State-Administered Prekindergarten Programs | Applications
Districts and agencies may apply for Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) allocations and Statewide Universal Full Day Prekindergarten (SUFDPK) grants before each school year.
Applications are completed and submitted using theSED Monitoring & Vendor Performance System (MVPS), which is available on theState Education Department (SEDDAS) Business Portal. The above link includes theand instructions for common tasks, includingԻ.
Are You New to State Administered Pre-K?
If you are applying for State Administered Prekindergarten funds for the first time, and would like assistance from our office, please see the announcement flyerfor more information.
Types of Prekindergarten Funding
Universal Prekindergarten (UPK)
UPK allocation funds are allocated to school districts in accordance with a formula set forth in .
Districts will use applicable Allocations Lists to determine the number of eligible students the district may receive funding for during the 2022-2023 program year. Districts who already received UPK or Statewide Universal Full-Day Prekindergarten funding in previous program years may use funds to supplement their current programs for full-day four year old students.
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Differentiating the 2022-2023Non-competitive UPK Allocations from 2022-2023Competitive Universal Prekindergarten Expansion Grant for New Full-Day and Half-Day to Full-Day Placements for Four-Year-Old Students
The 2022-2023 Universal Prekindergarten Program (UPK) Application on the Business Portal is only for a school district’s UPK allocational funding. This includes existing State funded UPK allocations that were originally provided to school districts prior to 2022-2023, federally funded UPK expansion allocations provided as of 2021-2022, and new State funded UPK allocations provided as of 2022-2023. As opposed to competitive grant awards, these allocational funding streams are non-competitive because they have already been assigned to each school district in accordance with a formula set forth in .
The recently announced 2022-2023 prekindergarten RFP is a competitive grant program with a distinct and separate application process. Please refer to the information provided on the RFP’s announcement web page when applying for this new grant.
Statewide Universal Full Day Prekindergarten (SUFDPK)
Chapter 53 of the Laws of 2014 appropriated $340 million for prekindergarten grants to incentivize and fund universal full-day prekindergarten programs, in accordance with . Chapter 53 of the Laws of 2021 appropriated $15 million for additional prekindergarten grants for school districts to establish new full-day prekindergarten placements for four-year-old students in accordance with applicable provisions in Education Law Section 3602-ee governing Statewide Universal Full Day Prekindergarten (§3602-ee). Prekindergarten seats awarded through this competitive SUFDPK grant and filled during the grant period will continue to be renewed in subsequent years provided the program meets the quality standards and all applicable requirements. Programs operating under this grant must provide instruction for at least five hours per school day for the entire school year (which must at a minimum include 180 days per school year). SUFDPK funds can only be used for students who are four years of age.Grant funding must be used only to supplement, not supplant, existing prekindergarten programs. A total of $300 million has been allocated to the New York City region for this application, and $53.36 million has been allocated cumulatively for the nine other regions of New York State.
Programs should use the award chart to determine the amount of funding the program is eligible for based on the total number and types of seats awarded in the original SUFDPK grant award. Districts who also receive Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) funding in the 2022-2023 program year may use SUFDPK funds to supplement their current programs for either conversion slots or new full-day slots for four year old students.
Targeted Prekindergarten (TPK)
2022-2023 school year TPK grants are awarded to three regional Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) organizations. All grants are subject to further review, monitoring, and audit to ensure compliance.Children enrolled in the TPK program must meet the economically-disadvantaged eligibility requirements of Section 151-2.2(b) of the Regulations of the Commissioner. This section defines “economically-disadvantaged” as “a child whose family is eligible for some form of assistance such as Aid to Families of Dependent Children, for reduced price school lunch, food stamps, Medicaid, unemployment compensation or disability compensation”. In addition, Section 151-2.5(1) of the Regulations of the Commissioner states “that at least 80 percent of the prekindergarten children served by the program are economically-disadvantaged or that all interested and eligible economically-disadvantaged children residing in the area served by the program will be served by the program.”