 Id.
14 Id. at 14.
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 crisis (COVID-19) that began in 2020, and has yet to recover. For the 2022-2023 summer program,
less than 2,500 children were enrolled.15
For the summer VPK program, each VPK provider must have, for each VPK class, at least one
instructor who is a certified teacher or holds a specified bachelor’s or higher degree in an early
education-related field.16 For the VPK program, the term “certified teacher” means a teacher holding a
valid Florida educator certificate who has the qualifications required by the district school board to
instruct students in the summer VPK program.17
VPK Performance Standards
The DOE is required to develop and adopt performance standards for students in the VPK Program. 18
The performance standards must address the age-appropriate progress of students in the development
of required capabilities, capacities, and skills;19 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. 20
Each VPK provider is allowed to select or design the curriculum that the provider or school uses to
implement the program, except for a provider that fails to meet the minimum performance metric
included in the state’s accountability measures. 21 Each VPK provider’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.
 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. 22
The DOE is required to adopt procedures for the review and approval of curricula for use by the VPK
providers that fail to meet performance standards.23
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. Beginning with the 2023-
2024 program year, the DOE must adopt a methodology for calculating a VPK provider performance
metric using child learning gains and outcomes based on the CSPM and provider program assessment
composite scores that measure teacher-child interactions. The new calculation and designations for
VPK Accountability will be applied at the end of the 2024-25 program year.24
15 Office of Economic and Demographic Research (EDR), Early Learning Programs Estimating Conference, Voluntary
Prekindergarten Education Program, http://edr.state.fl.us/Content/conferences/vpk/index.cfm (last visited Feb. 22, 2024).
16 Sections 1002.55(4)(a)-(b ) and 1002.61(4), F.S.
17 Section 1002.61(4), F.S.
18 Section 1002.67, F.S.
19 Art. IX, s. (1)(b), Fla. Const.
20 Section 1002.67(1), F.S.
21 Section 1002.67(2)(a), F.S.
22 Section 1002.67(2)(b), F.S.
23 Section 1002.67(2)(c), F.S.
24 DOE, DEL, Division of Early Learning, Annual Report 2021-2022 (2022), at 19-20, available at
https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/20628/urlt/2122-DEL-AnnualReport.pdf.
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 Each VPK provider participating in the program is required to participate in the CSPM program. 25 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.26 The DOE is required to adopt minimum requirements for those
administering the initial and final CSPM.27 The VPK providers are required to provide a student’s
performance results to the student’s parents within 7 days after the administration of the CSPM. 28
Each VPK provider is also required to participate in a program assessment of each VPK classroom.
The program assessment measures the quality of teacher-child interactions, including emotional
support, classroom organization, and instructional support for children ages 3 to 5 years. The DOE is
required to report the results of the program assessment for each classroom within 14 days after the
observation. The early learning coalitions (ELCs) are responsible for the administration of the program
assessments.29
Beginning with the 2023-2024 program year,30 the DOE is required to adopt a methodology for
calculating each VPK 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. 31
The program assessment composite score and performance metric are required to be calculated for
each VPK provider site.32 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. 33
The DOE is required to annually calculate each VPK provider’s performance metric.34 Beginning with
the 2024-2025 program year,35 each VPK provider will be assigned a designation within 45 days after
the conclusion of the school-year program or the summer program.36 A VPK provider’s designated
“proficient,” “highly proficient,” or “excellent” demonstrates the provider’s satisfactory delivery of the
VPK program.37 The designations are required to be displayed in the early le