Approve Contract with Hillsborough County School Readiness Coalition, Inc., D/B/A Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County, and Early Childhood School Readiness Programs for the Voluntary Prekindergarten Program(Student Services and Federal Programs Division)

Under this contract, Hillsborough County Public Schools - Early Childhood School Readiness Programs provides the Voluntary Prekindergarten Program (VPK) to eligible Hillsborough County families by performing intake and eligibility services for children registering for the program and for child care providers applying to be VPK providers, as well as disbursing monthly payments to VPK providers. This contract begins July 1, 2007, and continues through June 30, 2008.

Goal 5 - The district will eliminate the FCAT achievement gap by a minimum of 10 percentage points as reported by No Child Left Behind.

The total $19,901,911 funding is a state grant channeled to Hillsborough County Public Schools from the Agency for Workforce Innovations, Office of Early Learning through Hillsborough County School Readiness Coalition, Inc., d/b/a Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County. The contract requires that $19,190,204 is to be used to provide the Voluntary Prekindergarten Program for approximately 7,079 Hillsborough County four-year-old children at the reimbursement rate of $2,710.80 per child.

Each year the financial statements are audited by Hillsborough County School Readiness Coalition as prescribed by law. The funding for Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County is provided through federal dollars. The flow-through dollars are channeled by the Agency for Workforce Innovations. The School Readiness Program uses these funds to purchase child care in Hillsborough County. There is no district-generated revenue used for this purchase.