Pre-K Request for Proposals

June 24, 2019
 
Dear Child Care, Nursery School, Early Education and/or Community Agency Provider,
 
The Syracuse City School District (SCSD) will apply for funding from the New York State Education Department (NYSED) to implement the following pre-school educational programs for the 2019-2020 school year:
 

1. Universal Pre-Kindergarten in High Need School Districts (UPK)
2. Statewide Universal Full Day Pre-Kindergarten Program (SUFDPK)

 
New for 2019-2020 school year: New York State has consolidated the formerly stand-alone EPK, EPK3, 3PK, and UPK grants into a single grant: UPK. In an effort to ensure equity, SCSD has established set rates for 3 year old and 4 year old PreK programming. Rates for Statewide (SUFDPK) will follow the same formula. See rates below:
 

Program	Per Seat Rate
3 Year Old Full Day	$6,105
3 Year Old Half Day	$3,425
4 Year Old Full Day	$5,655
4 Year Old Half Day	$3,175

 
 
SCSD plans to contract with eligible agencies to provide educational programs for resident three and four year old children.  Interested agencies will need to apply to SCSD for inclusion in any/all of the above listed programs by completing and submitting the following information:
 

• Agency Application Cover Page
• Agency Information Packet
• NYS Program Application Packet (one for each program applying for)
• Budget Page (one for each program applying for)

 
All applicants are encouraged to view specific program requirements in their entirety at the NYSED website (http://www.p12.nysed.gov/earlylearning).
 
SCSD will review all proposals and reserves the right to make final determinations as to the ability of an agency to provide high quality early childhood programming.  Factors used to determine the acceptance of an agency’s request to collaborate with the District include, but may not be limited to:
 

• Information provided in the RFP;
• Information provided in the budget form, including the total dollar amount required by the agency to implement the program;
• Information gathered at a site visit(s) and from an interview with agency official(s) following submission of the written application;
• Strength/sustainability of current agency program(s);
• Potential number of Syracuse resident pre-school children who will have access to the NYS funded pre-school program(s);
• Agency ability to meet NYSED and SCSD’s written programmatic regulation/standards (i.e. recruitment, enrollment, instructional delivery, assessment, family engagement, record keeping, reporting, professional development, fiscal operations, applicable licensing and staff qualifications); and/or
• Review of agency Final Report for 2018-2019   school year.

Please carefully review the attached directions for completing your application and submit one original and two copies of all applicable application packet items to the Early Childhood Education office no later than July 15, 2019 at 4:00 p.m.
 
Thank you for your interest in the Syracuse City School District’s Early Childhood Programs.  If you have questions regarding the preparation of your agency’s application, please contact program administrators Matthew Carpenter or Dr. Cindy Watkins at (315) 435-4276. 
 
Sincerely,
 
 
Matthew Carpenter
Director of Early Childhood Education